"Heavenly Voices"
A look back at The Choir of King's College's ground-breaking Australian tour
This Summer, The Choir of King’s College celebrated a successful Australian tour.
In mid-July the College’s world-famous choir embarked on their second tour of Australia under the guidance of Director of Music Daniel Hyde. The 9-date sold-out tour saw the Choir visit multiple venues and cities across the country, including a performance at the prestigious Sydney Opera House.
This year the Choir were determined to engage in cultural exchange. They premiered and released an Australian commission, performed with local instrumentalists, participated in talks, Q and As and masterclasses, and took part in a specially organised encounter with Australia’s First Nations people - the oldest living culture on earth. The Choir’s local touring partner, Musica Viva Australia, is committed to a path of reconciliation with Australia’s First Nations people.
"I am very excited that we are able to collaborate with a double wind quintet of some of Australia’s finest chamber musicians to perform Stravinsky’s brooding, peculiar and hauntingly beautiful Mass."
Daniel Hyde, Director of Music
On Finding Charlotte
Alongside their carefully chosen repertoire, the Choir performed a new work from Australian composer Damian Barbeler, debuted during their Hamer Hall performance in Melbourne. Charlotte is inspired by the 2020 Blake Poetry Prize-winning poem by poet and visual artist Judith Nangala Crispin entitled On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record. A descendant of the Bpangerang people, Crispin embarked on a 20-year long search for information about her ancestry, possessing only a photo of her great-great-grandmother Charlotte. The poem poignantly touches on her hunt for information.
The Choir were able to meet Crispin for a guided walk around Sydney Harbour with First Nations elder Djon Mundine and composer Damian Barbeler.
At the conclusion of the walk, the boys performed an a capella version of the Founder's Prayer, set to music by Henry Ley and written by King Henry VI, founder of King’s College.
This ground-breaking day was a profoundly moving experience for all those involved - with meaningful words, singing and ceremony.
Poet Judith Nangala Crispin recalled:
"Yesterday Djon Mundine and I went to Chowder Bay with the Choir. Djon sang traditional songs for the boys and I read poems about the central desert. There was this incredible moment, after Djon sang about honouring the dead. He asked the Choir if anyone knew any songs from England that also paid homage to lost loved ones. One of the singers spontaneously began to sing The Last Rose of Summer, and after a few seconds the whole Choir joined in, with glorious harmony.
It was a rainy day with the black cockatoos flying east - a few dog walkers in the park. The heads were grey over the harbour, and these angelic voices were singing an English lament - right there, so close to where it all began. Djon and I both fought back tears. Rain put out our fire. The Director of Music wore red ochre on his brow all day... "
Alongside 'Meet the Artists' sessions following some performances, Daniel Hyde, Director of Music, also hosted two musical masterclasses with the Australian National University and the Sydney Children’s Choir. During the latter, Daniel worked with the choir to delve into music of the English tradition, including Benjamin Britten’s Missa Brevis. The composition will now feature in Sydney Children’s Choir’s upcoming performance “Mixtures: Celestial Voices" as a part of the St James Organ Festival.
Praise for the Choir of King's College
“In the five years since its last appearance here, the choir has been re-energised by its current director Daniel Hyde, who is unafraid to take the nearly 500-year-old choir in new directions [...] an exquisite end to an intrepid musical journey.”
Tony Way, 'The Age', 29 July 2024
“Their crystalline voices were undiminished and chiming like bells due to their weekly regime of 26 hours of rehearsals and services.”
Gemma Regan, 'Limelight', 25 July 2024
"The Choir performed soaring anthems and sacred works alongside two touchstones of the choral repertoire: Stravinsky’s Mass for choir and double wind quintet (including ten of Australia’s best instrumentalists); and Maurice Duruflé’s magnificent Requiem, a radiant meditation on life and death for choir and organ."
To learn more about The Choir of King's College, please visit our website.
Charlotte is available now, via the Choir's label .
Listen back to Director of Music Daniel Hyde discuss the tour and the new composition, Charlotte, here.
To read more about the First Nations encounter see here.
Access the tour's programme here.
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