The Choir
Formed by Carl Crossin in 1985, Adelaide Chamber Singers has been an innovative contributor to music making in Adelaide for over 20 years. The ensemble is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading chamber choirs and comprises some of Adelaide’s best and most experienced ensemble singers, some of whom are also soloists or conductors in their own right. The singers are either professionals, in fields as diverse as music, law, teaching, medicine, counselling and arts administration, or are advanced music students at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. All share a passion for ensemble singing at the highest level.
Adelaide Chamber Singers has performed at many of Australia’s major festivals including the Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth Festivals, the Barossa Music Festival, the Australian National Choral Association’s Choralfest and the 2007 Adelaide Film Festival, where it performed Arvo Pärt’s Passio under the direction of Paul Hillier. ACS will give the Adelaide première of Arvo Pärt’s Miserere as part of the 2008 Adelaide Festival.
International touring has taken ACS to Canada, the USA, Japan, South East Asia, Europe and Britain, and international appearances include the Tokyo Festival, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, the National Convention of the Association of British Choral Directors, the Asia South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music in Singapore, the 6th World Symposium on Choral Music in the USA, and the International Choral Kathaumixw in British Columbia, Canada.
ACS enjoys a highly successful relationship with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with whom it has performed major works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Messiaen, Mendelssohn, Copland, Jonathan Mills, Arvo Pärt, Ross Edwards and Peter Sculthorpe. The ASO/ACS recording of Sculthorpe’s Requiem (ABC Classics) conducted by Arvo Volmer, received international recognition in July 2007 as one of Gramophone magazine’s ‘CDs of the Month’.
Recent works performed by Adelaide Chamber Singers include:
- Sergei Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil Op. 37 (‘Vespers’)
- Peter Sculthorpe’s Requiem — 2004 Adelaide Festival of Arts (World Premiere)
- Thomas Tallis’s 40-part motet Spem in alium
- Arvo Pärt’s Passio, Seven Magnificat Antiphons, Magnificat, Te Deum & Dopo la vittoria (Adelaide Premiere)
- J. S. Bach’s Johannes Passion, Mattheus Passion, Mass in B Minor & Magnificat
- Jonathan Mills’ Sandakan Threnody (World Premiere)
- Benjamin Britten’s Sacred & Profane Op. 91 (Adelaide Premiere)
- Ross Edwards’ Symphony No. 4 “Star Chant” 2002 Adelaide Festival of Arts (World Premiere)
- Orazzio Vecchi’s madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso (Adelaide Premiere)
- Adriano Banchieri’s madrigal comedy Festino (Adelaide Premiere)
- Handel’s Messiah, Israel in Egypt & The ways of Zion do Mourn
- Orlando di Lasso’s spiritual madrigal cycle Lagrime di San Pietro (Adelaide Premiere)
Australian Festivals and Events:
- Perth Festival (2005)
- Adelaide Festival (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002 & 2004)
- Coriole Festival (2000-03 & 2005)
- Penola Coonawarra Festival (2004)
- Australian National Choral Association’s Choralfest (Melbourne, 2000 & Adelaide, 2004)
- National Conference of the Australian Society for Music Education (2001)
- ‘Voices’ Festival in Tasmania (1997)
- Barossa International Music Festival (1994 & 1995)
- Melbourne International Festival (1993)
International Tours:
- Canada, USA & UK (July 2006)
- Japan (September 2004)
- United States of America (2002)
- Singapore (2001)
- Britain (1999)
- Britain and Norway (1996)
Significant International Performances:
- 2004 Tokyo Performing Arts Festival (Tokyo, Japan 2004)
- 6th World Symposium on Choral Music (Minneapolis, USA 2002)
- Asia and South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music (Singapore 2001)
- Norwich and Norfolk Festival (UK 1999)
- 10th Annual National Convention of the Association of British Choral Directors (Oxford, 1996)
- Live performances for BBC Radio 3 (UK 1996 & 1999)
