Sydney Chamber Choir: Dixit Dominus
From Handel and Bach to contemporary works by Latvia’s Peteris Vasks and Australia’s Iain Grandage, the Sydney Chamber Choir is presenting Dixit Dominus, a joyous plethora of prayers to life, love, nature, courage and hope.
Leading choral conductor, Jonathan Grieves-Smith, Chorus Master of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus and, more recently, Director of Music at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, will guest conduct the choir in collaboration with the Orchestra of the Antipodes for this special one-off concert. The Orchestra of the Antipodes is well-known for its expertise on period instruments and regular appearances with Pinchgut Opera.
Composer and performer Iain Grandage, famed for his many Australian collaborations across theatre, cabaret, musicals, soloists and ensembles, will hear the world premiere of his choral work inspired by Chris Wallace-Crabbe’s poem, Why do we exist? about a boy’s wonderment in an Australian garden. Two choir patrons commissioned Grandage to write this in celebration of their son’s marriage.
The concert also includes the Australian premiere of Prayer by celebrated Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, an ecstatic homage to the power of love to overcome despair on the streets of Calcutta, drawing on the prayers of Mother Teresa. Vasks’ frequently performed choral and instrumental works often allude to the impact of Russian repression in the Baltic, on man and nature.
Handel’s dazzling hymn Dixit Dominus, written when in Italy aged just 21, gives this program its title. Also on the programme is J S Bach’s early cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV 4, where at just 22, Bach explores the mystery of life and death in intricate counterpoint and soaring melody.
Tickets: From $50 ($45 concession).
Click here to book.
