PROGRAMS
Each year River City Voices produces and presents three curated performance projects under the title of
Luscious - choral blockbusters and lesser known works of stunning artistic integrity and beauty, often featuring Australian composers
Local - programs that feature collaborations with local arts organisations and artists, telling local stories or showcasing local history, or engaging locals as participants
Brave - programs that push the boundaries, particularly what's expected of a choir or choral repertoire
In addition to these projects, River City Voices runs in-person and online workshops, fundraising activities, and is regularly engaged to perform in other concert programs and events - even the odd commercial and Christmas carol gig !
Cancel Choir
17 August 2024 | Macarthur Girls' High School, Parramatta
Conceived and curated by Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith, this program was a short, sharp and spiky show that contemplated the artist versus the artwork and invited audiences to reflect on some big questions - how do we view old works with contemporary eyes and understandings? Why do we cancel some artists and not others? And what’s the cost? Filled with the glorious music of Puccini, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Gesualdo and Ukranian composer Natalia Tsupryk (featuring special appearance of MGHS Senior Choir at right) and more, audiences said it "challenged the norm" was "bold and thought-provoking", and "humorous, entertaining, moving, musically fabulous"
Mozart's Requiem
17 May 2024 | St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta
Led by the incredibly talented Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith, this concert showcased the enormous and growing talent of River City Voices choristers. The choir joined forces with exquisite soloists and for the first time with Western Sydney Philharmonic, an orchestra that provides mentorship and performance opportunities to musicians primary school age and above.
"An impressive, expansive performance in my local area"
"...the sound of pure excellence.."
Blue Sky Country Christmas
8 December 2023 | St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta
This project brought together the sheer power of a symphonic choir with the visionary talents of Indigenous composers Marlene Cummins, Gavi Duncan, Tim Gray, Nicole Smede, Chris Sainsbury and Elizabeth Sheppard. Reshaping classical music norms with profoundly evocative compositions and a new perspective for those who appreciate traditional Christmas carols.
Next Workshop...
27 November 10am
Learn to Read Music:
Absolute Beginners
This interactive one-day workshop offers a unique opportunity for absolute beginners to learn to read music in a fun and supportive environment.
Led by experienced music teacher and River City Voices tenor, Gabriel Newman, you'll discover the basic skills and know-how to turn dots and lines on a page into vocal sounds and rhythms with a solid foundation to continue your musical journey with confidence.
Details about our next Workshop run in conjunction with City of Parramatta Library will be available soon.
Human Waves
9 September 2023 | Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
RCV was invited and honoured to perform with the SPC Festival Chorus as a featured choir in Sydney Philharmonia Choirs sold out concert premiering this large commissioned work by Elena Kats-Chernin - a wonderfully open set of portraits of immigrants settling in Australia from the late 1800s to 1980s.
Sing, Swingle & Schmooze
17 August 2023 | Discovery Space, PHIVE
Taking over the basement of Parramatta’s iconic civic building PHIVE and MC'd by ABC Jazz Radio's effervescent Monica Trapaga and band, guests were transported into a 1950s style lounge room for a fundraising evening with a difference! Cocktails, canapes, a silent auction, prizes, photo booth and a special 50’s inspired performance by River City Voices.
Lux Aeterna & Nocturnes
4 May 2023 | St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta
Composers through the ages have been drawn to write music about light, about seeing it, feeling it, and receiving it, in physical, emotional, and spiritual terms. And award-winning American composer Morten Lauridsen is no exception with this concert premiering his work Lux Aeterna in Parramatta in his 80th year.
Cancelled in May 2020 due to COVID, the choir made a virtual recording of “Sure on This Shining Night” (Nocturnes) released for Christmas that year.
This program also features works by talented Australian composer Alice Chance.
ParraSocial
Super Critical Mass Parramatta
Feb/March 2023 | Parramatta Gaol
Comprising three workshops and a free public performance, ParraSocial was a ground-breaking immersive, site-specific sound/voice performance project that connected people of all ages and abilities post COVID, to create, interact and experiment with their voice in a liberating way within the culturally significant historic environment of Parramatta Gaol. Project conceiver and artist, Julian Day, has led iterations of Super Critical Mass throughout the world and Australia.
Slam Messiah
16 December 2022 | Riverside Theatres Parramatta
Handel’s Messiah originated from a complex tapestry of politics, belief, and social justice; its story has spanned centuries and people. What better way to share its universal message to modern audiences than through the interpretive lens of dynamic young slam poets? Whether this is your first Messiah or your fiftieth, this newly conceived, world premiere chamber iteration by RCV Artistic Director, Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith, is one that we hope will become a western Sydney tradition.
RCV would also like to acknowledge the 16 choristers who came on board at short notice due to a COVID and Influenza A outbreak - you quite literally saved the show!
From The Steps - Voices at Dusk
27 October 2022 | Forecourt | Sydney Opera House
Curated by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Artistic Director Brett Weymark OAM, this program performed on the Monumental Steps opened the year-long Sydney Opera House 50th birthday celebrations. One of only 11 participating choirs from across Sydney performing over the 10 nights, River City Voices presented a 30 minute program featuring Australian composers, and invited talented choristers from across western Sydney to join in this one-in-a-lifetime experience, and audience members too!
What the World Needs EP features:
Country/new-folk musician Jerrah Patson
Romantic-pop artist Sienna Acquaro
Expressionistic new-folk songwriter/guitarist Nina Gotsis Pop ballad writer extraordinaire Clare Brown
Glossy electronic artist Charbel Nehme
Keyboard connoisseur Jonathan Yung and Musicians/mentors Sam Worrad and Pasko Schravemade.
River City Voices
Welded Voices
Imagine being a choir and you’re banned from singing
together due to COVID-19! What do you do? You collaborate with a local organisation with innovative, like-minded projects to share experience, talent and resources and make a digital recording !
Providing a veritable lifeline, this project supported RCV's Artistic Director Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith to arrange six Club Weld musicians' original songs for choir, rehearse choristers in a myriad of ways, together record a mammoth 270 tracks (43 choristers two at a time due to restrictions) and to fund expert editing and mixing by Chris Hamer-Smith. The EP was launched on 11 June at a Listening Party hosted by A.C.E.
Welded Voices extended beyond the funded grant activities to include:
Open Rehearsal
22 May 2021 | BankWest Stadium, Parramatta
Between two bouts of lockdown, a limited number of guests heard RCV choristers join forces for the first time with singer/songwriter Jerrah Patston and guitarist/collaborator Sam Worrad to rehearse Sarah Penicka-Smith's new arrangement of Jerrah's song "Rain is Falling".
Performance - What the World Needs
11 September 2022 | The Granville Centre
This unique premiere performance showcased all the hard work achieved throughout the Welded Voices project and endurance of RCV and ACE staff, choristers and artists.
The project also captured the imagination of the ABC's Art Works program who filmed and produced a story featuring Club Weld, attending and filming one of RCV's rehearsals with artists Sienna Acquaro, Nina Gotsis and Charbel Nehme, and RCV's concert. [Series 2, Episode 30 [14:46] - you'll need an ABC IView account).
An outstanding finale to an incredible collaborative project.
Blackheath Choir Festival
27/28 August 2022 | Blackheath, Blue Mountains
River City Voices choristers joined 46 choirs from across Sydney for the first post-COVID, long-awaited choir festival return to the calendar.
Reprising songs commissioned from Australian composers Troy Russell (The Chant), Elizabeth Sheppard (Gandangarragal), and Club Weld singer/songwriter Clare Brown's beautiful work What the World Needs, River City Voices performed in the Saturday evening concert.
RCV's own Sarah Penicka-Smith, curated and conducted the program for the Festival Choir Finale performance - again another program of outstanding Australian composers, with River City Voices choristers participating as a whole choir and hosting a joint rehearsal in Parramatta!
Songs of Destiny
22 May 2022 | Riverside Theatres Parramatta
In its first major event since COVID hit, River City Voices returned to the local stage with the full force of the Willoughby Symphony and Willoughby Symphony Choir
scaling the heights of heaven with Johannes Brahms’ rarely heard “Song of Destiny” (Schicksalslied), and thrilling to the anger of the Gods in his “Song of the Fates” (Gesang der Parzen).
And after numerous cancellations, RCV proudly presented the world Premiere performances of its specially commissioned choral works by local Indigenous composers Troy Russell (The Chant) and Elizabeth Sheppard (Gandangarragal:Blue Mountains Dreaming).
