Drill Hall
239 A'Beckett St
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
ABN 55 980 662 321
239 A'Beckett St
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
ABN 55 980 662 321
In 2008 the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic celebrates its 156th year of music-making in Melbourne, making it Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation and one of the oldest secular choirs
in the world.
Today, the 120-voice Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir continues to present critically acclaimed performances to audiences in Melbourne. It is committed to the encouragement and fostering of young musicians, and is recognised by many as Melbourne's premier symphonic choir. The RMP's choristers are strictly auditioned, and are voluntary musicians who share a common love of choral music, and who give their time freely in the pursuit of musical excellence.
... The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic ... under the leadership of Andrew Wailes, outlined the passion of this work with aplomb. The dedicated preparation was obvious on all levels: first-class diction, intonation and vocal power were all abundant.
The Age
The RMP was founded in 1853, by a group of civic leaders and music lovers who wished to bring musical culture of a high standard to the early colony of Victoria. Since that time it has presented performances at many historic occasions and important events in the history of Melbourne. These include the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880, the Great Centennial Exhibition of 1888, the opening of the First Australian Parliament in 1901, the opening of the Melbourne Town Hall, the 1956 Olympic Games and most recently, the Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001.
Throughout its long existence, the RMP has consistently presented performances of major choral and orchestral works to great acclaim, often as Australian or Melbourne premieres. Amongst the many works performed for the first time in Australia by the RMP Choir and Orchestra, are Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Israel in Egypt, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Vivaldi's Gloria, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Dvorak's Stabat Mater, Elgar's The Kingdom and The Spirit of England and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. In recent times this tradition of innovative programming has continued, with the RMP presenting world premiere performances of works such as From the Beginning by Stuart Greenbaum, Sky Saga and Southern Gloria by Nicholas Buc, Fronting Eternity by Gordon Kerry and Mourning and the Light Within by John Peterson.
Strong on emotion and delivery ... the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, prepared by Andrew Wailes, was rock solid. In fact, its performance was by far the best presentation I have heard from a Melbourne-based choir this year.
The Age
Handel's great oratorio Messiah has particular significance for the RMP. It first launched the choir in 1853, and has been performed at least once every year since. This unbroken sequence of performances is considered to be a world record.
Throughout its distinguished history, the RMP has boasted many outstanding conductors. These include such figures as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Georg Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Granville Bantock, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Eugene Goossens, and Chief Conductors including Alberto Zelman and Sir Bernard Heinze.
All credit, therefore, to the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra... who, under RMP Music Director Andrew Wailes' inspired direction, gave the two-part masterwork a thrilling performance.
The Sunday Herald Sun
In 2001 the RMP performed Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the Melbourne Symphony and conductor Markus Stenz to widespread critical acclaim, and appeared with the Melbourne Symphony again for The Age Family Concerts at the Melbourne Concert Hall.
In January 2003 RMP choristers were flown to Perth, where they participated in the highly acclaimed performance of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder (for the Perth International Arts
Festival), featuring the Australian Youth Orchestra and Maestro Diego Masson. 2004 concerts included Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams,
Elgar's For the Fallen, the world premiere of Sky Saga by Nicholas Buc, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and
Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (the top selling event of the 2004 Fringe Festival). The RMP again performed Gurrelieder, as part of the 2004 Melbourne
International Arts Festival, with the MSO and Markus Stenz, and recorded music for The Gordon Assumption, a contemporary sound installation by David Chesworth and Sonia Leber, also for the
Melbourne International Arts Festival.
2005 concerts included Rachmaninov's The Bells, Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin, the Victorian premiere of Peter Sculthorpe's Requiem, the world premiere of Gordon Kerry's Fronting Eternity, Fauré's Requiem, The Last Night of the Proms and Messiah. The same year, 130 members of the choir also travelled to Sydney and performed the Verdi Requiem in the Sydney Opera House with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra (USA). The choir appeared on the 2005 Spirit of Christmas CD, and has made numerous appearances at corporate events around Melbourne as well as Proms Concerts, Stonnington Carols by Candlelight, and numerous other concerts.
2006 highlights included Dvorak's Stabat Mater, a Venetian polychoral concert, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Orff's Carmina Burana, Irish Songs of Praise, and the world premiere of John Peterson's Mourning and the Light Within. 2007 concerts included Haydn's The Creation, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Missa Brevis, Tarik O'Regan's Dorchester Canticles, Irish Songs of Pride, Beethoven's Choral Fantasia and Mass in C, Handel's Messiah and Carols in the Cathedral.
Concerts for 2008 concert include the Fauré Requiem performed with the visiting London Bach Choir, then the Schubert Mass in A minor and the Bruckner Te Deum, performed with the the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Academic Orchestra of Stuttgart University. To fit with the schedules of the touring ensembles, these two major concerts were performed on successive weekends (March 29 and April 5), a considerable accomplishment by the choir and its conductor. Later performances in the year include in June an all Bach concert (Magnificat BWV243, Easter Oratorio BWV 248 and the solo cantata Ich Hab Genug BWV82) then in August a remarkable program of multi-ethnic music centred on Fanshawe's African Sanctus. The following concert in October shifts focus again to two rarely performed works, Kodaly's Buvari Te Deum and Verdi's Four Sacred Pieces. The year's activities conclude more conventionally with Messiah and two carol concerts in St Paul's cathedral.
The RMP is a member of the Australian National Choral Association, and gratefully acknowledges the continuing support of the City of Melbourne as its principal sponsor.
