What will your choir, Tenebrae, be performing at this year’s Sydney Festival?

Tenebrae is singing two programs in Sydney, the first of which features some of the most sublime music of the Renaissance era. The second program is called ‘Music of the Spheres’ and is a collection of music by a range of composers including Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst and Parry. This means there’s a heavy leaning towards the greatest composers from what’s known as the second English Renaissance.

Nigel Short. Photo © Sim Cannetty-Clarke

Is there a specific sound you’re always looking to draw out of the choir?

The sound I want from the choir will always depend on what we are singing. The most important thing is the text. We are singers who communicate text and having a love and understanding of how we can get the meaning of these texts across to an audience is every bit as important as perfect ensemble, balance and intonation. The meaning and emotion behind the text we’re singing will dictate how singers use their voices, whether that be creating an ethereal sound that is very well blended or...