Jessye Norman, live shower songs and a 600-voice Carmina Burana to star in new NSW festival.

Opera legend Jessye Norman, the St Petersburg Chamber Choir and a specially installed shower in Martin Place for wannabe amateur vocalists are set to vie with jazz, gospel and beatbox in the latest festival to hit New South Wales. Arts gurus Leo Schofield and Jarrod Carland, the brains behind last month’s highly regarded Brisbane Baroque, today launched their latest idea, Sydney Sings, to take place over ten days from July 28 to August 7. “Never before have we had a festival celebrating the voice,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Major Events Jonathan O’Dea, introducing the creators of the event.

Designed to fill what Schofield described as “a fallow period” in Sydney’s arts calendar, the festival came out of conversations with Destination NSW’s CEO Sandra Chipchase. With many events exclusive to Sydney, the organisers are hoping that 11000 interstate visitors will deliver $5 million of revenue. Venues for the various events include City Recital Hall, Government House, Sydney University’s Great Hall and St Patrick’s Cathedral in Paramatta.

Introducing the launch, Schofield described singing as...