Entries Open For 2019 National Choral School

Internationally acclaimed conductor Simon Halsey CBE has been confirmed as Gondwana National Choral School Guest Artist for 2019. An expert in the art of choral singing, Halsey is an inspirational teacher and ambassador for choral music.

For students at the 2019 School, which runs from 7 to 20 January, it will be a privilege to learn from such a revered figure in choral music whose many roles include Conductor Laureate of the Berlin Radio Choir, Chorus Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Choruses, Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Director of the BBC Proms Youth Choir.

Halsey joins an array of renowned Australian artists presenting at the National Choral School which is led by Gondwana Choirs’ Artistic Director Lyn Williams OAM. The team of tutors includes Mark O’Leary, Carl Crossin, Paul Holley, Elizabeth Scott, Rowan Johnston, Kate Albury, Kim Sutherland, Amandine Petit and Paul Jarman.

Applications close on 6 August for the 2019 National Choral School, followed by auditions for the 300 places, held in late August and early September all around Australia. This year’s auditions centres are Canberra, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Armidale, Toowoomba, Cairns and Brisbane.  Gondwana National Choral School also accepts audio visual audition material, suring that singers living in more remote regions get the chance to obtain a place at the summer school.

The National Choral School also offers a creative group of electives such as Music Theatre, a cappella singing, Indonesian Dance, Javanese Gamelan and Vocal Music and the ever popular Taiko drumming with Taikoz and music therapy.

Gondwana Choirs is known as the most accomplished choral organisation for young people in Australia. Its choirs include over 500 children in the Sydney Children’s Choir program, 350 choristers, composers and conductors in Gondwana National Choral School and the choral hubs for the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir in Cairns and Sydney. Gondwana Choirs