{"id":90311,"date":"2026-09-07T20:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/90311\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T20:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:03:10","slug":"what-it-was-like-for-this-aussie-choir-to-perform-at-the-bbc-proms-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/90311\/","title":{"rendered":"What it was like for this Aussie choir to perform at the BBC Proms in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you have to be a professional musician to perform on some of the world’s most iconic stages?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily.<\/p>\n

Community choirs can give amateur singers the opportunity to perform in venues many musicians only dream of visiting.<\/p>\n

Groups like the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs help singers develop their skills while opening doors to prestigious performance opportunities.<\/p>\n

Hear Sydney Phiharmonia Choirs sing at the BBC Proms<\/a><\/p>\n

Hear Sydney Philharmonia Choirs perform John Adams\u2019s Harmonium at the BBC Proms, alongside Lucas and Arthur Jussen playing Poulenc\u2019s Concerto for Two Pianos.<\/p>\n

The Sydney Opera House Concert Hall is their home stage, but the choir recently returned from a 12-day tour of the UK.<\/p>\n

One of the tour’s highlights was a performance at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This renowned, month-long classical music festival is known for its rich history and tradition of offering affordable standing-room tickets.<\/p>\n

The performance, which will be broadcast on ABC Classic today<\/a>, was a huge financial and musical commitment for the choristers.<\/p>\n

But for many, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Hitting the ground singing<\/p>\n

The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is made up largely of amateur singers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among them are GP and practice owner Kate Clowes, who has been singing with the choir for 20 years, and music teacher Joel Wilkinson, who joined the under-30’s choir last year.<\/p>\n

After the long-haul flight to the UK, the choir launched straight into an intensive schedule of rehearsals and performances.<\/p>\n

According to Wilkinson, the pace was hectic.<\/p>\n

“Some of the choristers finished a show in Sydney on Saturday, flew out, landed in London on Monday, rehearsed, and went into a 12-day tour.”<\/p>\n

And Clowes had another curveball right before she got on the plane: “I actually caught COVID [and recovered], but I was nervous that would interfere with my capacity to sing,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"More<\/p>\n

Nearly 150 choristers took part on the recent Sydney Philharmonia Choirs tour. (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: Vesna Hatezic)<\/p>\n

Adding to the challenge was the repertoire itself.<\/p>\n

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Artistic Director Brett Weymark describes John Adams’s Harmonium, which the choir performed, as an “extremely difficult piece” that requires “precision”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It calls on “a different level of expertise from what they’re used to” according to Weymark.<\/p>\n

But the effort paid off.<\/p>\n

Weymark shares how walking into the Royal Albert Hall, a venue steeped in over a century of musical performances, is “an extraordinary experience” even for seasoned musicians.<\/p>\n

More than 300 performers took part on the night.<\/p>\n

Wilkinson says the feeling of being in a massed choir “was like being swept up in a sea of sound”.<\/p>\n

“The Royal Albert Hall is such a hallowed place,” Clowes says.<\/p>\n

“To stand on stage and fill the space with incredible sound was a thrill.”\"The<\/p>\n

Singers from Sydney travelled across the world to perform at the iconic Royal Albert Hall, the primary venue for the world-famous BBC Proms. (BBC: Chris Christodoulou)<\/p>\n

Living the life of a musician<\/p>\n

There’s a special bond that’s often formed by singing together. This is intensified when a group goes on tour.<\/p>\n

Amateur groups like the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs operate through members paying to take part in music projects, including self-funding international travels.<\/p>\n

Clowes first joined the group in 2006, without having to audition, as part of a Christmas performance in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.<\/p>\n

Now a seasoned chorister and traveller, she sings in the choir’s rigorously auditioned Chamber Singers.<\/p>\n

Although Wilkinson has experience tackling complex repertoire through his music studies at university, he needed to save for six months to go on the tour.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney<\/p>\n

For many of these choristers, touring is a significant financial and musical commitment. (Supplied: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs)<\/p>\n

“It was quite a big thing to do for me and my girlfriend,” Wilkinson says.<\/p>\n

“It was a hectic couple of weeks, but the experiences that we were able to have were pretty cool.”<\/p>\n

During the tour, “they actually become professional musicians for that period,” Weymark says.<\/p>\n

“They’re not going to the office to become accountants or teaching in their schools or working in a hospital.<\/p>\n

“For that period, they are there to do one thing only: to sing as a group.”<\/p>\n

He is “incredibly proud of all the singers” who rose to the challenge of learning music, travelling and performing in new venues most have never been to.<\/p>\n

Why community choirs matter<\/p>\n

Weymark likens community music groups to sport.<\/p>\n

He says it starts with “people who are out kicking a football around in their local park” rather than professional league players.<\/p>\n

Similarly, “more people take part in amateur music making than we think,” Weymark says.<\/p>\n

And although Australia has professional ensembles such as state orchestras and opera companies, Weymark says the sector couldn’t exist without “the grassroots music making that happens on an amateur level.”<\/p>\n

For Clowes, making new memories on tour and strengthening friendships made the commitment worthwhile, despite having to close her practice and “working doubly hard” when she got back.<\/p>\n

“My patients are very patient with me, and interestingly have been the most curious ever about our recent choir tour,” Clowes says.<\/p>\n

Learning from some of the best conductors was valuable professional development for Wilkinson’s teaching career.<\/p>\n

But the best confidence boost was being able to tell his students that “Mr Wilkinson actually does some cool stuff on tour.”<\/p>\n

Weymark sums up why being part of a choir or an orchestra is so addictive and valuable:<\/p>\n

“We are creating some joy in the community by bringing people together to make music.”<\/p>\n

Until you experience it for yourself, Weymark says, “you cannot, even for a second, imagine the camaraderie, support and connection you have with people when you make music together.”<\/p>\n

Listen to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs perform at the BBC Proms<\/a> on ABC Classic on Tuesday, September 8 at 8pm.<\/p>\n

Get the latest classical music stories direct to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you have to be a professional musician to perform on some of the world’s most iconic stages?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[155560,31918,90679,3586,247,155561],"class_list":["post-90311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-bbc-proms","tag-choirs","tag-classical-music","tag-classicreads","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-philharmonia-choirs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}