Saturday’s Sydney Philharmonia concert was nothing short of breathtaking. The ambitious program of contemporary music brought together three of the Philharmonia choirs with the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra and guests from the Sydney Youth Orchestra.

Conductors Elizabeth Scott and Brett Weymark wove their magic, working with a star-studded line-up of soloists: Deborah Cheetham Fraillon (soprano), Sian Sharp (mezzo-soprano), Helen Sherman (mezzo-soprano), Nicholas Jones (tenor) and Teddy Tahu Rhodes (baritone).

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: A Child of Our Time. Photo © Simon Crossley-Meates

Although not a full house, the pre-concert talk featuring Tom Forrester-Paton and Dr Michael Bradshaw (Conducting Fellow), and the concert itself, were well attended for a new music event.

Much of the drama in the music was heightened by carefully planned lighting plots. The program opened with VOX choristers taking their places downstage and along both sides of the stalls. A dim orange hue accompanied the Acknowledgement of Country, which flowed seamlessly into the hymn Adira Arenio (O Lamb of God) in Mer Island language. Arranged by composer Alice Chance, this segment gave audience members in the stalls a surround-sound experience.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: A Child of Our Time. Photo © Simon Crossley-Meates

Over a low drone, attention shifted to the stage as the choristers exited with another lighting change for the aptly programmed Agnus Dei by Alice Chance, conducted by Elizabeth Scott. This cleverly crafted piece demonstrated the composer’s skill in blending choral and instrumental timbres, and her aptitude for preserving stillness and space in music. The tubular bell entry with the tutti crescendo around the words dona eis requiem (“grant them rest”) was especially effective, as was the harp chord following the final word, sempiternam (“eternal”).

Joanna Marsh’s dramatic cantata A Plastic Theatre, in five movements, was heard for the first time in Australia. The imaginative realism of Dr Katie Schaag’s text was well interpreted by Helen Sherman, whose rich, rounded tones wove through the sophisticated orchestration.

Although some words in the first movement were difficult to discern, the sparse texture of the second allowed for greater clarity and balance. In the third movement, the line “Cue the rubber duckies”– during which choristers animatedly squeezed a pre-set row of rubber ducks – was greeted with laughter from the audience.

After interval came quite possibly Michael Tippett’s most famous work, A Child of Our Time. Brett Weymark successfully led the musicians through this fascinating combination of complex counterpoint and lush homophony.

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: A Child of Our Time. Photo © Simon Crossley-Meates

The heightened emotions and intensity of Tippett’s text were superbly conveyed by the soloists. Deborah Cheetham Fraillon soared above the orchestra and chorus with tenderness and clarity.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes delivered the often dark and disturbing narrative of social injustice with power. Sian Sharp mesmerised with the strength and emotional richness of her voice, while Nicholas Jones convincingly channelled the distress of the oppressed and forsaken.

415 choristers dressed in dark civilian clothing filled the choir, organ and platform boxes as the concert hall reverberated with a spectacular wave of sound that culminated in the final spiritual, Deep River, resonating with a profound sense of hope.

Billed as “a performance of truly transfixing intensity,” A Child of Our Time was not just a highly successful and memorable gathering of professional and community musicians; it was an important reminder of the universal need for peace that transcends all times and ages.