The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir
In 2024 the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic celebrates its 171st year of music-making in Melbourne, making it Australia’s oldest surviving cultural organization, and one of the oldest secular choirs in the world. Today, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir continues to present critically acclaimed performances to audiences in Melbourne and Regional Victoria. It is committed to the encouragement and fostering of young musicians and is recognized by many as Melbourne’s premier symphonic choir. The RMP’s choristers are strictly auditioned, and are voluntary musicians who share a common love of choral music, and who give their time freely in the pursuit of musical excellence.
“… The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic … under the leadership of Andrew Wailes, outlined the passion of this work with aplomb. The dedicated preparation was obvious on all levels: first-class diction, intonation and vocal power were all abundant. “
The Age
The RMP was founded in 1853, by a group of civic leaders and music lovers who wished to bring musical culture of a high standard to the early colony of Victoria. Since that time it has presented performances at many historic occasions and important events in the history of Melbourne. These include the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880, the Great Centennial Exhibition of 1888, the opening of the First Australian Parliament in 1901, the opening of the Melbourne Town Hall, and the 1956 Olympic Games. Throughout its long existence, the RMP has consistently presented performances of major choral and orchestral works to great acclaim, often as Australian or Melbourne premieres. Amongst the many works performed for the first time in Australia by the RMP Choir and Orchestra, are Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Elgar’s The Kingdom and The Spirit of England and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. In recent times this tradition of innovative programming has continued, with the RMP presenting world premiere performances of works such as From the Beginning by Stuart Greenbaum, Sky Saga and Southern Gloria by Nicholas Buc, Fronting Eternity by Gordon Kerry and Mourning and the Light Within by John Peterson.
“Strong on emotion and delivery … the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, prepared by Andrew Wailes, was rock solid. In fact, its performance was by far the best presentation I have heard from a Melbourne-based choir this year.” The Age
Handel’s great oratorio Messiah has particular significance for the RMP. It first launched the choir in 1853, and has been performed at least once every year since. This unbroken sequence of performances is considered to be a world record. Throughout its distinguished history, the RMP has boasted many outstanding conductors. These include such figures as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Georg Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Granville Bantock, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Eugene Goossens, and Chief Conductors including Alberto Zelman and Sir Bernard Heinze.
“All credit, therefore, to the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra… who, under RMP Music Director Andrew Wailes’ inspired direction, gave the two-part masterwork a thrilling performance.” (Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the RMPO)
The Sunday Herald Sun
2006 highlights included Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, a Venetian polychoral concert, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Irish Songs of Praise, and the world premiere of John Peterson’s Mourning and the Light Within. 2007 concerts included Haydn’s The Creation, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Missa Brevis, Tarik O’Regan’s Dorchester Canticles, Irish Songs of Pride, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia and Mass in C. Concerts for 2008 included Faure’s Requiem, performed with the visiting London Bach Choir, Schubert’s Mass in A minor and the Bruckner Te Deum, performed with the the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Academic Orchestra of Stuttgart University. Later performances in the year included an all-Bach concert (Magnificat BWV243, Easter Oratorio BWV 248 and the solo cantata Ich Hab Genug BWV82) and a program of African and Australian Aboriginal music centered on Fanshawe’s African Sanctus. In October, music featured Kodaly’s Budavari Te Deum and Verdi’s Quattro Pezzi Sacri. Concerts for 2009 included a Program celebrating the 350th anniversary of the birth of Henry Purcell – featuring a concert performance of his opera Dido and Aeneas, Come, Ye Sons of Art and the Funeral Music for Queen Mary. Other highlights included the annual RMP Aria competition, An Evening with Mr Handel featuring great Handelian choruses, recitatives and arias from opera and oratorio, the Melbourne Premiere of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace, with the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Australian Catholic University Choir. The year concluded with the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah and two concerts of traditional Christmas Carols in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Concerts for 2010 season included Passiontide Reflections with music of Bach’s St Matthew and St John Passions and Handel’s Brockes Passion, a recital concert of Chopin’s music, a Schubertiade, the annual RMP Aria competition , preceded by ‘Sing Your Own Oratorio’. Then in October the RMP Choir and Orchestra was again joined by the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Australian Catholic University Choir for a performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, and in December Handel’s Messiah and Carols in the Cathedral.
The 2011 Concert season featured ten concerts from Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae sollenes de Confessore through Mahler, Liszt, and 20th Century masters: Britten, Finzi Part and Grainger. The RMP ARIA competition was held in August, then in October the RMP Choir and Orchestra were again joined by the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Australian Catholic University in Elgar’s epic masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius before performances of Messiah and Carols in the Cathedral.
2012/13 concerts included a regional tour of all of the State’s major Cathedrals and Basilicas featuring Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Christopher Willcock’s Anastasis, and the world premiere of Stefan Cassomenos’ Hieratikon. The choir has also performed at important civic events including the Dawn Service at the Shrine on ANZAC Day, the Battle for Australia commemoration, The Melbourne Awards Gala, and the Prime Minister’s Olympic Dinner. The choir performed Mozart’s Requiem with Orchestra Victoria at the Melbourne Recital Centre and visiting American conductor Christian Badea. Other concerts included highly praised performances of Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem and Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, three performances of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Hamer Hall with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, an all Wagner Opera Spectacular and Carols concerts in St Pauls Cathedral. The choir also appeared at the Melbourne Cup, with American recording artists Josh Groban during his Australian tour, at the Stary, Stary Night Gala and at the Prime Minister’s Olympic Gala.
In 2014 the RMP choir performed works including Vaughan Williams Toward the Unknown Region, Elgar’s The Music Makers at Melbourne Town Hall (later released on CD), and highlights from John Williams Star Wars Trilogy at the Melbourne Recital Centre. In July the choir toured to Tasmania to perform as a featured ensemble at the Festival of Voices in Hobart (including a performance of Mozart Requiem with conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, David Lawrence and the Hobart Chamber Orchestra), and also presented concerts of a capella motets by Stanford, Lauridsen, Stopford, Brahms, Rheinberger and Vaughan Williams, Handel’s Messiah and gave three spectacular Carols concerts in St Paul’s Cathedral. Other performances included various commemoration services at the Shrine of Remembrance, and a live Televised performance at the 2014 Melbourne Cup.
In 2015 the choir began the year with an epic five-hour concert of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall, with Principal Guest Conductor Diego Matheuz. The program included the Mass in C Major, and the Choral Fantasia, precursor of the great Ninth Symphony.
“Singing without scores, Andrew Wailes’ RMP Choir again excelled themselves in what was a reprise of the MSO’s premiere performance of this great work with the RMP under Joseph Post in 1955. Why it has not been performed by the MSO since 1981 is difficult to fathom. Although some members of the audience seemed keen to spring to their feet very readily at various points throughout the evening, the standing ovation that greeted the Choral Fantasy involved most of the audience.” (Beethoven: Vienna 1808 with the MSO)
Classic Melbourne, May 2015
Other concerts included a season of twelve performances with The Australian Ballet and Orchestra Victoria of “The Dream”, featuring John Lanchbery’s reworked version of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the world premiere of Stephan Cassomenos’ Requiem for the End of Time with the Plexus Collective at Deakin Edge, Faure’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, an appearance at the 2015 Emirates Melbourne Cup, Handel’s Messiah and three Carols concerts at St Paul’s Cathedral.
“…It was Orchestra Victoria with conductor Nicolette Fraillon that first attracted enthusiastic attention, with a fine performance of the lovely overture from the delicate winds to the stirring burst of sound that introduced the dancers… Also worthy of mention were the mellifluous voices of members of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir (prepared by Andrew Wailes) to further the illusion that things were going well in Fairyland.” (“The Dream”, with The Australian Ballet and Orchestra Victoria)
Classic Melbourne, June 2015
2016 highlights included the epic Sea Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed at Hamer Hall; Vivaldi’s Magnificat in G minor at Deakin Edge, provided vocal backing on a Christmas CD recording with John Farnham and Olivia Newton John (Friends Forever) which subsequently charted No.1 on the Australian popular music charts; performed at the 2016 Emirates Melbourne Cup; performed another world-record -breaking Handel’s Messiah at Melbourne Town Hall; and gave three traditional Carols in the Cathedral concerts in St Paul’s Cathedral.
2017 saw the RMP Choir begin the year with a CD recording of a Mario Lanza Tribute CD with Mark Vincent (another No. 1 on the Australian charts); a special Requiem for the Fallen concert on ANZAC Day at St Paul’s Cathedral including Mozart’s Requiem and Elgar’s For the Fallen; a spectacular performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Hamer Hall; a series of Scotland the Brave concerts at Hamer Hall; ‘Zelda: Symphony of a Goddess’ concerts at Hamer Hall; Rutter’s Gloria at Deakin Edge, and a busy December program including Handel’s Messiah at Melbourne Town Hall and three traditional Carols in the Cathedral Concerts in St Paul’s.
Following disruptions caused by the pandemic in 2020 the RMP quickly returned to a full schedule of performances, which in 2022 included Across the Vast, Eternal Sky – The music of Ola Gjeilo, the Australian premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Coronation Cantata “Moscow”, Rutter’s Requiem, and a sold-out concert at Rod Laver Arena in front of 16,000 people with the famed Italian tenors Andrea and Matteo Bocelli.
The Choir has also performed the music at Australian Citizenship Ceremonies throughout the year at Melbourne Town Hall, as well as at various civic and corporate events which in recent years have included the Battle for Australia Ceremony at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Victoria Tourism Awards.
2023 performance highlights included Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah, Bruckner’s Te Deum and Motets, a combined concert with the Neuerkammerchor Berlin and a series of three Carols in the Cathedral. 2024 concerts include Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Carl Vine’s Choral Symphony (No. 6), Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius (in Auckland, New Zealand presented by Auckland Choral), Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the world premiere of Quasimodo – The Musical by Samuel Kristy, and Handel’s Messiah.
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra
For 150 years the RMP has regularly presented concerts featuring its own choir and orchestra, and although the RMP Choir has become more established and familiar to Melbourne audiences, it was the RMP Orchestra that introduced to Australian audiences such works as Beethoven’s Fifth and Eighth Symphonies and Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, as well as numerous symphonies and concertos by the likes of Haydn and Mozart, not to mention many of the great works of the choral repetoire premiered in Australia by the RMP.
As Australia’s oldest continuously existing musical organisation, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic has within its charter the provision for the running of both a choir and an orchestra and it is important to note that much of the earliest orchestral activity in Melbourne was connected to the then Melbourne Philharmonic.
It was indeed partly the orchestra of the Philharmonic that merged with various other ensembles (chiefly the orchestra associated with the University of Melbourne) to form what eventually became the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Under the RMP Chief Conductor of the time, Sir Bernard Heinze, the RMP Choir became the ABC’s preferred choir, and during this period of some forty years the need for an RMP orchestra became less relevant. Throughout this period it was the Melbourne Symphony that almost exclusively accompanied the RMP Choir in concerts of major orchestral and choral works. In more recent years the RMP formed close working relationships with ensembles such as the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the Australian Classical Players until the present Music Director re-established a professional orchestra operated by the RMP.
“Since 1998 its reputation for fine music-making has been entrusted to the inspirational leadership of Music Director and Chief Conductor, Andrew Wailes. Audiences have come to expect uplifting, dynamic performances with carefully nuanced attention to detail. On Sunday evening that is exactly what they got… the orchestra responded to Wailes’ brisk tempi with enthusiastic energy. As with the choir, attention to detail added to the drama and vitality of the entire performance.”
(Handel’s Messiah) Arts Hub Review 2012
To coincide with the RMP’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2003, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra (RMPO) was re-formed to support the RMP choir in its own subscription concerts, as well as other choral organisations, and from time to time, to perform in its own right. RMPO Players are paid professional freelance musicians as well as advanced tertiary and post-graduate students, and entry is by invitation. Quickly the RMPO has developed a reputation for high quality orchestral playing and is now firmly established as one of Melbourne’s leading orchestral ensembles.
RMPO performing at the Sun Yat Sen Concert Hall in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
In recent times the RMPO under its Chief Conductor Andrew Wailes has given highly praised performances of many major works, ranging from early baroque to contemporary music including masterpieces such as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and King Arthur, J.S. Bach’s St John Passion, Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Haydn’s The Creation and Te Deum for Empress Marie Terese, Handel’s Messiah (including the Mozart transcription), Rutter’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s For the Fallen, Sea Pictures and The Music Makers Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Toward the Unknown Region, Carissimi’s oratorio Jephte, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Karl Jenkin’s Songs of Sanctuary, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Pergolesi’s Magnificat, Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, numerous classical symphonies by Haydn and Mozart and the world premieres of Stuart Greenbaum’s From the Beginning, Gordon Kerry’s Fronting Eternity, and Nicholas Buc’s Sky Saga.
The RMPO can provide orchestral forces ranging from a baroque chamber ensemble to a full sized symphony orchestra of up to 80 players. The normal strength is around 50 players.
Apart from the RMP Choir, the RMPO has appeared in its own right, and has also accompanied other choral organisations including the Australian Boys Choir, The Vocal Consort, Melbourne University Choral Society, the Australian Catholic University Choir, Box Hill Chorale and has appeared in venues ranging from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Town Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral, Deakin Edge at Federation Square, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Costa Hall (Geelong), St Patrick’s Cathedral (Ballarat), the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre (Mt Gambier), Portland Civic Hall and Crown Casino.
“There was a noticeable balance between choir and orchestra for Vaughan Williams’ setting of Walt Whitman’s poems. Dramatic drum rolls, clean attack from the brass and massive waves of choral sound, plus some really lovely playing from the strings, conjured up the same sense of exaltation as much of Elgar’s music had earlier. The bursting forth of glorious melody underpinned by the Town Hall organ made for a thrilling experience that was greeted with cheers from the audience at the end of the work.”
Classic Melbourne (Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region, 2014)
The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra was greatly honoured to be invited by a major music promoter to tour China from 18 December 2007 to 9 January 2008. The tour, which was also sponsored by the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China, was the most extensive by any foreign orchestra in Chinese history. The eighty five musicians in the touring party performed 16 concerts in some of China’s most prestigous venues, beginning with the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Music performed included works by Beethoven, Schubert, Bizet and Johann Strauss, as well as various Australian and Chinese composers. The tour extended to more than a dozen cities. In many of these, audiences rarely have the opportunity to enjoy live concert performances by a symphony orchestra. Several concerts were filmed for Chinese television and footage from the tour will be used on several Australian educational web sites.
The orchestra has subsequently toured China on two more occasions, in 2010/11 and 2013/14.
With its players representing many of the finest young orchestral musicians in Melbourne, the RMPO consists of both current tertiary music students as well as music postgraduates and young professionals who are well on the way to establishing full time professional careers. Many players have already held important positions within tertiary, youth and community ensembles both here in Australia and internationally, and a considerable proportion of players have already gained performing experience with ensembles such as the MSO, the Australian Youth Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Academy of Melbourne, The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and the Australian National Academy of Music.
“The strong brass playing (a consistent feature throughout the performance) led an impressive opening to the Shostakovich, with Wailes directing a sound that was both spirited and satisfyingly ‘big’ – no mean feat. The Mussorgsky, a gentle contrast, was well articulated with strings and winds to the fore, with some fine individual playing… It was easy to picture the sunrise, to appreciate the strings’ counterpoint to the winds’ melody and to be captivated by the ending of the work. Wailes conducted economically but effectively, with an obvious confidence in his well-rehearsed orchestra.”
Classic Melbourne (Shostakovich Festive Overture, Mussorgsky Dawn over the Moscow River, Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky, 2012)
In 2022 the RMPO had the great honour to accompany the famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli on his East Coast Tour of Australia, conducted by Italian Maestrio Carlo Bernini. 75 players and staff performed sellout concerts in Sydney’s Qudos Bank Olympic Stadium, at Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley, and at Melbourne ‘s Rod Laver Arena. Also appearing with Andrea Bocelli were his son Matteo and daughter Virginia, as well as Australian soprano Stacey Alleaume (a former Runner-up of the RMP Aria Competition), Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, and Amy Manford (star of The Phantom of the Opera).