Australian has many talented composers of Choral Music, these ANCA members would be happy to hear from you about what works they have written or if you are looking for someone to commission a work
For more information on composers of Australian choral music please go to the Australian Music Centrehttps://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Dan Bennett is a musician, conductor, arranger and composer based in Canberra, Australia.
When not running choir rehearsals, Dan teaches music privately - specializing in music theory, arranging, voice, guitar and piano. Dan also offers coaching for other conductors as well as coaching ensembles.
Dan is an active arranger and composer of music - with experience in a broad range of styles including contestable Barbershop arrangements, SATB choral acapella and more.
Dan also hosts of podcast Interviews with Choir Leaders, and is active in promoting community music-making.
Most recently, Dan has become a qualified Singing Judge with the Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges.
Learn about Dan's podcast, arrangements, learning tracks and more at danbennettmusic.com
| Vicky Jacobs |
Vicky Jacobs has developed a reputation for her ability to get anyone singing at their best - from Australia's top music theatre stars to the most nervous new singers.
Vicky has been Associate Musical Director on some of this country's biggest musicals including ‘ Hairspray’, ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘Come From Away’, ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’, ‘Jersey Boys’, ‘Grease’ and ‘Singin’ in the Rain'. Vicky was Musical Director for Elegies' for Clovelly Fox and ‘The Heartbreak Choir’ for Melbourne Theatre Company for which she received a Green Room Award nomination.
As well as music theatre, Vicky loves working with choirs. Vicky is the founder and director of Glee Club, Melbourne's original singalong choir. Glee Club hosts regular singalong events around Victoria and Tasmania and also runs weekly choirs, online singing sessions and workshops. In 2023 Vicky traveled to San Fransisco to work with Bobby McFerrin using his circle songs approach and is loving incorporating some of these ideas into her choir rehearsals.
Vicky writes and arranges choral music which you can find at www.sheetmusicplus.com and The Australian Music Vault Choir Project. Vicky Jacobs (Glee Club) sheet music - ArrangeMe Pro | Sheet Music Plus
Judith Clingan AM
Judith Clingan AM was born in Sydney in 1945. She studied voice, recorder, bassoon and composition in Sydney and Canberra and music education and conducting at the Kodaly Institute in Hungary.She has been composing, mostly for choirs, since she was a teenager. As she has also spent her life teaching and directing choral and music theatre groups, many of her compositions have been written for these specific groups (Canberra Children’s Choir 1967 - 1979; Gaudeamus 1983 - 1993; Lady’s Mantle women’s choir 1991 - 1993; Voicebox Youth Opera 1994 - 2002; Imagine Music Theatre 1994 - present; the Variables - vocal octet - 1997 - 2009; Wayfarers choir for young people and adults 1997 - present).
Her compositions include operas and music theatre works for young people and adults, masses, cantatas, plays for young people of various ages with songs and incidental instrumental music, difficult unaccompanied SATB pieces for advanced adult vocal ensembles, and many original pieces and arrangements for SSA and SAB choir. suitable for school and community choirs. Judith has been commissioned by many performing ensembles - she still accepts commissions. judithclingan@me.com; judithclingan.net.au; 0410 617 427.
|
Mark O'Leary .jpeg) Mark O'Leary OAM B.Mus.Ed M.Mus is one of Australia's most active choral conductors, widely respected for his work with Young Voices of Melbourne which he founded in 1990 following a Churchill Fellowship study tour of outstanding children's choirs around the world. With Young Voices Mark has produced twelve CD recordings, toured all states and territories of Australia and made nine international tours to Europe, South Africa, North America, Asia, Samoa and New Zealand. Young Voices has been successful in competition in Europe and Asia and is often heard on Australian radio and television. Exaudi youth choir became part of the YVM organization in 2013 and since then Mark has conducted the choir on tours to regional Victoria, Tasmania, the National Folk Festival in Canberra, the Northern Territory, Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland and Ireland, as well as in concerts in and around Melbourne. Exaudi produced its first CD with Mark O’Leary in 2018Mark is also Principal Guest Conductor of Gondwana Voices, Australia's national children's choir. He has worked regularly with Gondwana Voices since its first season in 1997, attending 17 National Choral Schools, as well as making three CDs and five international tours. His youtube recordings with Gondwana Voices have received many hundred of thousands of views. Mark has special interests in Kodaly teaching techniques, the development of excellence in children's choirs and Australian choral music. He presents many workshops each year on choral music education throughout Australia, and is an Honorary Life Member of the Kodaly Music Education Institute of Australia which provides courses, workshops and events for Australian music teachers. Mark publishes Australian choral music for young choirs in the Young Voices of Melbourne Choral Series and his arrangements are performed all around the world. Mark is the creator of the Sight Singing School books and website, which won the President’s Award at the 2014 Australian eLearning Industry Association Awards and has users from more than forty five countries. Mark is a regular guest conductor at choral festivals around Australia, and is in demand as a presenter on choral music education at workshops and conferences, both in Australia and abroad. In 2018 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to education and choral music. Contact Mark at: markolearymusic.com Ray Mizzi  I am Ray Mizzi, regional to Sydney, on the N.S.W Central Coast. Australian Born, of Maltese parents from the 1950's, dad was a diesel mechanic. I am a pianist, singer improviser and have fond memories of hearing my mum singing grand opera as she washed the dishes, I could hear her as I walked up the street from school, and I loved it. She was inspiring to me, in her resilience, her clarity and her raw emotiveness in her voice. The war destroyed the Malta Opera House, and it was never rebuilt. Year later, as boy, I would be inspired and sang publicly where ever I could: in musicals, in church, in theatre, on the street, in various choirs, chorus and songs on radio. I composed way back, in fact that is all I ever did, as soon as I could play piano, which was very early. After school I took a while to find a way in the suburbs of Sydney, but it was hard in the 80's, in the 90's I went to uni and got in when I impressed Nigel Butterley with a Composition. I then met some amazing Australians, Michael Dudman, Robert Constable, Carmel Lutton and studied tenor with Gerald English.After my degree from Newcastle uni in 1995 I still had no direction in music and did not find new outlets, I just meandered, I tried again and again, but things got in the way, personal set backs and eventually mum passed away, and that seemed to be the end of me. But music kept calling from inside, in layers, in colours, in ways that seem to make complete sense of things. And so I am here, presenting the result of my journey this far to you in a set of compositions. I write songs, and scores for various media, but really love voice.. And while I know I am in the company of great people, I hope you will consider my work worthy merit. A full 5 min SATB normally takes around 1 week, and is tailored to your ranges and standards. It can be acapella or include full orchestra and I quickly orientate to a genre you require. I have varying rates depending on the requirement and offer a satisfaction guarantee + updates as the work is composed and full support. Parts are all simulated and all accompaniment is provided. No job is to big or too small. Call for a friendly talk, or Skype. Call 0414 487 386. Here is my score channel, with a play-list of choral works in Jazz, Classical, Musical Style, Gospel and in the style of music theatre: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNO6_C6busn6Q_xsu86GNdFNlh-bAcQTS Kathryn Sadler  KateSongs is the body of choral works from the pen of eminent master voice teacher and choral expert, Kate Sadler. Kate's many works appeal to a range of choirs, frequently featuring optional baritone parts for user friendly music in both the high school and community choir setting. Central is strong melody and lyrical poetry. Her songs range from uplifting anthems and joyful expressions of life and the power of music within it and by contrast, there are simple, but effective layered chants and songs with an unusual twist which move the audience to rapt attention. Above all, KateSongs are singable. She never writes a melody or harmony that she doesn't' love to sing herself. She prides her songs with having a unique and accessible Australian Voice, that expresses the vibrancy and honesty of the Australian spirit. KateSongs are available as licensed PDFs at very reasonable rates, attractive to both school and community choirs.Purchase KateSongs at www.katesadler.com.au/store.html Mark Puddy  Mark has worked in music education for many years and is in demand as a writer and arranger of choral works. He is regularly commissioned to write works for schools and community choirs around Australia. Mark is the resident arranger and composer for the Australian Girls Choir and this organisation regularly performs his works for children ranging from 5 to 18 years of age. He has published many choral pieces and his works are performed regularly in Australia and overseas, often appearing in eisteddfodau and other choral competitions as set pieces or as recommended works. Mark conducts and tutors with The Australian Girls Choir and is a regular conducting tutor at ACCET (Australian Choral Conductors’ Education and Training), teaching conducting to choral directors from around Australia. Previously Mark taught classroom music whilst working with the AGC and has been Associate Head of Music at Firbank Grammar School and Wesley College’s Elsternwick Campus in Melbourne. He was on the staff of Marryatville High School’s Special Interest Music Centre in SA. Mark regularly tours home and abroad with the Australian Girls Choir, often as an accompanist. This, combined with his instrumental experience as a trumpeter in the Australian Youth Orchestra, South Australian Youth Orchestra and various ensembles has been invaluable when it comes to working with and writing for ensembles. Contact Mark at : https://www.markpuddy.com/ Glyn Lehmann  Glyn’s work as a composer includes many commissions for both the WA Massed Choir Festival and the SA Primary Schools’ Festival of Music. His music can be heard on ABC Television programs such as Behind The News, and in theatre productions for Windmill, Patch and State Theatre Company of SA.Glyn began his musical life as a French horn player in orchestras and jazz big bands. Later, as a keyboardist, his band Seven Stories produced two critically acclaimed albums and supported Midnight Oil, INXS and Ireland’s Hothouse Flowers, amongst many others. He even performed twice at Womadelaide in a Celtic group playing the piano accordion! Using the experience gained from his diverse musical background and a passion for the craft of songwriting, Glyn established the SongLibrary website in 2012. The aim was to provide easily accessible, high quality works for children to perform and professional resources for teachers and choir trainers. The SongLibrary contains a growing list of Glyn’s commissioned works and other original songs written specifically for children aged 5 to 13 to perform. Songs for children’s choir available from songlibrary.net Glyn Lehmann 'humbled' to have song Everyone Belongs featured in Jo Cox memorial Sherelle Eyles .jpg)
Sherelle Eyles composes children’s choral pieces that have been performed by children’s choirs across Australia, several of which are published in Mark O’Leary’s Young Voices of Melbourne Choral Series. Her choral songs have been sung at Out of the Box Festival, Brisbane 2012; The State Choral Festival of Victoria, 2011; The Next Generation Sings Festival, Gold Coast 2012; Young Voices Choral Festival 2013; Choral Fanfare 2013, ANCA Treble Voices Singing Through Life Festival 2014; Qld Youth Music Awards 2014; the Qld Young Conservatorium State Honours Ensemble Programme 2013; and have won first prize in the Under 12s Championships at the National Choral Eisteddfod, Canberra 2012. Further performances include Junior Gondwana (Sydney Children’s Choir) at the Summer Music Camps, January 2013 and theSuzuki Foundation Graduation Concert at Sydney Opera House, 2014; chosen set choral pieces of the National Choral Eisteddfod, Canberra, 2013 and Western Australia Massed Choirs Festival 2014 involving over 4000 children, Singfest Qld with 2,000 primary school children and the Primary Proms at Sydney Town Hall 2015 involving 2,000 children. She has been commissioned by Brisbane Grammar School Chamber Choir for the Pemulwuy Male Voice Festival 2014. Her song ‘Gecko’, was a finalist in the Queensland Music Awards 2013 – Children’s Song Category. Sherelle’s choral music includes simple unison with piano accompaniment, SA and SSA treble repertoire. She composes for children’s voices of all ages, and has had works performed all over Australia, in Asia and the USA.Sherelle is an Australian Music Examinations Board examiner. She has been a piano and theory teacher and choral accompanist at Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School and All Hallows’ School since 1997. Sherelle is the composer representative of the Australian National Choral Association, Choralfest, 2017. For more information go to www.sherelleeyles.com Scott Buchanan .jpg) Scott Buchanan is a composer, lyricist, musician and teacher and has been writing choral music, songs and musicals for more than thirty years. He has a passion for writing engaging and uplifting works for performers both young and old. He was commissioned to write a children’s opera for Victoria State Opera Schools’ Company in 1992. This piece The Moon Chariot was performed to approximately 70,000 students and was the first VSO Schools’ Company piece to be selected to take part in an International Children’s Theatre Festival. Other commissions have been the massed song for the biennial Music Festival of the Independent Primary School Heads Association (Victoria - 2012, 2014 and 2016). The National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia commissioned a piece, The Day Will Come for a research project called Register 4. This was launched in 2010. That song featured at major NBCF functions in capital cities around Australia for several years. It’s now been picked up by Worldwide Cancer Research and will be performed by renowned operatic contralto Deborah Humble at Australia House in London in April 2016.
Scott along with his writing partner Debbie Nicholls has written six full-length musicals for young people - Fantasy, Vox Vulture and the Knitting Shop, The Rooster Who Couldn’t Crow, Happily Ever After, Inspiritor and Closed Doors, a piece which was commissioned by Methodist Ladies College for their Year 12 production in 2006. These music theatre pieces have been performed widely in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and have also been toured to South East Asia. Scott’s music and lyrics range from simple unison songs with piano accompaniment to SATB choral pieces to fully orchestrated pieces for the theatre. Scott has been a director of music in Primary Schools for the last 23 years and a music specialist for more than 30 years. He is a highly respected classroom music teacher and choral director holding positions at schools such as Wesley College, International School – Ho Chi Minh City, Methodist Ladies College, St Catherines School and Brighton Grammar School. For more information go to www.syncorswing.com.au or contact Scott by email at imscottb62@icloud.com Annie Kwok Annie is truly excited by children’s and youth choirs, always inspired by their spirit, possibility and sound. She was the 2011-12 Composer-in-Residence for Young Adelaide Voices, composing works for the 6 choirs under the whimsical title of “Heart, Connection + Identity,” and was delighted to work with the Sydney Children’s Choir as the 2014 Composer-in-Residence, basing all her compositions around the iconic Cockatoo Island. Annie is currently a classroom music teacher at Pulteney Grammar School in Adelaide, and looks forward to further compositional collaborations with Southport School in Brisbane, and SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Sydney. With plenty of colour, spots + stripes, of course! Visit littlecolourfulteacher.com for Annie's work. |
Annie Kwok was awarded her Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance) from the Adelaide University Elder Conservatorium, and her Graduate Bachelor of Education in Secondary Arts from the University of South Australia. Annie has been on staff with the South Australian Public Primary School’s Music Festival [2000-2004], Young Adelaide Voices [1999-2012], and Brighton Secondary Special Interest Music School [2004-2013]. At the beginning of 2014, she accepted a teaching position at the Sydney Conservatorium High School.If you are abn ANCA member and a composer, you may like to share your work here. Please get in touch with the office via admin@anca.org.au.
