In the fateful year of 2020, the Collegium Musicum Choir had programmed Handel’s Alexander’s Feast for its second program, a performance which sadly did not reach the stage because of the pandemic lockdowns and risks of choral singing. Consequently, we are especially delighted to have started rehearsal on this great work, preparing for performance in June with professional orchestra and soloists.

Subtitled ‘The Power of Musick: An Ode to St Cecilia’, Alexander’s Feast follows the popular form of baroque oratorio but on a text of John Dryden rather than a biblical theme. Over the next few months, the members of UNSW’s large community choir, the Collegium Musicum, will be working through ten choruses celebrating themes of love, music, triumph, wine and feasting with all the elements of complexity and drama typical of Handel’s dramatic choral writing. The choir itself includes undergraduate and postgraduate students from every faculty, as well as staff and singers from the local community, who convene weekly in the Sir John Clancy Auditorium to bring this musical treasure to life.