Join us for an evocative evening of choral music that is a celebration of the joys and complexities of existence, with Dan Forrest’s powerful pieces Requiem for the Living and Words from Paradise. The two contemporary works explore the spiritual experience of looking to the light in times of darkness. 

The Collegium Musicum Choir will be accompanied by a professional chamber orchestra, for the landmark choral piece Requiem for the Living, with young soloists from within UNSW’s choral program. This work is uniquely inspired by images of space from the Hubble telescope as well as the grounded “energy of humanity” (Dan Forrest). The five movements weave a narrative which turns the requiem, which is traditionally a prayer of rest for the deceased, into a meditation for the living, offering a narrative of comfort and release amid life’s pain and sorrow.  

Corde, UNSW’s advanced chamber choir will be undertaking Words from Paradise, a five-movement a cappella suite built on single-word texts drawn from Scripture: Holy, Hallelujah, Selah, Hosanna, and Amen. Each word is transformed into a sonic world of its own, representing “different aspects of eternal life” (Dan Forrest). 

Program 

FORREST Adonai, Adonenu (Psalm 8) 
                 Words of Paradise 
                 Requiem for the Living 

Sonia Maddock Choral Director and Conductor  

UNSW Soloists 

Adina Herz, soprano 
Emma Davidson, mezzo 
Oliver Brunsdon, tenor 
 

Collegium Musicum Choir 

UNSW's 100-voice choir known as the Collegium Musicum Choir was founded in 1975 by Professor Roger Covell and Dr Patricia Brown and has a long tradition of performing choral-orchestral works and Christmas programs at UNSW to a semi-professional standard. For the past two decades, choral director, Sonia Maddock has led the ensemble's annual program. The choir's membership includes undergraduate students from across the university, as well as postgraduates, staff and members of the community.