Parramatta's flagship choir, River City Voices, returns in 2025 with its signature collaborative and unexpected programs and activities that engage, reflect and promote the artistry,
history and stories of western Sydney and its community.
HUMAN WAVES
Saturday 6 September | 7.30pm
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Revel in music that reflects you, with soaring sound, shared heritage, and powerful voices from the heart of Western Sydney.
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Waves of people… waves of sound…Let Human Waves carry you through the vivid diversity of Australia’s migrant history, our common bond and one of our greatest assets. This major work was originally commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for its centenary celebrations from two of Australia’s most beloved artists, Tamara-Anna Cislowska (librettist) and Elena Kats-Chernin AO (composer).
In September 2020, the world premiere was streamed online to a global audience, performed by a virtual choir of over 200 choristers from around the world, with Kats-Chernin and Cislowska on piano, conducted by Brett Weymark OAM. The fully orchestrated premiere took place exactly three years later at the Sydney Opera House featuring River City Voices.
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Human Waves reverberates through Western Sydney for the very first time, amplified by powerful new movements commissioned by River City Voices, telling Western Sydney stories.
Guest Artists
Elena Kats Chernin | Piano
Tamara_Anna Cislowska | Piano
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Conductors - Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith | Dr Philip Eames
River City Voices
SLAM MESSIAH
Saturday 6 December
3.00pm | 7.30pm
Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown
A musical masterwork re-energised for western sydney
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In 2022, River City Voices broke the mold of a beloved Christmas tradition by uniting a choral classic with brand new performance poetry for its BRAVE series.
In 2025, Slam Messiah is back – with the same iconic music, and all new poets and poems.
Handel’s masterwork Messiah was born from one man’s struggle to keep his faith alive in the face of changing times and governments.
The times are different, but the issues remain the same. How
will our slam poets respond?
Whether this is your first Messiah or your fiftieth, Slam Messiah offers you the chance to discover what messages - perhaps new, perhaps timeless – Handel’s best-known work offers us in 2025.​
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Conductor - Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith
River City Voices
