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The Consort of Melbourne

The Consort of Melbourne is an elite vocal ensemble that champions both historic and contemporary repertoire, comprising a core membership of eight of Melbourne’s finest chamber singers under the artistic direction of Steven Hodgson.

The Consort of Melbourne was founded in 2008 by Warren Trevelyan-Jones and Peter Tregear. Like the city of Melbourne itself, it was inspired by the best European traditions, to which it brings a uniquely Australian freshness and vitality. The Consort gave its debut performance in September 2008 as part of Musica Viva Australia’s Menage series. In 2009 it was invited to present a series of five concerts at the new Melbourne Recital Centre.

In 2011 the Consort made its debut at the Melbourne Festival with the Kronos Quartet giving the Australian premiere of Terry Riley’s Sun Rings to critical acclaim. In 2012 the Consort opened the musical programme of the Festival with a series of performances of Dietrich Buxtehude’s cantata cycle Membra Jesu Nostri, accompanied by specially commissioned photographic projections in St Paul’s Cathedral. In 2013 Consort performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in The Crowd, a collaboration between the ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti and cinematographer Jon Frank. 2014 saw the Consort backing the Rolling Stones at Rod Laver arena for their On Fire tour. In 2017, Consort appeared alongside British ‘space-rock’ band Spiritualized for Arts Centre Melbourne’s Supersense festival, and with drag legend Taylor Mac for A 24-decade history of popular music, the headline act for the Melbourne Festival.

For this performance, The Consort of Melbourne features the voices of Katherine Norman, Leonie Thomson, Jenny George, Alex Ritter, Spencer Chapman, Robin Parkin, and Lachlan McDonald under the direction of Steven Hodgson.

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