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They are the dedicated singers of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, an amateur group that sings at a professional level. At the helm of this protean organism is their charismatic musical and artistic director, Brett Weymark. Occupying the position since 2003, Weymark is set to guide the choirs through their 85th year in 2010. He is a product of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has first hand knowledge of the demands of singing, having been a Philharmonia chorister early in his career, then working with The Song Company, Opera Australia and Cantillation before turning his attention to conducting.
For Weymark, Vox is one of Sydney Philharmonia’s success stories and he credits its previous and present conductors, George Torbay and Liz Scott, with developing it from a residual 20 singers to its current membership of 50. Weymark is keen to expose Vox to as wide a variety of music as possible so, while he’s opening their 2009 programs with a concert at the City Recital Hall featuring counter-tenor Tobias Cole, he also has in the pipeline an exploration of the world of cabaret.
Weymark’s boundless energy and irreverant wit regularly have the choir in gales of laughter. His technical knowledge is highly respected and his passion inspires loyalty and sweeps the singers along in his wake. This is no haughty maestro remote from his choristers. He is accessible, sincere and unfailingly polite. Yet he often has to make tough decisions about people with whom he has worked for a long time. ‘It’s never left me … the idea that you’re treading on people’s dreams. Walk carefully, and lightly ... people are doing this because they love it. But at the end of the day it’s a business. My job is difficult. I have to satisfy the reviewers, the Sydney Symphony, the recording engineers or ourselves – and you have to be very diplomatic about how you go about that. Sometimes it’s best not to say anything at all but work very, very hard – it’s a very interesting job. I can’t think of many other jobs like it.’
Weymark explains the potency of the chorister’s commitment by pointing to the sheer physicality of singing and the power of music. ‘You forget how good singing makes you feel,’ he explains. ‘For dozens of individuals to come together and learn a piece of music to the point where it is performed or recorded is something unique to a choir. It’s a tremendous gift and has the extraordinary ability to give people a sense of wellbeing. Something extraordinary happens to your body when you sing and for that time, you can take the focus off yourself and look at something bigger. And that’s what art is about. The worst crime that art can be accused of is indifference. If you go to a concert you want to be moved, shocked, tickled, saddened and I think music is still the strongest vehicle for that.’ |