BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
The Sydney Chamber Choir’s Sam Allchurch has big shoes to fill. This year marked his first as its music director, following in the footsteps of the late Richard Gill.
Sam is 29 and off to an impressive start, having first conducted a choir in Manly when he was 13 years old before formally studying music at the University of Melbourne and Cambridge University. You’ll soon read more about the roles he takes on in the music industry, exploring his passion for choral music in particular; though he’s also skilled as an organist.
In this interview, Sam tells us about this special time in his career and life, about the impact Richard Gill made on his music-making and Australia more broadly, and about the understated value of choirs in our creative community.
Sam will lead the SCC through a thoughtful program called Time and Place, which will be presented this month at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Sam, this is such a special time of year for you, and it’s heartwarming to learn about: you’ve recently celebrated your 29th birthday, and you’re about to conduct your final concert of the year as the Sydney Chamber Choir’s MD. When you take a step back for a moment, how are you feeling about life?
I feel like I have the best job in the world, and so lucky to count choral music — my passion — as my work.
Working across three choral organisations — Sydney Chamber Choir, Gondwana Choirs, and Christ Church St Laurence — means there is variety in every day, which is so stimulating.
Your upcoming concert marks the culmination of your commitment with SCC, in which you replaced the late Richard Gill through this role. What has it been like to follow in his footsteps?
The choir has been very welcoming and we are building a good rapport.
I used to spend time with Richard at his home in Stanmore where we would talk about all things choral music over a cup of tea. He gave me some very good advice about how to get the best out of the singers.
How would you describe Gill’s impact on SCC? How can you hear, or work with, his lasting influence on these musicians in your role as the director?
I think Richard brought a great sense of joy and passion to everything he did, and SCC was no exception. His ability to help singers see the wood for the trees has imbued the choir with a good sense of the overall architecture of a piece of music. Once it’s reached and agreed upon, there is also great commitment to a musical decision.
And, of course, Richard’s unforgettably clear diction will always stay with any singer he worked with.
Gill was of course revolutionary in Australian music education. How should artists such as you, who are in positions of influence, ensure his efforts are continued?
Richard was a great champion of music education for young people and there are so many more qualified people than me who can attest to his impact in this. He was also revolutionary in how to reach and touch adult audiences, and I think we shouldn’t forget this aspect – the whole of Australia can benefit from more music.
I think we also have a responsibility to continue the argument that music is good for its own sake – that art enriches and challenges a nation.
Tell us about your unique efforts with SCC, too. What are some of the major changes you’ve made to the SCC’s performance experience? I’m referring to the experience for musicians and concertgoers alike!
In my first year, I’ve tried to find music that the choir will love singing on the basis that if the choir loves it, they will convey that much more immediately to the audience.
Singing is a very exposed form of music-making – there are no instruments to hide behind, and so I’m trying to encourage the singers to engage visibly with each other and the audience. This can only make the music better and increase the audience’s experience of the concert.
I’ve tried to create programs which explore interesting relationships between old music and new music — our first concert spanned from Josquin des Prez and Palestrina through to Paul Stanhope and Elliott Gyger.
I also tried to ensure a good representation of female composers – we have sung music by Judith Weir, Clare Maclean and Ella Macens.
How was the upcoming program selected? There’s a decent quantity of Australian music on the cards.
I was thinking about how music is an art bounded by time and by place. Unlike a painting or a sculpture, which you control the length of time spent with it, live music is ephemeral in time.
Music often has a deep connection to a sense of place, although this is not always an easy or happy one – as in the sense of non-Indigenous Australians trying to relate to Indigenous people and their culture in Paul Stanhope’s I Have Not Your Dreaming as one such example. And other Australian works have a strong sense of place, if not necessarily here – like A West Irish Ballard by former SCC singer Clare Maclean, and Ella Macens’ work drawing on her rich Latvian singing tradition.
There are also two big works – Jonathan Dove’s exquisite The Passing of the Year across the English seasons, and David Conte’s Invocation and Dance – which are such good pieces that you’ll kick yourself if you miss them!
In a statement representing SCC, you said the initiative is “keen to play a significant role in exploring new artistic territory and wide social involvement, and also to elevate choral music in the national artistic conversation”. I’d like to know more about this. What does it mean for the nation to be considering choral music more intensely or seriously? Why is this broader mission important?
In Australia, choral music has for too long been the forgotten cousin of the music world. Orchestras and opera companies have dominated the landscape, and function as the full-time employers of performing musicians. They are supported by strong administration teams and substantial government contribution.
We have some of the best choirs in the world here, but not enough Australians know about and experience what we do. We spend our limited resources putting on concerts, and so often run out of time and money to ensure that they run to full houses.
I am not suggesting that the only way forward is a simple injection of government support, but I do think we need to consider how this artform can reach more Australians. After all, choirs have always drawn people together – and so many people love to sing.
We’ll leave it here with one more question for you, Sam. As you grow into your music career in the decades to come, what lasting impact would you like to leave on this industry?
To create choral music of the highest standard, and for it to become more of a thread in everyday life in Australia.
As singers, we have a unique ability amongst musicians to tell stories, reflect on events, and challenge ideas. We have strong choral music, but we are wasting this if it only reaches a small community of loyal followers.
See Sam conduct the Sydney Chamber Choir through the program Time and Place at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 3pm November 10.
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