One of the great things about Festival of Voices is that you can ‘just do something because you enjoy doing it’ says Isobel Marmion who recently launched her inaugural Festival of Voices program as Festival Director. ‘I think that we’re really bad at hobbies now, in society – hobbies are always being turned into side hustles and they don’t need to be.
‘We have some amazing, super-skilled singers here, and the Festival has a lot of workshops for people to develop their skills. There’s no baseline skill level required to participate. The point is – you can come along, and everyone is welcome regardless of your skill level,’ she continues.
‘The only thing that you need to do is to want to sing.’
Celebrating the joy of singing and running from 30 June to 9 July, Festival of Voices brings together a wide array of choirs and choral ensembles from across the country, alongside members of the community who just love a good song, together with professional artists from the worlds of opera, cabaret and contemporary music.
As well as perennial highlights including The Big Sing Bonfire, featuring a community sing-along under the stars, this year’s program includes performances by acclaimed German vocal ensemble Sjaella together with The Australian Voices, a more playful event with award-winning cabaret duo Dolly Diamond and Tash York, an intimate evening with singer-songwriter Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors, Mark Seymour and The Undertow) and a massed karaoke-style celebration of the music of ABBA with Singalong Musicals: Mamma Mia!
The overlap of the Festival’s three main strands – choral music, contemporary music and community events – is something that especially delights Marmion.
‘All these different strands weave together and overlap and it’s that joy of singing and joy of community that brings everyone together. That’s really the key of it – people getting together, having a sing, having a really nice time and just connecting with each other. I think that’s the most important thing about the Festival,’ she tells ArtsHub.
Marmion is equally excited by the opportunity the Festival presents for community building and professional development in the choral sector.
‘We have a series of workshops each year. For some workshops you’d need some experience to participate, such as Rossini and Chamber Choir. We’ve also got a cappella, gospel and pride choir groups, as well as a songwriting workshop. They’re for different musical styles and different access levels as well,’ Marmion notes.
This year’s classical choral workshop, focused on the music of Rossini, will be led by the much in-demand Graham Abbott, who has worked with all of Australia’s major orchestras, choirs and opera companies, as well as being Conductor-in-Residence at Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music.
‘Graham’s a very experienced conductor and has been with the Festival before. In fact, the last time he was here he was so popular that people were requesting him back, so you’ve got to give the people what they want,’ Marmion laughs.
Abbott’s workshop will culminate in a public performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle performed by the Festival’s Classical Choral Workshop Choir (consisting of some 80 people from across Australia) alongside nationally recognised soloists and pianists, including mezzo soprano Cassandra Seidemann in her first performance in Hobart, and Gabrielle Cayoun on harmonium.
‘For me personally it sounds a bit terrifying to just rock up and do the workshop and then do a major concert, but it does give people the opportunity to hone their skills,’ says Marmion. ‘It provides them with the opportunity to use practices that they exercised for quite a few years and then have a beautiful performance outcome at the end, which we can all watch.’
At the end of the night, many of the Festival’s performers let their hair down in the Singers’ Lounge, an after-hours bar featuring both scheduled performances and an open mic.
‘We get so much good feedback about the Singers’ Lounge – you may see someone sing something that they don’t usually perform, or maybe sing a song with someone they’ve just met at the bar.’
This blurring of the boundaries between professional and public is also reflected in the blurring of genres in the Festival of Voices’ program.
‘We’re moving into a space where we’re blurring genres, so that we can have choirs working with contemporary artists and they can mutually learn from each other about their individual styles – which hopefully gives us a more interesting performance at the end of it that you may not see every day,’ Marmion says.
‘We want to facilitate connection between different singers. It is really beneficial and I know that, as an artist myself, I always appreciate working with someone that I may not normally work with and seeing what skills I can pick up from them.’
Festival of Voices runs from 30 June to 9 July. Explore the full program now.
