Halcyon
Regarded as a leading light in the field of new music, Halcyon presents stunning performances of vocal chamber music from around the world, with a special emphasis on Australian content.
Founded by intrepid singers Alison Morgan and Jenny Duck-Chong, over the past 19 years the ensemble has commissioned many works for voice and instruments, performing new repertoire around Australia at music festivals, through its own concert series and at industry events including the prestigious Paul Lowin Awards, where it has been acknowledged as a powerful influence on the growth of this repertoire and associated on many occasions with short-listed and winning pieces.
Halcyon is a tireless mentor to emerging musicians and composers, presenting concerts and workshops on vocal writing and contemporary Australian repertoire to secondary school music students, tertiary composition and vocal students and their teachers both locally and at interstate institutions.
Now directed solely by Jenny Duck-Chong, Halcyon continues to bring vocal chamber music works to a wide audience through concert programs, educational workshops and presentations and their YouTube channel. A growing number of their commissions and other important Australian works are now available as studio recordings through Move, Tall Poppies, Wirripang and their own self-releases. Cool Black is Halcyon's debut studio CD.
Halcyon is featured on the following titles
Cool Black: Chamber Works by Rosalind Page
Inspired by Apollinaire, Lorca and Harðarson, Cool Black gathers three contrasting chamber song cycles by Rosalind Page, performed by the Australian vocal ensemble Halcyon.
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Halcyon also appears on
Sunburnt Aftertones
Katy Abbott’s chamber music, spanning her career to date, shows her gift for drawing listeners straight into an evocative sound world. Place, travel and instrumental colour shape these direct, pictorial scores.
Members of Halcyon
Jenny Duck-Chong
Mezzo-soprano Jenny Duck-Chong is a versatile performer of classical and contemporary repertoire and artistic director of the Sydney new-music ensemble Halcyon.
Alison Morgan
Soprano Alison Morgan is one of Australia’s foremost interpreters of contemporary classical vocal music. Across more than 25 years she has built a career on demanding, often virtuosic new repertoire as chorister and soloist.