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Human Waves – River City Voices
Revel in music that reflects you, with soaring sound, shared heritage, and powerful voices from the heart of Western Sydney.
Waves of people… waves of sound…Let Human Waves carry you through the vivid diversity of Australia’s migrant history, our common bond and one of our greatest assets. This major work was originally commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for its centenary celebrations from two of Australia’s most beloved artists, Tamara-Anna Cislowska (librettist) and Elena Kats-Chernin AO (composer).
On September 6, the world premiere was streamed online to a global audience, performed by a virtual choir of over 200 choristers from around the world, with Kats-Chernin and Cislowska on piano, conducted by Brett Weymark OAM. The fully orchestrated premiere took place exactly three years later at the Sydney Opera House featuring River City Voices.
Human Waves reverberates through Western Sydney for the very first time, amplified by powerful new movements commissioned by River City Voices, telling Western Sydney stories. Ride the tide of sound with ARIA award-winners Cislowska and Kats-Chernin at their scintillating best on piano.
Riverside Theatres will echo with the stories of Australia’s rich migrant heritage in Human Waves, a deeply personal and powerfully resonant new program from River City Voices — Western Sydney’s flagship symphonic choir.
Set to music by internationally acclaimed composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with pianist and librettist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Human Waves weaves together 17 stories in as many languages — each one lived or closely known by the choristers who perform them. From Chinese migration in the 1860s to post-war European and Arabic arrivals, Vietnamese boat journeys, and more recent arrivals from Sweden and India, the program reflects the cultural mosaic of Parramatta and Western Sydney.
The program includes a heartfelt selection of songs curated by RCV’s conductor Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith based on choristers’ suggestions from their ancestral homelands such as, the Netherlands, South Africa, Latvia, New Zealand, The Philippines and more. A talented group of community singers will also be joining the choristers.
Conducted by Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith and Dr Philip Eames, and Kevin Wang on piano, this momentous event offers an opportunity to get closer to the members of Parramatta’s own symphonic choir, River City Voices, as choristers also share songs connected with their own heritages, accompanied by pianist Kevin Wang.
BOOK HERE for our 20% off ticket offer: https://riversideparramatta.com.au/whats-on/human-waves/