The Australian Children's Choir (ACC), founded in 1976, is a mixed-voice children's choir based in Melbourne, Australia, and consisting of some 200 boys and girls aged 5 to 20 in six different training ensembles. The choir has developed a strong reputation for its refined performances, varied repertoire and the production of fine young musicians, many of whom have gone on to pursue successful musical careers.
Members
There are approximately 200 singers in the choir, ranging in age from 5 to 20, and composed of five groups: Lyrebirds, Melody, Harmony, Intermediate, Treble, and Senior Choristers. The young singers who comprise the Senior Choir of the Australian Children's Choir meet twice a week to rehearse outside school hours, and must demonstrate a high degree of musical ability, personal organisation and concentration to become join its ranks. In return, they receive many musical and social opportunities, and take on the role of young ambassadors for both the ACC and their country.
Touring
The choir regularly tours throughout Australia and has made regular international tours, to countries including England, Hong Kong, Wales, and New Zealand. In 2004 the ACC undertook a major concert tour of Europe and the United Kingdom, performing in cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Edinburgh, Cambridge and London. In 2005 the choir toured New Zealand for the second time, and in January 2007 the ACC undertook its first concert tour of mainland China, performing in cities such as Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Tianjin and Huangyan. In 2015, The ACC travelled to the United States to tour the East Coast and participate in the Washington D.C. Serenade Festival. The choir also made appearances in Toronto. In 2016, the Australian Children's Choir toured the East Coast of Australia to mark its 40th Anniversary, making appearances in Brisbane, the Gold Coast including Surfers Paradise, Sydney and Wollongong. The ACC toured Europe in 2018 performing in Austria, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and visiting Germany.
Engagements
The ACC regularly appears in concert with many of Melbourne's leading musical ensembles, including groups such as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, the Academy of Melbourne, the Central Band of the RAAF, the Australian Classical Players, Royal Australian Naval Band, and the Victorian Police Showband.
Highlights in recent years have included Mahler's 8th Symphony with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under conductor Markus Stenz, a featured appearance at the nationally televised AFI Awards Ceremony, numerous televised performances on Rove Live, and concerts with the legendary rock band Kiss and the Melbourne Symphony at the Telstra Dome. The ACC appeared at the 2004 AFL Grand Final. It participated in a series of filmed international television commercials for the Korean Motor Company Kia, filmed on various locations around Victoria, and gave a live televised performance to an estimated one billion people for China Television to mark the 30th anniversary of Australian-Chinese relations. The Choir has performed at opening ceremonies at both Marvel and AMI stadiums
Leading artists the choir has recently appeared with include Julie Anthony, Marina Prior, Rhonda Burchmore, Marcia Hines, Delta Goodrem, Rove McManus, David Hobson and Peter Brocklehurst. Past recordings include John Farnham's Whispering Jack album, and the single "You're the Voice", as well as Missy Higgins, and numerous recordings ranging from folk music and commercials to movie soundtracks.
The choir has produced five CDs; Leave No Song Unsung (which was nominated for a Sounds Australian Award in 2004 for best Choral Recording),Christmas Lullaby, featuring music for the festive season and Like a Rainbow. Fire in The Heavens was recorded to commemorate the Black Saturday Bushfires. More recently Australian Stories was released - songs of the Great South Land. These have been featured on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS FM.