A Cappella Spectacular

Cocktail Hour Quartet are a women's a cappella quartet who specialise in singing four-part jazz and barbershop arrangements. The group formed in July 2020, and went on to win third place in the Sweet Adelines Australia national quartet contest in May 2022 and first place in the women's section of Barbershop Harmony Australia's national quartet contest in November the same year.

Image credit: Paul Redding Photographer

Sound Avenue is a Brisbane based mixed voice vocal collective that doesn’t identify as a choir, despite often looking and sounding just like one! We prefer to operate as a contemporary vocal ensemble, with various sizes of performance groups singing a mix of jazz, pop and gospel both with and without musical accompaniment.

We sing a carefully blended mix of jazz standards, pop hits and Broadway showstoppers, mainly advanced a cappella arrangements as well as some jazz and pop with backing track boosts.

Our singers are all experienced musicians who love to shed their everyday skins as Doctors, Accountants, Students, Nurses and Musical Educators and strut their stuff on stage.

Sound Avenue is directed by Jacqueline Larsen who is also the founder and director of Soul Song Choirs.

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Formed in April 2009 by Jonathan Bligh, The Festival Statesmen is a dynamic male voice a cappella group. With repertoire ranging from Contemporary to Classical, the chorus exists to provide a platform for Adelaide singers to achieve vocal and performance excellence.

Image credit: Jack Parker Visuals

Deep South has competed in National Barbershop Championships over the past ten years placing in the top 10 in many championships, establishing its place amongst Australia's best barbershop groups. Deep South has also been awarded the trophy for Best Small Chorus in three successive national championships. In 2018, the chorus was awarded Most Improved Chorus for our 10% increase since the previous year.

Deep South sings at many community events, including ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, Festival of Voices, and Christmas Carols.

They sing four-part a cappella arrangements of classic and modern songs in both barbershop and contemporary styles. More than just sing, Hobart Harmony love to engage with their audience by incorporating expression and movement into performances.

Members of Hobart Harmony come from all walks of life but all share a real enthusiasm for the fun, friendship, excitement and challenge of performing Barbershop and contemporary music under the direction of Jenni Pyefinch.

Hobart Harmony is proud to be Tasmania's only Sweet Adelines chorus. Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organisation of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education, competition and performance.

Image credit: Amber Scobie Photography

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Southern Voices is a mixed voice choir from Melbourne of talented, dedicated young musicians, whose aim is to provide beautiful music for all occasions. Southern Voices performs a wide range of music from opera to alternative, music theatre to contemporary, and major works to choral classics. A passion for choral music and storytelling through song is what inspires Southern Voices to share their musical journey with audiences wherever they perform.

Southern Voices is directed by Sharon Batterham and accompanied by Kate Denmead.

Image credit: Kerry Bennett

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MUSICAL DIRECTOR: SHARON BATTERHAM

Sharon Batterham is a choral music and vocal specialist, with several years’ experience as a soloist, chorister and conductor. She completed tertiary music studies at the University of Melbourne, with a Bachelor of Music in composition and voice, and a Bachelor of Music Education. Sharon studied voice with Kevin Casey and Hartley Newnham and performed regularly with the Faculty of Music Choir and Chamber Singers.

As a child Sharon sang with the Australian Children's Choir, and performed at several venues throughout Melbourne, regional Victoria and South Australia. Sharon participated in the ACC’s first international tours to Hong Kong and the United Kingdom and worked with various conductors and musical groups during that time. Sharon has also sung with the Royal Philharmonic Choir, Faye Dumont Singers, CHIME Choir and the Australian Youth Choir.

Conducting became a particular interest when Sharon commenced tutoring the training groups of the Victorian Boys' Choir, and she continued developing her skills with positions in the Australian Girls' Choir and the CHIME Choirs. Training in choral pedagogy followed, with Rodney Eichenberger, Andre de Quadros and Doreen Rao, and Sharon was selected from conductors around the world to attend the 3rd Choral Symposium held by the Toronto Children’s Chorus with Jean Ashworth-Bartle.

After a break to raise her family, Sharon is now the Director of Southern Voices, a mixed voice choir of talented and dedicated young musicians. She is in demand as a presenter at choral workshops for all age groups and as an adjudicator at eisteddfods across the country. Sharon is currently developing a conductor and accompanist education program within the structure of Southern Voices, which she hopes will inspire a new generation of choral conductors to pursue the craft. Sharon is the Director of Cantabella, the award-winning choir of Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College; she teaches voice at Killester College and Our Lady of Sacred Heart Bentleigh and is the current Vice President of the Australian National Choral Association’s Victoria/Tasmania branch.