Latest reviews

2011

FIRST STONES

Take nine composers and hear how magic is made

Sydney Morning Herald, November 21, 2010

 HALCYON has always been defined by its sense of adventure. First Stones, then, is a natural next step in an expedition into the jungle of contemporary art music, a hands-on collaboration with nine emerging composers... read more >


LIFE ON PAPER

Versatile Schultz finds it pays to go by the book

Sydney Morning Herald, September 21, 2010

ANDREW SCHULTZ'S new work, I am writing in this book, adapts texts from The Pillow Book by 10th-century Japanese writer Sei Shonagon... read more >

2010

WHERE THE HEART IS

From static to dynamic, and magic in between

Sydney Morning Herald, September 13, 2010

This typically thoughtful program, Where the Heart Is, drew out themes of recent Australian vocal music through elegant symmetry. read more >

blues, myth, philosophy & the land

realtime issue 99 Oct-Nov 2010

While not a program of the scale and potency of Extreme Nature (RT93) which featured big, challenging works by Australians Elliott Gyger and Nicolas Vines, Halcyon’s Where The Heart Is, is a program featuring six more Australian works, all fascinating and revealing a rich variety of practice...read more >

 

2009

WILLOW SONGS

Delicate bites, then a main course to satisfy

Sydney Morning Herald, September 29, 2009

The first part of Halcyon's latest concert, subtitled Willow Songs, was like a whistle-stop tour of the 20th century in haiku. read more >

EXTREME NATURE

seeing, hearing, believing

RealTime issue 93 Oct-Nov 2009 pg. 52

As Chris Reid writes in his review of the Soundstream New Music Festival (P49), some music has to be seen and not just heard. read more >

Poetry and religious texts woven in labyrinthine cross-references

Sydney Morning Herald, August 11, 2009
THE program cover had two gorgeously coloured snails, hinting at endangered musical species beyond the concert's environmental theme... read more >

2008

B3

Poetry unites vocals and instrumentals
Sydney Morning Herald, October 20, 2008

COCKING a snoot at ABC Classic-FM-style canonicity, Halcyon proposed its own B-list as contenders for a new music A-team. Only time will tell.... read more >

Halcyon - Celebrating 10 Years - Anni Heino (Resonate Magazine)
Halcyon Celebrating 10 Years - Harriet Cunningham (Sydney Morning Herald)
Four Winds Festival - Harriet Cunningham (Sydney Morning Herald)

2007

TEHILLIM - Harriet Cunningham (Sydney Morning Herald)
TEHILLIM - Steve Moffat (Manly Daily)
TEHILLIM - David Gyger (Opera-Opera)

 

See all concert reviews

 

immaculately prepared and impressively detailed vocal performances
Extreme Nature, Sydney Morning Herald, August 11, 2009"

"We should be sending young people like this to the world's festivals to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our culture."
Star Clusters, SMH, August 17 2006

"The admired and admirable Halcyon ... peerless standards of performance ... superbly secure singing."
Aurora Festival, Opera-Opera, June 2006

"This was an evening in absolute nirvana, with the audience treated to a positive feast of vocal artistry."
Tone Birds, Opera-Opera, Dec 2005

"Morgan and Duck-Chong were the ultimate tone birds, soaring with ease and confidence across remarkable territories."
Tone Birds, SMH, Nov 2 2005

 

 

 

 

    contemporary art music

If you'd like to know more about Halcyon news or events, please sign up for our free e-newsletter.