_{Cover image: WASO Chorus performing in St Mary’s Cathedral. Image suppled.}

WASO Chorus Sings: Devotion

Sunday 19 July, 2026

St Mary’s Cathedral

Rarely will a choral concert spark philosophical debate. What is the voice? An instrument or a vessel for communication?

West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) Chorus performed a selection of sacred choral music, investigating the interpretation of texts by different composers. Founded in 1988 and directed by Hugh Lydon, the Chorus consists of around 100 volunteer choristers. This concert in St Mary’s Cathedral is an annual event in the WASO calendar.

The purpose of the program – which comprised works from the 1500s to 1999 – was to contrast two interpretations of the same text. Four texts, each performed side-by-side with a second composer’s version. In his introduction, Hugh described the voice as the “guardian of text”. The decision to shift the chorus from the centre to the rear of the cathedral gave the words more clarity. The resonance filled the space, the sound in climactic moments continuing two to three seconds after the chorus stopped singing. Similarly, for the concluding “Amen” of William Byrd’s Ave verum corpus, the chorus stopped the word, letting the sound continue just on the “n”, filling the hall with the final chord.

St Mary’s Cathedral is a beautiful piece of architecture. It’s worth arriving early simply to marvel at the carvings and stained-glass windows. There was no assigned seating, and the central section was filled well before the performance began. If ever attending a performance here, one might consider a cushion or jacket to sit on, the discomfort of the hard-wood pews setting in around the second piece. 

Part of the debate is that the message is still present, even if you can’t speak Latin. How much the composer is able to bring the listeners into the world of the text is what was being examined. So, interestingly, there was a moment in the first piece, Colin Mawby’s Ave verum corpus, where the voices stopped functioning as voices and became pure sound.

Which brings to question if that piece defeated the purpose. Certainly, by contrast, Byrd’s interpretation of the same text had the voices clear and crisp, every word discernible. 

The vocal program was interrupted midway by a solo organ piece, Choral varié sur le thème du ‘Veni Creator’ by Maurice Duruflé, played by Yale graduate and St Mary’s principal organist Holly Broadbent. Holly played the variations, and between each, Hugh sang the Gregorian chant on which the piece was based. Holly sat at the organ behind the audience, while Hugh remained where the chorus had been.

The Chorus returned for Franz Schubert’s iconic Ave Maria, with tenor and West Australian Academy of Performing Arts graduate Matthew Reardon joining Holly at the organ. His voice filled the hall as seamlessly as the full chorus. The program concluded with Felix Mendelssohn’s Ave Maria, which Hugh described as almost a “micro-opera,” featuring organ and a tenor solo from Matthew. Bookended by exchanges between soloist and chorus, the piece had Matthew singing the words of the text, echoed by the chorus, before his voice emerged to take over again. The way his voice came through clear and powerful, even with over 60 voices supporting him, was a tingling moment to end the concert.

Once again, what is the purpose of the voice? I have no answer, and within this performance, I alternated my opinion from piece to piece. It is a debate for the ages, and concerts like this are the perfect occasion to delve a little deeper into one’s own response.

For more on the West Australian Symphony Orchestra visit the website.