Victoria Chorale Melbourne

01/09/2026

✨FUN TIMES LAST WEEKEND 🎶✨
🎼What a great way to farewell winter as Victoria Chorale and Ballarat Wind Orchestra presented “Coming Home” to our fabulous audiences in Melbourne and Ballarat. It was wonderful to see a Full House in Collingwood Town Hall as we all enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining evening.
🎺 A wonderful showcasing of some great compositions by Australian composers and performances of a diverse collection of roof-lifting and toe-tapping works with a few dance moves thrown in🕺. It was truly a joyful way to celebrate community music making and we are very grateful for the support of our fantastic and enthusiastic audience♥️

🎹As always, enormous thanks to our energetic maestro MARIO DOBERNIG, for our amazing European tour, as well as joyfully bringing our performances together. Thanks also to the ever-wonderful SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL for her beautiful solo work and support of our choir and to our amazing accompanist WILLIAM SCHMIDT.
🎷Thanks are also due to the many folk behind the scenes-but without whom our concerts could not happen. A BIG thank you to: the Victoria Chorale Committee, the volunteers who set up our rehearsal space each week and moved equipment to and from our concert venue, the Publicity Team-headed by Susie Wagglen, Section Leaders and the Front of House volunteers on Concert Day.

✨Thank you also to Ballarat Wind Orchestra-our collaborators for these concerts and our friends in regional Victoria! It has been a wonderful experience sharing and spreading our love of music.

🎼 We hope you will join us for our much-anticipated (and always sold out) Christmas Concert in St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday 12 December at 5pm, when we will be joined by the Choir of St Andrew’s Brighton🎄

27/08/2026

🎵✨”COMING HOME” HITS THE AIRWAVES……📻🎶✨ 📣SOUND ON
🎙️A snippet from ABC Ballarat as Andrew Dale from Ballarat Wind Orchestra chats with Steve Martin about our fantastic upcoming concerts in Melbourne and Ballarat this weekend.
🎶We are presenting a fabulous and wonderfully eclectic program of music spanning genres and centuries as we celebrate the power of music to connect us to people and places. Featuring new compositions from talented, local composers, Mezzo Soprano Sally-Anne Russell and conducted by the wonderful Mario Dobernig.

📻With many thanks to Steve Martin at ABC Ballarat Breakfast Show

🛬Join us for COMING HOME

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford
🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA~

Sunday 30 August at 4pm
Wendouree Centre for the Performing Arts
1220 Howitt Street
Wendouree
🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www. wcpa.com.au

24/08/2026

📣SOUND ON~Watch until the end!
🎶🇫🇷🇺🇦🇦🇺A beautiful memory from our European tour. A shared concert in the magnificent Eglise Sainte-Sulpice, Paris, with French Ukrainian choir St Volodymyr Le Grand.
Soaring solos from Sally-Anne Russell and works from the repertoire of both choirs. A truly stunning place to perform ✨🎵

23/08/2026

🎶🎺PUTTING ON THE FINAL TOUCHES…..🎺🎶

🎵A fantastic weekend as Victoria Chorale travelled to Ballarat to rehearse with Ballarat Wind Orchestra.
What a glorious sound and what a treat coming up for Melbourne and Ballarat audiences next Saturday and Sunday.

Our COMING HOME concert features SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL, Mezzo Soprano, singing some wonderful numbers with Ballarat Wind Orchestra as well as the Australian premiere of William Schmidt’s sublime composition “The Two Trees” for Mezzo Soprano soloist, choir and Piano (William Schmidt).

🎶With a program including Verdi’s Stabat Mater, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by Holst, a jazz-inspired version of As Time Goes By and some popular Australian anthems, as well as stunning new compositions by very talented people, this promises to be a concert with something for everyone.
🎵Conducted by our effervescent maestro, MARIO DOBERNIG, be prepared for cool grooves, a few dance moves and great fun!🤩

✨WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE✨

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~ PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA~

20/08/2026

🎼🪊IT’S VICTORIA CHORALE….. WITH A DIFFERENCE….🪊🎼

🎶Join Victoria Chorale and Ballarat Wind Orchestra for a fabulous afternoon of nostalgia, glorious new works, big band energy, Australian Anthems and toe-tapping numbers as we present…COMING HOME.

🎷Together with our Conductor and Maestro of surprises, MARIO DOBERNIG, renowned Mezzo Soprano, SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL, and pianist/composer, WILLIAM SCHMIDT, we will take you on a musical journey, from inspiring works by Verdi and Holst, gorgeous new compositions from W Schmidt, M Pankhurst and W Hinde, and favourite numbers from “Les Miserables“ and “Casablanca”, to big band grooves, a bit of Australiana and a whole lot of fun.
🤩 A Victoria Chorale concert, but not as you know it!🤩
✨Come along to the beautifully restored ballroom in Collingwood Town Hall to experience that wonderful and exciting feeling of COMING HOME✨

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA~
©️Artwork commissioned by Victoria Chorale. All rights reserved.

15/08/2026

🎶✨ONLY 2 WEEKS TO GO!✨🎶
We are excited to be entering the final 2 weeks of rehearsals for “Coming Home”. Our fabulous program is sounding amazing and we can’t wait to join with our performance collaborators, Ballarat Wind Orchestra to lift the roof off Collingwood Town Hall as we present a concert with a difference.
🎷Come along for a bit of classical, a bit of jazz, some big band vibes and our maestro of groove, MARIO DOBERNIG trying out some dance moves🕺
Featuring the First Lady of song, Sally-Anne Russell and some gorgeous new compositions as well as popular, more modern numbers, it’s all going to be great fun!…… so get your tickets now.

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~ PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA-
©️Artwork commissioned by Victoria Chorale. All Rights Reserved.

12/08/2026

🎶Another fabulous young composer whose work will be performed at our “Coming Home” concert.
If you are in Melbourne, join us on Saturday 29 August at 5pm in Collingwood Town Hall for the Melbourne gig! Tickets available at
http://www.trybooking.com/DMHGI

We are privileged to be able to showcase one of Ballarat's most talented up and coming musicians, William Hinde, performing, as soloist, his own composition, The Nordic Suite.

William Hinde is a young saxophone and woodwind artist who has already made a name for himself in both the Melbourne and Perth music scenes. Known for his ability to cross genres between classical and jazz performance, Hinde is also an avid composer and spends hours writing musical landscapes and attempting to encompass challenging imagery and emotion through his music.

Notable performances include Kutcha Edwards’ album‑launch concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in January 2026, where he appeared with his own big band. He is also widely recognised in Ballarat as the leader of the Billy Hinde Big Band.

The Nordic Suite is a five-movement work for soprano saxophone and wind orchestra that traces the journey of Viking warriors through moments of celebration, reflection, loss and battle. Inspired by Nordic compositions such as How to Train Your Dragon and Songs of Sailor and Sea, Hinde creates a vivid and evocative musical landscape that draws on Scandinavian culture, landscapes and adventure.

This performance, featuring the composer as soloist, marks the world premiere of The Nordic Suite.

Coming Home, featuring Ballarat Wind Orchestra and the Victoria Chorale Melbourne

Early Bird Tickets available until 16 August
Sunday 30 August at 4 pm, Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts

https://bgram.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/166922

11/08/2026

♥️MUSIC TO WARM THE HEART🎶

😍Do you need a break from the winter blues? A chance to step into a musical world of the heart-warming and uplifting?

🎼Presented by Victoria Chorale and Ballarat Wind Orchestra, “Coming Home” is just the warm hug you need!

🪊🎷Let the lively sounds of brass and woodwinds, songs from beloved stage shows and old movies and the uplifting and foot tapping beats from an Indigenous-inspired chant and an Austrian village march invigorate your senses! Our wonderfully eclectic program will give you that much-needed hit of dopamine as we take you on a journey that will truly lift your hearts and spirits♥️

🎶Lead by our maestro of positivity, MARIO DOBERNIG, and featuring the ever-lovely SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL, Mezzo Soprano, and our fabulous pianist/composer WILLIAM SCHMIDT…… we invite you to join us as we celebrate “COMING HOME” ….the journeys, the reunions, the friendships, the memories and the sense of returning to a place of nurture and comfort.♥️

🎼🎺GET YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR THIS CONCERT-WRAPPED-IN-A-WARM-HUG! 🎺🎼🥰

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA~

06/08/2026

🎼✨SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON OUR CONCERT…..THE TWO TREES and composer WILLIAM SCHMIDT✨🎼

🎶🌳One of the pieces featured in our “Coming Home” concert is a work commissioned by Victoria Chorale from our wonderful Accompanist, Pianist and Composer, William Schmidt ( William Schmidt) It is a composition for Mezzo Soprano solo, Mixed Choir and Piano.
“The Two Trees” had its world premiere among the vineyards of the Loire Valley on 19 June 2026, as part of Victoria Chorale’s European tour. This exquisite work is a beautiful setting of a poem, of the same name, by Irish poet WB Yeats. Written in 1893, it encourages us to look inwards to the “holy tree” growing in our hearts, using metaphors of nature and sacred growth to ponder the grace and joy that can be found in a contemplative life. Yeats contrasts this state of spiritual contentedness with descriptions of “the bitter glass” of cynicism, unkind thoughts and worldly negativity that can weary the soul when one’s inner light is lost; a message as poignant today as it was when it was first written.
Using a lilting, Celtic-inspired melody, William’s setting beautifully & powerfully explores these 2 contrasting musical and spiritual landscapes before returning to the original plea to “gaze in thine own heart”.🍀

WILLIAM SCHMIDT~ COMPOSER
In addition to his outstanding and award-winning skills as a concert pianist and accompanist, William has earned national recognition as a Composer, which has lead to prominent commissions and collaborations with premier Australian musicians and ensembles. William’s compositional output includes Chamber works, Choral works and Piano arrangements of traditional folk tunes, French Art songs, Schubert Lieder and Opera. William’s original music is regularly broadcast on major Australian classical radio stations.

This very special piece, with Sally-Anne Russell as Mezzo Soprano soloist, quickly became a European tour favourite amongst choristers and audiences alike.

PLEASE JOIN US for the Australian Premiere of THE TWO TREES as Victoria Chorale and Ballarat Wind Orchestra, together with maestro Mario Dobernig, Conductor, William Schmidt, Piano/Composer and Sally-Anne Russell, Mezzo Soprano, present “Coming Home”

CONCERT DETAILS
Saturday 29 August at 5pm
Collingwood Town Hall
140 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF YARRA~
©️Artwork commissioned by Victoria Chorale inc. All rights reserved.

29/07/2026

🎺HAVE YOU BOUGHT YOUR TICKETS YET?
🐣EARLY BIRD TICKET PRICING ENDS 30 JULY

🎼Join us in Collingwood Town Hall on Saturday 29 August at 5pm for an engaging concert of music from across the ages.

🎶Conducted by our fabulous maestro MARIO DOBERNIG and featuring renowned Mezzo-Soprano SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL, two exceptional ensembles-VICTORIA CHORALE and BALLARAT WIND ORCHESTRA- perform a World premiere, an Australian premiere, familiar Australian anthems, an indigenous-inspired work and music representing the European influence on our culture as we present “Coming Home”.

😃An evening of fun and good feels for everyone-not to be missed!

🎫TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT:
www.trybooking.com/DMHGI
Concessions apply
**Early bird ticket pricing has been extended to 30 July 2026
*we advise that TICKETS SHOULD ONLY BE PURCHASED THROUGH THE LINK PROVIDED and not through third parties*
~Proudly supported by the City of Yarra~
©️Artwork commissioned by Victoria Chorale inc. All rights reserved.