Polyphony

About Us

Formed over 15 years ago, Polyphony is a community choir for residents of Sydney’s Inner West and City of Sydney. Polyphony has been directed by some of Australia’s leading contemporary and classical musicians including Sally Whitwell, Dan Walker, and Corin Bone. Since 2004, our musical director is Jack Colwell and we are accompanied by Paula Lu. In 2025, we will be guest conducted by Oliver John Cameron.

Not limiting itself by genre, Polyphony explores a range of modern and traditional work, whether it be a 19th-century song cycle or a Radiohead classic. Polyphony aims to explore through performance a wide range of repertoire, think David Bowie, Björk, Kate Bush, Powderfinger, Daft Punk… We aim to keep our members, and our audiences, on their toes. We take pride in singing a range of material not always sung by other groups, often commissioning original arrangements purely for Polyphony. Our concerts are collaborations with local artists and musicians and encompass a range of accompaniment styles, themes and venues.

Many of our members have joined in the last 3-5 years with the average age of our members being 30-40 but we encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to join our ranks and no audition is required to join. We are, at heart, a community choir who meet and perform for the love of singing. We welcome fun, open minded members with a similar passion for song and the ability to commit to our weekly rehearsals.

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Vale Jack Colwell (1989-2024)

Our beloved conductor and musical director, Jack Colwell, led Polyphony for ten years until his passing in October 2024. Jack was the foundation of the Polyphony community, who built our choir up almost completely from the ground up when he first took on the role of conductor in 2014.

Jack shared the joy and connective power of music with all who walked through our doors. He welcomed new choristers regardless of background or ability to read music. He connected the choir with his large network, giving us the opportunity to work with incredible musicians and artists. He trusted us to write our own arrangements and helped us all grow in our creative expression. He even put us on the stage of the Enmore Theatre to sing at a concert that he had organised in support of marriage equality in 2017.

Without Jack’s care, love, and attention we could never have pulled off such incredible feats such as writing and performing our own musical, or singing Faure’s Requiem from memory with a synthesiser “orchestra”. We achieved so much, despite many frustrations and setbacks along the way, because of his unshakable belief in what the choir was capable of.

Jack shared all of himself with the choir every Wednesday night for a decade: His time, talent, laughter and most of all, his heart. He will be a part of Polyphony’s story forever.