National review spotlight on Consort

In a review of Arvo Pärt's Passio, featuring the Hilliard Ensemble and St George's Cathedral Consort, performing arts critic Anna Locke described the Consort as 'brilliant'.

"Along with the four members of the outstanding Hilliard Ensemble, WA based Andrew Foote, Jane Edwards and the St Georges Cathedral Consort brought exquisite professionalism to the performance," she writes, in a review published on national performing arts news and reviews site, Australian Stage.

Locke devotes an additional paragraph to the Consort, who sang in the Perth International Arts Festival performance last Thursday evening at Perth Concert Hall, concluding:

"Their diction, precision and control were brilliant and I hope the general Perth music going audience get to see more of this group in the near future."

The complete review can be read here: Passio.

More praise for the performance appeared in the West Australian:

West reviewer William Yeoman first explains the musical tradition of the 'passion' in terms of the language of suffering, and then goes on to praise the soloists' performances.

However, the review reveals that he was in particular awe of the Cathedral Consort, which, he writes, "sang with a power and eloquence that was barely credible given the youth of its members", and most impressed by Joseph Nolan's direction:

"But the greatest praise must go to conductor Joseph Nolan, organist and master of the choristers at St George's Cathedral, who steered the performance towards its shattering climax and beyond to the final refulgent chorus with such precision and artistry that one felt convinced not only of the existence of a language of suffering - but of redemption."

The complete review can be read here: Review Hilliard Ensemble / St George's Cathedral Consort.