GONDWANA WORLD CHORAL FESTIVAL Single Tickets Go On Sale 19 February

Excitement is building as tickets to the opening and closing gala concerts of the GONDWANA WORLD CHORAL FESTIVAL go on sale to the general public from Tuesday 19 February. To celebrate 30 years of the Sydney Children's Choir, GONDWANA CHOIRS is bringing eight of the world's top choirs to Sydney for a week-long festival from Monday 15 to Sunday 21 July 2019. The festival will open and close at the Sydney Opera House with two uplifting and astonishing concerts.

Sounds of Australia will feature 'birthday choir', the Sydney Children's Choir, alongside their peers and friends from around the country, including members of the Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir and Latitude 34. Along with the Australian Festival Choirs, they will give the world premiere of a brand-new piece by renowned Australian composer, Elena Kats-Chernin, who was recently made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her contribution to Australian music and culture.

Lyn Williams AM, founder and director of the Sydney Children's Choir, says "I can't think of a better way to celebrate 30 years of Sydney Children's Choir and Gondwana Choirs than for us to share the joy of singing and the remarkable artistry of hundreds of young choristers with audiences from far and wide."

Sounds of the World, the festival closing gala concert, will showcase eight of the world's best choirs for children and young people. Aarne Saluveer, founder and director of the Estonian Television Girls' Choir, says "For us, Gondwana Festival is moments of ultimate musical vibrations - fabulous meeting with world best youth choirs". The international guest choir will also premiere a brand-new piece, written by respected Australian composer Paul Stanhope.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said, "The NSW Government is proud to support this event which will see hundreds of young choristers from all over the world converge on one of Sydney's most iconic locations, the Sydney Opera House. The Festival will add an additional must-see event to the city's cultural calendar and we expect it will drive almost $1 million in visitor spend."

International guest choirs coming to Australia include ESTONIAN TELEVISION GIRLS' CHOIR (Estonia), RIGA CATHEDRAL GIRLS' CHOIR TIARA (Latvia), LA CIGALE DE LYON (France), INNER MONGOLIA YOUTH CHOIR, GUANGDONG EXPERIMENTAL MIDDLE SCHOOL CHOIR (China), NAGOYA CHILDREN'S CHOIR (Japan), TORONTO CHILDREN'S CHORUS (Canada) and BOSTON CHILDREN'S CHORUS (USA).

GONDWANA CHOIRS is comprised of the Sydney Children's Choir, the ensembles of Gondwana National Choirs and the Cairns-based Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir.

Full-festival passes are also available.

More information at www.gondwana-wcf.org.au.