The 2023 Festival of Voices in Hobart treated 2000 singers to a banquet of song, community and beauty. It was my privilege to escort a group of 48 singers from Acabellas to the festival where we performed ten times as well as enjoyed the performances of so many vocal groups from around the world.

The highlights were innumerable but here are five that spring to mind that might capture a part of the experience and inspire singers considering a trip in future years.

1. The Singing Spaces

Across the five days we performed across diverse venues including the Hobart Airport (as an arranged performance to arriving travellers), the heritage listed Hobart Town Hall, the iconic MONA gallery, the bustling FarmGate market, the acoustically generous Elizabeth Street Mall, Hobart Library, Hobart Brewing Company and the sensitive Singers’ Lounge. The latter venue was part of Salamanca Arts Centre and transformed into a deeply respectful place for singers to celebrate one another’s sound under lights. The festival organisers thoughtfully programmed our group so that by merely showing up to our planned performances we toured the highlights of the beautiful harbour town of Hobart.

• The Local Community

Hobart has a similar sized population to Geelong and yet there was something so intimate about wandering around the town. As the singing leader of Acabellas I had the opportunity to compere our gigs and share a few stories about the group and our songs. In return I was frequently approached by people in the street who had seen us at one venue or another and wanted to thank us for being in town. I was struck by the gratitude shared with me for bringing original music to Hobart which locals proudly advocated as a thriving, creative place. Children performing on stage with us was a highlight as well as the audiences lustily joining us by invitation in selected songs.

• The Diversity of Vocal Groups

I have read there are 96 Sankrit words for love and in English there is a lonely one. This inadequacy of language is also true for singing groups which are typically called ‘choirs’. The diversity in presentations of songs was mind blowing and soul satisfying. A quartet of young German women in the Singer’s lounge evoked mythical magic. A strong chorus of men dressed in college jackets rendered the most sensitive and complex arrangements and willingly taught us the parts when we combined to flash sing. Teenagers paying rapt attention to their conductors shaping notes and maintaining silences brought tears to the eye.

More striking for me was not the diversity of groups but diversity within groups. My hopes for humankind and the potential for peace was incredibly buoyed as I saw the composition of each group. Not an identity marker –  be it ethnicity, gender, sexuality or age – seemed to underlie any group. Instead, there was a palpable uniting thread of singing – of the need to sing. When the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Chorus sang ‘We Belong’ by Pat Benatar I felt so proud to be a part of the assembled company which was bristling with that very notion – we belong.

• The Collective Energy

The energy of the collective requires noting. I truly believe if the mental health of the singing community, and the audiences, was sampled at the beginning of the festival and at the end there would be significant change. It wasn’t and I can’t claim it to be true but it felt like there was a sense of pride and purpose. The Emergency Services Medical staff of Tasmania recently rebranded their wellbeing programme – C.R.A.G. – Celebrating Resilience and Grit and they formed a choir. They rehearsed for 8 weeks, entered and won the Festival Corporate Choirs Challenge and they were voted the People’s choice. It was obvious why. As well as being delightfully funny and entertaining the audience was so pleased to see people who work so tirelessly in complex conditions sing. When you know, you know. Singing makes such a difference. When I was introduced in the Singer’s Lounge as a PhD candidate researching group singing there was a spontaneous round of applause and multiple connections made by leaders wanting to contribute wisdom to my project. We singers hold something really special and the collective energy when that was being shared was so warm and peaceful.

• The Rewilding

On a personal note, Acabellas is celebrating a year of Rewilding. This notion is taken from environmental sustainability and was first introduced to me via an anecdote about women planting a section of the Sahara with vegetation that grew so lush it brought the rains. On a community level, it felt like rewilding of ourselves was needed as well. Post Covid, the idea of travelling interstate to sing clearly appealed to many people in our singing community with attendance in such a high number. A community sharing concert involving all our singers was hosted before we left and, along with friends and family, we raised $1160 for Koala Clancy to expand the rewilding concept. Being away with the singers and seeing them so happy will stay in my heart and soul for many years to come.

The Festival of Voices happens each year in Hobart. https://festivalofvoices.com/