High Schools, Colleges & Adult Singers

Celebration Sing Out! is more than a performance — it is a shared musical journey that builds confidence, community, and lasting memories for high school and adult singers. We would be delighted to welcome you into this vibrant musical community.

Warren Fisher, Artistic Director

Celebration Sing Out! 2026 is a heart-warming and inspiring community festival of popular classics and classic pop, performed by choral and orchestral performers aged 8 to 88, from Sydney and across NSW. At its heart it is about kids helping kids, with youth and adult singers and orchestral musicians leading the way — sharing the healing power of music and raising much-needed funds for Music Therapy at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

This is a massed student and adult community choir with orchestra. You can learn as you go, choose your pace, at your place.

The concert experience

The concert includes massed primary school choirs, individual school instrumental and vocal items, a massed secondary and adult SATB choir, symphony orchestra, the Sydney Town Hall Grand Pipe Organ, and a full-house finale with primary, secondary and adult singers together, with audience participation.

For high school students, the second half of the concert is the major drawcard: singing powerful SATB choruses with orchestra in one of Sydney’s great civic performance spaces.

2026 program highlights

The High School and Adult Combined Choirs perform with TOPS, the Celebration Sing Out! orchestra, a superb community-based symphony orchestra.

• Mozart — Requiem: Introitus, Kyrie, Dies irae, Rex tremendae, Confutatis and Lacrimosa
• Tchaikovsky — 1812 Overture: choral version, with symphony orchestra, and all the spectacle this work invites
• Peter Allen — I Still Call Australia Home: a heart-warming grand finale from The Boy From Oz, bringing together 350+ primary children, 350+ secondary and adult singers, orchestra and audience

This is repertoire students and adults alike will remember: dramatic, moving, familiar, challenging, celebratory and deeply rewarding to sing.

Just one key date

Sunday 1 November 2026, Sydney Town Hall. Rehearsals from 11:00am; concert 4:00pm – 6:30pm. Only this one day is essential for participation. There are no required days out of school. Optional rehearsals are held in person and online — or listen afterwards; all are listed in the Green Room.

For high schools and secondary colleges

Celebration Sing Out! is aligned with the NSW Stages 4, 5 and 6 Music Syllabuses. The program is organised and led by serving and retired teachers and reflects authentic classroom and school rehearsal practice. Participation can support performance and ensemble skills, listening and musical understanding, music literacy, vocal development, repertoire and historical context, Australian music and cultural identity, and junior elective and senior music course work.

We recognise and accommodate diversity and stages of student development in singing experience, music-reading ability, confidence, language and cultural backgrounds, access and learning needs, performance experience, and voice types and changing voices. Sight-singing experience is not required.

All repertoire, teaching materials and rehearsal resources are provided online at no cost: printable scores and lyrics, voice-part guide tracks, streaming and downloadable audio, sample performances, learning guidance, optional workshops, webcast rehearsals and their recordings, and curriculum links and teaching notes.

There are no compulsory rehearsal days out of school, no audition requirements, no participation fee for high school students, and no minimum choir size. High schools and secondary colleges are encouraged to register established school choirs, vocal ensembles, elective music classes, combined groups from several year levels, newly formed groups created for Celebration Sing Out!, and individual singers or small groups representing their school. Approximate numbers are fine at the registration stage.

For adult singers

Everyone who loves to sing is welcome — in a choir or not. Everyone should register independently, regardless of whether they are currently singing in a choir.

What if I can’t attend an in-person rehearsal? All rehearsals are live-streamed if you wish to join in at home. Links are on the website and posted in newsletters close to each rehearsal. The livestreamed rehearsals are also recorded and posted as videos several days later.

I don’t have much singing experience. Am I good enough? Our online recordings are designed to help you learn the repertoire easily. Try listening to the playlist in the car or on your commute to reinforce your learning.

I don’t have anyone to rehearse with. Please indicate on your registration if you’d like to be matched with a singing buddy and we’ll let you know your nearest host.

What do I wear? Long-sleeved white tops and long black bottoms. No watches or jewellery that could catch the bright lights. Aboriginal singers may wear a small non-reflective item or two that displays their totem and colours.

Can I use my score in performance? Yes — preferably in a black folder or cover.

Disability access. Celebration Sing Out! welcomes all who love to sing, regardless of disability or injury, as far as the venue and performance requirements can accommodate you. Let us know your needs through the registration form or by email and we will work with you on an access plan for the venue and placement for rehearsal and performance.