Festival of Choral Music

The Arts Unit offers two state-level primary choral festivals:

Primary Proms
Entry level choral repertoire for students in Years 3 to 6.
This festival is best for schools with a new or developing choral program.
Visit the Primary Proms page for more information on this festival.

Festival of Choral Music
Challenging choral repertoire for students in Years 3 to 6.
This festival is best for schools with an established choral program.
See below for more information on the Festival of Choral Music.

As part of the application process, schools must film an audition video of their current (2025) choir singing a song of their choice. Choir teachers should choose a song that encourages students to sing in their head voice with a warm, blended, and in-tune choral sound. For 2026 there will be one application form for both the Festival of Choral Music and the Primary Proms. Schools wishing to apply for either or both festivals will only need to fill out one form, and submit one audition video. Schools with multiple choirs should film their most advanced choir for the audition.

Audition videos will be scored by a panel using the Primary choral festivals audition scoring rubric. Each applying NSW public primary school is guaranteed entry into at least one of these festivals, provided they make themselves available for at least one Primary Proms concert date. Some schools may be offered the opportunity to participate in both programs, if there are places available. Schools will be notified of the outcome of their application on Tuesday 27 January 2026.

Participating school groups will perform in 1 of 5 concerts in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.

• Argyle concert: Monday 3 August 2026
• Australis concert: Tuesday 4 August 2026
• Barangaroo concert: Wednesday 5 August 2026
• Bennelong concert: Thursday 6 August 2026
• Endeavour concert: Friday 7 August 2026

All participating schools attend a preliminary rehearsal to prepare students for the concerts.

Sydney preliminary rehearsals will be held at Marie Bashir Public School, 159 Albert Rd, Strathfield:

• Argyle rehearsal: Monday 29 June 2026, 10 am to 1:30 pm 
• Australis rehearsal: Tuesday 30 June 2026, 10 am to 1:30 pm 
• Barangaroo rehearsal: Wednesday 1 July 2026, 10 am to 1:30 pm 
• Bennelong rehearsal: Thursday 2 July 2026, 10 am to 1:30 pm
• Endeavour rehearsal: Friday 3 July 2026, 10 am to 1:30 pm

Non-metropolitan schools will either host or attend a Regional preliminary rehearsal ('Cluster' rehearsal) with other nearby participating schools during Term 2, as negotiated with Luke Wallace.

• Participation fee of $42.00 per student will be payable upon acceptance into the program.  
• A rural and remote subsidy of 25% will be offered to all students attending from rural and remote schools as identified by the department.

• At least one teacher from each participating school should attend the Festival of Choral Music – teacher professional learning workshop at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Friday 13 February, 9 am to 2 pm.
• All teachers from all public schools, regardless of their involvement in the festival, are welcome to attend this workshop. Please register by Friday 6 February 2026 using the Music teachers workshops 2026 – application form.
• A range of online resources will become available at the beginning of the year.
• Each participating student will receive a 2026 Festival of Choral Music repertoire book.
• Each participating student and teacher will receive a specially designed T-shirt to wear at the performance.

Teachers interested in working on the Festival of Choral Music artistic or production teams should complete the State Music Festivals 2026 staff nomination form.

Applications are now open and will close on Friday 5 December (artistic team) or Monday 16 February (production team).

In 2026 performance opportunities are available for outstanding instrumental and vocal items at the Festival of Choral Music. These opportunities are open to all public school students and can include music ensembles of all sizes, including soloists and choirs. For more information, visit the Featured items for state music festivals page.