Festival of Choral Music
The Festival of Choral Music (FoCM) brings students from across NSW to perform selected repertoire in combined mass choirs guided by specialist choral teachers.
Together with outstanding instrumental and vocal items from across NSW, the festival provides the opportunity for schools to access and perform repertoire curated for students and valuable teacher professional learning opportunities.
2025 key dates
Applications for the Festival of Choral Music 2025 have now closed.
- Performance dates – Monday 4 to Friday 8 August (Term 3 Week 3)
- Sydney preliminary rehearsals – Monday 30 June to Friday 4 July (Term 2 Week 10)
Enquiries
2025 concert dates at the Sydney Opera House
The NSW Department of Education will present 5 concerts in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. School choirs made up of students from Years 3 to 6 that are capable of singing in 2 parts will form part of a combined choir of 700 voices for each concert.
- Argyle concert: Monday 4 August 2025
- Australis concert: Tuesday 5 August 2025
- Barangaroo concert: Wednesday 6 August 2025
- Bennelong concert: Thursday 7 August 2025
- Endeavour concert: Friday 8 August 2025
Preliminary rehearsals
All participating schools attend a preliminary rehearsal to prepare students for the concerts.
Sydney preliminary rehearsals will be held at at the Salvation Army Congress Hall:
- Argyle rehearsal: Monday 30 June 2025, 9:30 am to 1 pm
- Australis rehearsal: Tuesday 1 July 2025, 9:30 am to 1 pm
- Barangaroo rehearsal: Wednesday 2 July 2025, 9:30 am to 1 pm
- Bennelong rehearsal: Thursday 3 July 2025, 9:30 am to 1 pm
- Endeavour rehearsal: Friday 4 July 2025, 9:30 am to 1 pm
Non-metropolitan schools will either host or attend a Regional preliminary rehearsal with other nearby participating schools during Term 2 or 3, as negotiated with Luke Wallace.
Cost
- Participation fee of $40.00 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.
Professional learning and resources
- At least one teacher from each participating school should attend the Festival of Choral Music – teachers’ professional learning workshop on Friday 14 February 2025, 9 am to 3 pm at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
- All teachers from all public schools, regardless of their involvement in the festival, are welcome to attend this workshop. Please register by Friday 7 February 2025.
- A range of online resources will become available at the beginning of the year.
- Each participating student will receive a 2025 Festival of Choral Music repertoire book.
- Each participating student and teacher will receive a specially designed T-shirt to wear at the performance.
Featured items
Applications for featured items are now open.
In 2025 performance opportunities are available for outstanding instrumental and vocal items at the Festival of Instrumental Music, Festival of Choral Music, and Primary Proms. These opportunities are open to all public school students and can include music ensembles of all sizes, large or small – including soloists and choirs.
Enquiries
For further information concerning the Festival of Choral Music, please contact [email protected]
All Arts Unit programs are inclusive. If support is required to participate in the Festival of Choral Music, please email [email protected] so that we can assist.
