Jenny Duck-Chong
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Random Audio Sample: Triptych (war letters) : for soprano, mezzo-soprano, bass, viola, percussion, piano by Diana Blom, from the CD War letters |
Mezzo soprano Jenny Duck-Chong has established herself as a versatile and intelligent musician. She is sought after by Sydney's finest vocal ensembles and has performed extensively with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, The Song Company and Cantillation. Equally comfortable as a soloist, she has worked with conductors such as Reinbert de Leeuw, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Christopher Hogwood and Jane Glover and ensembles as varied as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia and the Kevin Hunt Jazz Trio.
Active in the field of new music, Jenny Duck-Chong has worked with contemporary ensembles including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Alpha Ensemble and Ensemble Offspring. She has featured in numerous premiere performances including works by Boyd, Butterley, Edwards, Hair, Gyger, Page, Farr and Whitehead. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Halcyon and with them has commissioned and premiered many Australian works and has also championed international works by Saariaho, Berkeley, Finnissy, Erkoreka, Beamish, Hui as well as many young composers.
Her recordings credits include mezzo soloist on the ABC Classics recording of Fauré's La Naissance de Venus, Teddy Tahu Rhodes CD The Voice and Pinchgut Opera's The Fairy Queen and Orfeo, several film scores including The Bank by Alan John, as well as numerous other recordings with Cantillation and Halcyon's own live recordings.
Articles by and about Jenny Duck-Chong
28 Feb 2011 First Stones - a new composer development initiative by Halcyon by Jenny Duck-Chong
Since its inception in 1998, Halcyon has made a very significant contribution to the body of new work for voice created by established Australian composers. This year, the ensemble invites emerging composers from around Australia to take part in FIRST STONES, a new initiative to encourage the development of vocal writing skills. Successful applicants will take part in seminars and workshops in Sydney, with mentorship by Halcyon and composer Elliott Gyger. The project will culminate in November with a performance of the new works by Halcyon, as part of the New Music Network’s 2011 concert series. Deadline for FIRST STONES applications is 14 March.
29 Nov 2011 First Stones - from ideas to fruition by Elliott Gyger
Having participated in numerous composer development programs myself, it is a pleasure and a delight now to be able to pass on the favour to younger composers through taking on the role of teacher and mentor. Halcyon’s First Stones project has been particularly rewarding, as it’s the first program I’ve been in on from the beginning and helped to design...
31 May 2012 Supporting emerging composers in Australia by Janine Marshman
The topic of supporting emerging artists was explored by a panel of leaders in the new music community as part of the Aurora Festival of Living Music in Western Sydney in early May 2012.
26 Nov 2018 Halcyon and the poetry of voices by Jenny Duck-Chong
For a relatively young ensemble, the now 20-year-old Halcyon has a powerful legacy in the numerous Australian works commissioned by the ensemble or dedicated to them. Some of this legacy has now taken the form of an oral history project - a growing series of videos where prominent Australian composers talk about their work, about composing for voice, and about setting words. These videos are being made available via Halcyon's Youtube channel, with more in the making.
Halcyon's next concert on 1 December concludes the ensemble's 20th birthday celebrations, with works by Gillian Whitehead, Rosalind Page, Sadie Harrison, Gordon Kerry and Ross Edwards, who is celebrating his 75th birthday later in December
20 Feb 2024 Close to Home: A personal connection to Australian Art Song by Jenny Duck-Chong and Nicole Thomson
Jenny Duck-Chong and Nicole Thomson reflect on their working relationships with composers who form the concert program of their first presentation of an all-Australian art song concert as part of Flametree.
Works commissioned and written for Jenny Duck-Chong
See, the prismatic colors glisten by John Peterson
The Art of Disappearing by Cameron Lam
To the person who left a note on my windshield by Houston Dunleavy
To my excellent Lucasia, on our friendship by Andrew Ford
Opalescence by Stuart Greenbaum
Events featuring Jenny Duck-Chong
24 Feb 2024 NSW: Flametree and the Australian Art Song Resource present Close to Home
8 Dec 2022 NSW: Halcyon presents Autobiochemistry
9 Jul 2022 NSW: First Stones : Stage 1
12 Nov 2020 : Halcyon: Holding Light
World premieres given by Jenny Duck-Chong
Autobiochemistry (mezzo-soprano with cello) by Elliott Gyger— 8 Dec 22 (Summer Hill Church, NSW)
Hymn of the Garden : mezzo-soprano voice with accompaniment by Andrew Ford— 10 Jul 22 (Annandale Creative Arts Centre, NSW)
Flock of Angels, op. 110a : for voice and cello by Andrew Schultz— 12 Nov 20 (On demand event (online only))
Two songs on a C-pedal (mezzo-soprano with cello) by Larry Sitsky— 12 Nov 20 (On demand event (online only))
The Wagtail (mezzo-soprano with cello) by Kate Reid— 12 Nov 20 (On demand event (online only))
My Sorrow's Flower (mezzo-soprano with cello) by Gordon Kerry— 12 Nov 20 (On demand event (online only))
The Art of Disappearing (mezzo-soprano with string quartet) by Cameron Lam— 1 Jun 19 (Annandale Creative Arts Centre, NSW)
Cantos Españoles : three songs of Garcia Lorca : SATB choir with orchestra by Daniel Rojas— 16 Sep 17
See, the prismatic colors glisten : for soprano, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, cello and percussion by John Peterson— 15 Mar 14 (Music Workshop,Sydney Conservatorium of Music, NSW)
I lost a world the other day : for mezzo-soprano and cello by Moya Henderson— 15 Mar 14 (Music Workshop, Sydney Concervatorium of Music, NSW)
Dual (duos: soprano, alto with chamber ensemble) by Felicity Wilcox— 26 May 10 (Verbruggen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music)
Ex Nihilo Omnia Fit (duos: soprano, mezzo-soprano with chamber ensemble) by Andrew Batt-Rawden— 27 Nov 09 (St Ives Uniting Church, NSW)
Orphic Hymn #3: To Nyx (chamber orchestra with multiple vocal soloists) by Cameron Lam— 28 May 09 (Music Workshop, NSW)
The mysterious demise of one Brody-Marie : a bellow-drama in seven acts by Nicholas Vines— 31 Mar 01 (Paddington United Church, Paddington)