Astra concerts 1978-2010

In 1978 John McCaughey took over from George Logie-Smith as musical director of Astra, initiating Astra's second historical phase as a contemporary choral organisation. In the thirty-three years since then, Astra has performed more than 1380 works by 440 composers in 260 concerts at 64 different venues.

See the list of composers, their works and performance details from 1978-2010.

See below the list of concerts by year, linking to concert details.

1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Click the date to see the works performed in that concert. Some concerts from 2004 onward also have links to program notes

Date	Concert Title	Venue
27 April 1978		Assembly Hall, Collins St
16 June 1978	Youth Concerto Concert
12 July 1978		Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria
10 August 1978		Baptist Church, Collins Street
5 October 1978	Youth Concerto Concert
2 November 1978		Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria
7 December 1978		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
10 April 1979		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
1 June 1979		Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
15 June 1979	Youth Concerto Concert
29 July 1979		Ormond College Chapel
9 August 1979		St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
28 September 1979	Youth Concerto Concert
12 December 1979		Baptist Church, Collins Street
31 March 1980		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
20 June 1980	Youth Concerto Concert	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
10 July 1980		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
4 August 1980		Toorak Uniting Church
19 September 1980	Youth Concerto Concert	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
9 October 1980		St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
18 December 1980		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
8 April 1981		Our Lady of Victories Church, Camberwell
12 April 1981	Music at Easter	St Paul's Church, Euroa
12 June 1981	Youth Concerto Concert	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
10 July 1981		Old Customs House
13 August 1981		Monash University Religious Centre
18 September 1981	Youth Concerto Concert	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
8 October 1981		Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
17 December 1981		St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
21 April 1982	New Music Concertata	Church of Mark the Evangelist, Curzon St, North Melbourne
16 June 1982	Cello and Piano Recital	Toorak Uniting Church
2 July 1982	Youth Concerto Concert 1	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
25 September 1982	Let the Choirs Sing	Melbourne Concert Hall
1 October 1982	Youth Concerto Concert 2	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
12 October 1982	Bach/Adorno/Eisler	Baptist Church, Collins Street
16 December 1982		Auburn Uniting Church
20 April 1983		Our Lady of Victories Church, Camberwell
7 July 1983	Madrigals and New Music	Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Armadale
6 October 1983	Paris 1898 - Melbourne 1983	Sacred Heart Church, St Kilda
15 December 1983	A German Tradition	Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
17 April 1984	Easter	Armadale Uniting Church
15 June 1984	Youth Concerto Concert 1	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
12 July 1984	Music and Text	The Church, Burwood Rd, Hawthorn
7 September 1984	Youth Concerto Concert 2	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
4 October 1984	Mass and Motets	All Saints Anglican Church, St Kilda
12 December 1984	Choir, Cello and Piano	Church of Mark the Evangelist, Curzon St, North Melbourne
24 April 1985	Mozart and some Victorians	North Melbourne Town Hall
11 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 1	North Melbourne Town Hall
12 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
12 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 3	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
14 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 4	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
14 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 5	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
16 July 1985	North Melbourne in July - A Festival of Contemporary Music, 6	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
8 September 1985	New Moods Arts Festival	Convent of the Good Shepherd, Abbotsford
13 September 1985	Youth Concerto and Chamber Orchestral Concert	North Melbourne Town Hall
9 October 1985	...ein neues Lied - …a new song, 1	Baptist Church, Collins Street
15 November 1985	...ein neues Lied - …a new song, 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
22 November 1985	...ein neues Lied - …a new song, 3	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
29 November 1985	...ein neues Lied - …a new song, 4	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
18 December 1985	...ein neues Lied - …a new song, 5	Cairns Memorial Church, East Melbourne
23 February 1986	Free Entertainment in Public Places - Roving Choral Concert	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
18 April 1986	Isaac - Wolpe - Schumann	Church of Mark the Evangelist, Curzon St, North Melbourne
16 May 1986	Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord, Closing Concert	Our Lady of Victories Church, Camberwell
15 July 1986	Recital of Sacred Music, with Monteverdi Choir of Hamburg	St Patrick's Cathedral
25 July 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 1	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
26 July 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
30 July 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 3	Melba Hall, University of Melbourne
1 August 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 4	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
1 August 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 5	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
3 August 1986	From Franz Liszt to Contemporary Australia, 6	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
12 September 1986	Youth Concerto Concert	North Melbourne Town Hall
28 September 1986	Spoleto Melbourne - Collins Street Mobile Concert	Scots' Church, Collins St
25 November 1986	Blow the Trumpet in the New Moon …	State Library of Victoria Reading Room
5 December 1986	Melbourne Peace vigil	St Paul's Cathedral
28 March 1987	Choral theatre - unanswered questions	Fitzroy Town Hall
3 April 1987	Pipeline, in association with Astra - From behind the unreasoning mask	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
11 April 1987	Prophesies of the Sibyls	Church of All Nations, Carlton
24 July 1987	Third Winter Festival, 1 - Music for a large environment	Meat Market Craft Centre, North Melbourne
26 July 1987	Third Winter Festival, 2 - Kenneth Gaburo	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
1 August 1987	Third Winter Festival, 3 - Pipeline Multimedia	North Melbourne Town Hall
13 September 1987	Spoleto Festival	Baptist Church, Collins Street
26 September 1987	Young Composers Project	Church of Mark the Evangelist, Curzon St, North Melbourne
27 November 1987	Reger - Eisler - Schoenberg	North Melbourne Town Hall
6 March 1988	City of Sandringham Roving Concert	Sandy Beach Community Centre
13 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 1	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
14 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 2	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
15 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 2	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
16 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 1	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
19 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 2	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
20 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 1	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
21 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 2	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
22 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 2	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
23 April 1988	Making a Song and Dance, with Danceworks - program 1	Studio, Victorian Arts Centre
13 July 1988	Fourth Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 1	Church of Mark the Evangelist, Curzon St, North Melbourne
15 July 1988	Fourth Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 2	North Melbourne Town Hall
17 July 1988	Fourth Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 3 - Eichendorff and Byron - bicentennial poets	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
2 September 1988	Symposium of the International Musicological Society, closing concert	Old Customs House
1 October 1988	Young Composers' Project	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
12 December 1988	Taverner - Dallapiccola	North Melbourne Town Hall
5 May 1989	North Brunswick Choral Recital	St Margaret Mary's Church, Brunswick
6 August 1989	Fifth Astra Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 1 - Polansky / Diamond - New music for voices, computer, gamelan	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
11 August 1989	Fifth Astra Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 2 - Pipeline	North Melbourne Town Hall
13 August 1989	Fifth Astra Winter Festival, in association with Pipeline, 3 - Requiems	North Melbourne Town Hall
15 October 1989	Young composers’ concert	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
15 December 1989	West Melbourne Christmas Event	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
25 March 1990	Graham Hair Farewell Concert	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
25 May 1990	Mahler, Vienna and the 20th Century	Old Customs House
10 August 1990	Choir and Theatre : a Performance for Hiroshima Day	South Melbourne Town Hall
11 August 1990	Choir and Theatre : a Performance for Hiroshima Day	South Melbourne Town Hall
19 September 1990		Monash University Religious Centre
30 September 1990	Young Composers' Concert	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
5 October 1990	Bell and Whistle Company	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
20 October 1990		North Melbourne Town Hall
4 November 1990		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
14 December 1990	Marvel not Joseph - music for Christmas	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
18 May 1991	Mozart with 20th century perspectives	North Melbourne Town Hall
2 June 1991	Contemporary Australian Violin. In association with La Trobe University Press and La Trobe University Department of Music	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
23 June 1991	The ABRAXAS* PROJECT in association with Astra	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
19 July 1991	Fantasies and Impromptus 1	North Melbourne Town Hall
20 July 1991	Fantasies and Impromptus 2	North Melbourne Town Hall
28 July 1991	From Africa to the Kitchen Sink	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
6 September 1991	Choir, percussion, brass	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
15 September 1991	Astra contemporary performers	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
29 September 1991	The ABRAXAS* PROJECT in association with Astra	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
1 December 1991		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
13 December 1991	Canon for peace	Sacred Heart Church, St Kilda
11 April 1992		St John's Lutheran Church, Southgate
3 May 1992	Changing the Subject - The Machine for Making Sense	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
17 May 1992	Parade	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
29 August 1992		Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Middle Park
6 September 1992	Elm Street Spring Series, 1	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
4 October 1992	Elm Street Spring Series, 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
1 November 1992	Elm Street Spring Series, 3	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
7 November 1992	Astra in association with La Trobe University Music Department	Scienceworks Museum
6 December 1992	Elm Street Spring Series, 4	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
18 December 1992	Rorate Coeli	St Monica's Church, Moonee Ponds
29 May 1993		North Melbourne Town Hall
5 June 1993	Playing Field	Studio A, Gore St, Fitzroy
5 September 1993	Sound Patterns	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
17 October 1993	Cinéma	Central Hall, Brunswick St, Fitzroy
14 November 1993	Art and waste in concert - Playing Field	Scienceworks Museum
5 December 1993	Young composers and performers	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
10 December 1993	Near to far	Sacred Heart Church, St Kilda
10 April 1994	Two up - a play on playing	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
5 June 1994	Footfalls	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
18 September 1994	Performance Forum no. 1	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
25 September 1994	Performance Forum no. 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
26 November 1994		North Melbourne Town Hall
14 December 1994	Piano recital - Michael Kieran Harvey	Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre
8 April 1995		St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
27 May 1995		St Kilda Town Hall
16 July 1995	Keith Humble memorial concert	Northcote Town Hall
1 October 1995	Electro-acoustic compositions and choral improvisations at the Meat Market	Meat Market Craft Centre, North Melbourne
12 November 1995	Choral mobiles: from mediaeval pilgrim songs to contemporary Melbourne	Collins St Promenade Concert. I. ANZ Tower. II. Atrium. III. Cathedral Room
16 December 1995		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
17 December 1995		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
14 April 1996		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
16 June 1996	Footscray-Yarraville City Band and the Astra Choir	Central Hall, Brunswick St, Fitzroy
22 September 1996	Eine kleine Gamelan/Computer Music	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
13 October 1996	Astra Performance Forum 1996 - New Voices	St Mary's Anglican Church, North Melbourne
7 December 1996		St Kilda Town Hall
8 December 1996		St Kilda Town Hall
16 March 1997		St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong
15 April 1997		Heidelberg Town Hall
15 June 1997		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
21 June 1997		Northcote Town Hall
22 June 1997		Northcote Town Hall
26 September 1997		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
5 October 1997		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
12 October 1997		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
16 November 1997		Brunswick Town Hall
6 December 1997		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
7 December 1997		Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
31 May 1998	Never - Poems, Songs, Choruses	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
1 June 1998	Never - Poems, Songs, Choruses	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
20 June 1998		Northcote Town Hall
28 September 1998		Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre
29 September 1998		Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre
12 October 1998		Central Hall, Brunswick St, Fitzroy
6 November 1998		Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
6 December 1998		Northcote Town Hall
30 May 1999	Force - Western Wind - Westerlings	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
31 May 1999	Force - Western Wind - Westerlings	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
1 August 1999	new flute perspectives	North Melbourne Town Hall
11 September 1999	human figure - death of a tyrant - choral scenes	St Kilda Town Hall
12 September 1999	human figure - death of a tyrant - choral scenes	St Kilda Town Hall
3 October 1999	humble - bagatelles, cabaret, orpheus	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
10 October 1999	Performance Forum - Noise Orchestra - Last Music from La Trobe University	Northcote Town Hall
12 December 1999	Goethe 250 - Schiller 240 - Weimar 80	Northcote Town Hall
17 September 2000	Bach - Busoni - Celan	North Melbourne Town Hall
12 November 2000	flutes - clarinet - wind quartet	St Kilda Town Hall
12 November 2000	ursonata - chorus poetry - amplified band	St Kilda Town Hall
10 December 2000	Mendelssohn - Schoenberg - Copeland - Wolpe - Humble	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
8 April 2001	renaissance passion to solo snare drum	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
4 May 2001	Miles to Furphy - vocal interactions with Miles Franklin and Joseph Furphy	North Melbourne Town Hall
5 May 2001	Miles to Furphy - vocal interactions with Miles Franklin and Joseph Furphy	North Melbourne Town Hall
16 September 2001	two concerts of new performance, 1	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
23 September 2001	two concerts of new performance, 2	Elm St Hall, North Melbourne
4 November 2001	A50 - a half-centenary choirscape	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
5 November 2001	A50 - a half-centenary choirscape	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
16 December 2001	from the four ends of the earth	St Kilda Town Hall
7 April 2002	Passion Oratorio	North Melbourne Town Hall
19 May 2002	Cities of the Mind	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
20 May 2002	Cities of the Mind	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
25 August 2002	Battle Piece - Stefan Wolpe Centenary I	North Melbourne Town Hall
26 August 2002	Battle Piece - Stefan Wolpe Centenary I	North Melbourne Town Hall
15 December 2002	In a state of flight - Stefan Wolpe Centenary II	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
18 March 2003	From procession to sound-poem: a landscape of collective song - Victorian Seniors Festival 2000	Assembly Hall, Collins St
3 May 2003	in association with Melbourne Autumn Music Festival	North Melbourne Town Hall
22 June 2003	Grainger, Grieg, new Australian, new Scandinavian	Queen's Hall, Parliament House
7 September 2003	Humble, Berg, Schumann - nocturnes, late songs of early morning	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
14 December 2003	Tropes to Processed Bells	St Ignatius' Church, Richmond
3 April 2004	media vita in morte sumus	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
4 April 2004	media vita in morte sumus	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
16 May 2004	darkly, leggiero, legato - Carl Vine at 50 - the Piano Works	BMW Edge, Federation Square	program notes
23 May 2004	a day, a night, an hour - Carl Vine at 50 - concertato: choir & ensemble	Williamstown Town Hall	program notes
24 October 2004	Organ concert in transit (with voices)	St Mary's Anglican Church, North Melbourne	program notes
31 October 2004	Fiesta - recorder, ensemble and choir	North Melbourne Town Hall	program notes
19 December 2004	Christmas oratorio	Clifton Arts Centre, Uniting Church, Richmond	program notes
8 May 2005	Tenebrae, stella maris	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne	program notes
21 August 2005	Sonatas, songs, choral theatres	North Melbourne Town Hall	program notes
2 October 2005	Electric wisdom	Fitzroy Town Hall	program notes
15 October 2005	Spell against sorrow	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
16 October 2005	Spell against sorrow	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
30 October 2005	A New Mass Setting	St Mark's Church, Fitzroy	program notes
11 December 2005	Christmas oratorio	Clifton Arts Centre, Uniting Church, Richmond	program notes
16 March 2006	Stella Maris/Tenebrae	St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong	program notes
23 April 2006	Passion/Book of Hours/Hebrew Ballads	Clifton Arts Centre, Uniting Church, Richmond	program notes
4 June 2006	Electric songs/Steeples and Mountains/Sea pieces	Fitzroy Town Hall	program notes
5 November 2006	Catherine Schieve - recital	Fitzroy Town Hall, Reading Room	program notes
19 November 2006	Jerzy Kozlowski - recital	Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne	program notes
10 December 2006	Elisabeth Lutyens - commemorations	Northcote Town Hall	program notes
22 April 2007	Songs of imprisonment	Holy Rosary Church, Kensington	program notes
26 May 2007	Dissident consonances	Lithuanian House, North Melbourne	program notes
27 May 2007	Dissident consonances	Lithuanian House, North Melbourne	program notes
9 September 2007	In that time …	Fitzroy Town Hall	program notes
4 November 2007	old or new, abstract or true	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park	program notes
9 December 2007	Night voices	Northcote Town Hall	program notes
6 April 2008	They heard a voice from the sky …' choir & poetry in conflicted times	St Mary Star of the Sea Church, West Melbourne
13 April 2008	They heard a voice from the sky …' choir & poetry in conflicted times	St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong
3 May 2008	Reconstruction: a program revisited after 30 years	Assembly Hall, Collins St	program notes
1 June 2008	Concertino, sonata, street fugue, folk-tale	Lithuanian House, North Melbourne	program notes
28 September 2008	Voices and percussion	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park	program notes
15 November 2008	Shakespeare / Dostoyevsky	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
15 November 2008	Shakespeare / Dostoyevsky	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
16 November 2008	Shakespeare / Dostoyevsky	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy	program notes
7 December 2008	Elliot Carter 100	Central Hall, Brunswick St, Fitzroy	program notes
17 May 2009	William Blake / Friedrich Rückert	Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Middle Park
30 May 2009	New Voices in 2x2 Hands (1) : Peter de Jager / Peter Dumsday	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
31 May 2009	New Voices in 2x2 Hands (1) : Peter de Jager / Peter Dumsday	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
30 August 2009	Violin and piano recital	Lithuanian House, North Melbourne
19 September 2009	New Voices in 2x2 Hands (2) : Joy Lee / Sonya Lifschitz	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
20 September 2009	New Voices in 2x2 Hands (2) : Joy Lee / Sonya Lifschitz	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
29 October 2009	ANAM and Astra : Haydn and Ligeti	South Melbourne Town Hall
13 December 2009	A Kaleidoscope around Liszt	Northcote Town Hall
1 May 2010	Graeme Leak - retrospect / prospect	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
5 June 2010	Lacrimae rerum - The tears of things	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
6 June 2010	Lacrimae rerum - The tears of things	Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park
19 June 2010	New song cycles: Michael Bertram at 75, Lawrence Whiffin at 81	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
20 June 2010	New song cycles: Michael Bertram at 75, Lawrence Whiffin at 81	Eleventh Hour Theatre, Fitzroy
10 October 2010	Cities of the Mind	Fitzroy Town Hall
5 December 2010	around Beethoven and Humble	Northcote Town Hall

Astra concerts, 1978-2010