Celebrating Choral Music with Hugh Lydon

The delight of choral music is something that our WASO Chorus members know well. The WASO Chorus was formed in 1988 and consists of over 100 choristers from all walks of life, who represent the finest form of community music-making.

In October 2024, we were pleased to welcome Perth-based conductor, teacher and singer Hugh Lydon to the role of WASO Chorus Director. To celebrate World Choral Day, we sat down with Hugh to find out about his journey to WASO, his musical inspirations, and why singing is so important.

Congratulations on your appointment as WASO’s new Chorus Director! Tell us a bit about your journey to working with the WASO Chorus.

Thank you very much! It is a huge privilege to be appointed to this role, and I feel honoured to follow in the footsteps of many fantastic WASO Chorus Directors. I've been living and teaching in Perth since 2010, and have been very fortunate to work with a number of choral ensembles in that time, both as a singer and as a conductor.

My first choral conducting experience was in 2015 with The Giovanni Consort, and my first opportunity to work with the WASO Chorus was in 2019 for a Last Night of the Proms concert. I loved every minute of that experience, and have enjoyed performing with and rehearsing the Chorus every time I have been given the chance. To be able to do so now full-time is very exciting.

You trained as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral. How did your experience there shape you as a vocalist?

My time as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral was very formative. The choir sang seven services a week, so I had to go to boarding school at the age of 8. That in itself made me mature very quickly, but also the enormous amount of repertoire helped me with my sight reading, as well as introducing me to core choral repertoire that spanned a 500-year period of history.

I had the opportunity to perform in both concerts and services, singing everything from Gregorian Chant to world premieres. The choir would also often perform large symphonic works with orchestras, such as Britten's War Requiem, Haydn's The Creation and Mahler's Symphony No.8. This gave me a sense of how choirs can work in different environments and acoustics, and how choirs can adjust and adapt depending on repertoire, occasion and venue.

How does the choral scene here in Perth compare to other parts of the world?

I personally believe that the choral community in Perth is very strong. There are an enormous number of community choirs here, which perform every style of repertoire imaginable. Anybody who wishes to join a singing ensemble will easily be able to find a group that suits their needs. The professional singing community in Perth is also very strong. Many singers have gone on to forge professional careers in other parts of the world, both as soloists and as choral musicians. For example, three quarters of the Australian Vocal Ensemble are either from Perth or studied here. That certainly indicates a healthy choral scene to me.

What motivated you to make the move into teaching and conducting?

I studied Music Education at Trinity College Dublin, so classroom teaching was always going to be my career pathway. When I first came to Perth as a teacher in 2010, I had not sung choral music for a number of years, focusing more on the trombone. I began work at John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School, originally as the person who would conduct the wind ensembles and jazz bands. I also was fortunate to teach all ages from Kindy up to Year 12. The school has a Chapel Choir program, which is where I rediscovered my love of choral music.

Shortly after, I joined the choir of St George's Cathedral, where I sang for a number of years. My first choral conducting opportunity occurred in 2015, when The Giovanni Consort asked me to direct their performance of Victoria's Requiem. That was when the conducting bug bit, and I have sought out as many opportunities as possible since then. However, I would always classify myself as an educator first and foremost. In 2019, I began work at Aquinas College, forming the Schola Cantorum. It feels like the perfect combination of education and conducting to me, and I feel very lucky indeed to have that role.

Are there any singers or composers that you admire or draw inspiration from in your work?

I think Gabriel Fauré writes incredibly well for the voice. He knows the limitations of a standard voice and doesn't try to exceed them. Some composers who write choral music are not singers themselves, so might on occasion write a phrase that is too high/low, or is not possible to sing in a single breath. I don't find that to be the case with him. 

I find that Renaissance music is generally good as an educational tool – it allows the singers in a choir to be aware of what is going on around them, but in a mostly harmonic way. Palestrina, Byrd and Victoria are all great examples of this.

I tend to listen to choirs more than particular individuals. There are some extraordinary choirs all around the world who record a large amount of music. Whilst my disposition is to listen to choirs from the UK, there are many from the USA, Europe and Australia who have a strong body of work to be inspired by.

In addition to your role as WASO Chorus Director, you’re also Director of the Aquinas College Schola Cantorum, the Children’s Chorus Master for West Australian Opera, and in 2022 received a Churchill Fellowship to create tertiary pathways for choral musicians. Why is choral music, and singing in general, so important for young people?

Music Education is incredibly important. So often in life we tell people how to feel, but with music we are asking somebody how they are feeling. Good music-making elicits a strong emotional response in the listener, no matter the genre or style. 

The great thing about singing is that it is free – you do not need to pay for an instrument. We can all participate, and the shared joy of singing together is something that is difficult to quantify. Choral music takes this one step further by using all of the different parts of the brain to cope with language, harmonies, tempo, pitch and blend. By utilising these skills, and then transferring that sense of teamwork, focus and determination into other areas of their lives, young people become more rounded individuals, which is surely a good thing for society as a whole.