The Sydney Women's Vocal Orchestra (SWVO) formed in 2002  to learn the repertoire published as “Song of Survival” – eighteen pieces of music arranged and rehearsed in secret by the women at Palembang, Sumatra during WWII. ​ The choir is made up of around 30 singers of varying ages and from different parts of Sydney and the Central Coast of NSW.   The choir has performed at community gigs, commemoration services and the 2005 National Folk Festival, Canberra.  SWVO  The repertoire is ‘standard classical’ arranged by Margaret Dryburgh and Norah Chambers sung to different vowel sounds.  You can hear their arrangement of Ravel’s Bolero here. The only exception is a song with words, “The Captives’ Hymn”, composed by Margaret Dryburgh during her imprisonment and sung by the original vocal orchestra. You can hear it here. ​ For twenty years SWVO sang at the cenotaph in Martin Place as part of the commemoration of the Fall of Singapore.  We now gather to sing from time to time when invited.  We sing to ensure that the stories of these women are included in commemorations of war which are often otherwise men's stories. ​ As a statue of Vivian Bullwinkel is about to be unveiled at the National War Memorial, we plan to dust off our repertoire and perform the music and stories for new audiences.
P: 0410682061 E: christinamsings@gmail.com