For hundreds of years, composers have been inspired to write music to showcase the unique and unmistakable qualities of the boy soprano’s voice – combining crystal clarity with purity of tone. From L'Escolania at Montserrat, to the choral foundations of Oxford and Cambridge, to the Vienna Boys’ Choir, churches have worked to train boys in this extraordinary tradition. The trebles of Brisbane’s two cathedrals will join forces for a concert of works showcasing the special qualities of treble voices, supported by the Schola of St Stephen’s Cathedral.

​Alexander Yau, Laureate of the Australian Chopin International Piano Competition 2017, presents a musical voyage from the musical absolutes of late Beethoven, through to the sublime style of Chopin. This recital features one of Beethoven’s late Sonatas (Op. 109, No. 30) –  a masterly musical kaleidoscope of forthrightness, emotional intensity and profound serenity – and the rarely performed Szymanowski Metopes, with its impressionistic bitonality and a narrative of a mythical setting. A journey through some of Chopin’s finest works, including the magnificent Fantasie (Op. 49), three characterful Mazurkas, the spiritual and poetic Baracolle and his unforgettable third Ballade will conclude the program.

St. Stephen's Cathedral Concert Series is proud to announce that tickets for the 2018 Concert Series are now available for purchase online. Tickets for all six concerts in the series are available at the same competitive price as in 2017: $30 Adult, $25 Concession.

We look forward to welcoming you to our concerts this year!

Struggling to come up with a good Christmas present for friends or family? Look no further! For this month only, you can get a Season Subscription to the Cathedral’s 2018 Concert Series (six concerts from April to October) for the discounted price of $150 adults or $125 concession. Click the button below to purchase a Season Pass on TryBooking.

Single concert tickets will be available for sale from early 2018.

On the Sunday after All Souls Day, the Cathedral Choir and Schola will combine to give a performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem - one of his best known works - accompanied by orchestra. The combined Cathedral choirs add this work to a growing list of Requiems performed in recent years, including those of Michael Haydn, Maurice Duruflé, and Zoltán Kodály.


Though at the time of composing the Requiem in the late 1880s his parents had recently died, Fauré maintained that he had no specific reason for composing it. It is a work of both raw passion and elegant beauty. As a staple of choral repertoire worldwide, this is essential listening for those who have never heard the work before; and for those familiar with it, you will know that the music, combined with the beauty of the Cathedral of St. Stephen, brings a transcendent experience in which to meditate on thoughts of the faithful departed.

​Canticum Chamber Choir (Emily Cox, director and guest artist Christopher Wrench, organ) performs passionate secular and sacred works by Claudio Monteverdi and Morten Lauridsen which, although they are separated by many centuries, are connected by common themes of love, light and loss.  Monteverdi is one of the most profoundly significant composers of all time, a key figure linking the Renaissance and the Baroque era.  We celebrate his 450th birthday this year with his characteristically buoyant and intense music.  Lauridsen’s appealing and timeless music makes him one of the most widely performed and popular composers of the present day.  

​Come and hear the choirs of the Cathedral perform the stunning conclusion to the 2016 Concert Series, with two major choral works specially selected for the Christmas season.

​The first half of the concert will feature selections from Handel's sacred oratorio, Messiah. Messiah holds its ground as Handel's best-known and most widely performed major choral work, and has earned a place in the hearts of musicians and listeners alike for its careful balance between majestic and contrite movements, as well as the stirring Hallelujah Chorus, which will be heard at this concert.

In the second half, the choirs will perform Saint-Saëns's Oratorio de Noël, composed in Latin. While this work is a more contemplative style of oratorio, Saint-Saëns uses music to evoke the dramatic elements of the Christmas story, beginning with lilting, pastoral music in the opening prelude to depict the shepherds tending their flocks, moving through choruses of angels singing praises to God, and concluding with a hymn of praise of all creation.

This is an unmissable opportunity to see the choirs of the Cathedral really spread their wings outside the context of ordinary Mass. See you there!