Past Performances

On the occasion of the centenary of the Treaty of Versailles we will present another two performances of The People’s Passion, our 100-year-old story of hope for people’s movements today.  

Read our media release ‘What if women like Jacinda Ardern had been at Versailles 100 years ago’ for more background to the performances.

See the report about last November's sell out performance on our Events page.

Please book online if possible. Ticket sales at the door will be CASH ONLY

A Chorus of Women will be joined by the Luminescence Children’s Choir and some of Canberra’s finest singers and musicians, among them singers AJ America, Jenny Sawer, Julia Wee and Maartje Sevenster as well as violinist Rowan Harvey-Martin and cellist Gillian Pereira.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has shown how empathy and compassion heals communities. A Swedish schoolgirl called Greta Thunberg has led a global movement for action on climate change. On the centenary of the disastrous Treaty of Versailles, and with climate change becoming a global emergency, our Passion shows the transforming potential of compassionate wisdom and women’s leadership. It is based on the inspiring story of the 1300 women who gathered at The Hague in 1915 for the only international peace congress of WWI. They passed resolutions to stop the war, and set the agenda for human rights for the next 100 years. At their 2nd congress at Zurich in May 1919, they adopted the name ‘Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’ (WILPF), which continues to this day.

The resolutions from the 2nd congress promoted principles to enable permanent peace and, through their support of the Save the Children Fund (founded in May 1919 by British woman Eglantyne Jebb), helped to save the lives of millions of children affected by post-war food blockades. In 2019, we show how these women are the spiritual great grandmothers of Jacinda, Greta, and other community leaders with a passion for peace and harmony on Earth today.

Since 2011 each Anzac Eve, 24 April, we gather with candle lit lanterns to lament the tragedy of war and sing our dreams for a peaceful future.  We sing ‘Spirit Songs for Anzac Eve’ and through the smoke from the fire lit by aboriginal tent embassy coals we descend in silence into darkness down the mountain thinking of all the souls lost in war, their families and friends who mourn them, and hope that it will never happen again. For more information see our report on Anzac Eve Peace Vigils and anzacpeacevigil.org.

The Chorus was invited to participate in the Commonwealth Day Multi-Faith Celebration at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. The theme for this year's event was 'A Connected Commonwealth'. We contributed our song 'Ubuntu - I am who I am because of you' and in the spirit of the song, extended a warm invitation to the audience to join the singing.