Twilight Concert
Wed 17 July 4-5.15pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Tickets $20-$25
Luminescence Children’s Choir
The Luminescence Children’s Choir is a treble choir for Canberra-based musicians aged 10-16. Conducted by AJ America, Luminescence Children’s Choir is dedicated to excellence in performance and offers young singers holistic and high-quality musical experiences and education.
The Luminescence Children’s Choir came together for performances in September and December 2015 and became a permanent ensemble in July 2016. Since then, Luminescence has performed at national institutions such Parliament House and has appeared regularly at the National Portrait Gallery and the High Court. The choir has participated in multiple major performances with the Luminescence Chamber Singers, worked alongside acclaimed guest conductors and composers, including Gordon Hamilton, Bengt-Olov Palmqvist and Dan Walker, and premiered a number of new Australian commissions.
In 2018, Luminescence Children’s Choir toured to Hobart and Melbourne to participate in the Festival of Voices, where they collaborated with some of Australia’s finest choirs, including the Sydney Children’s Choir and Young Voices of Melbourne, and performed in Hobart’s finest concert venues, including Federation Concert Hall and Hobart Town Hall. In July 2019, Luminescence will tour to Sydney to participate in the Gondwana World Choral Festival. In September 2019, the choir will perform Benjamin Britten’s landmark work, The Children’s Crusade. In 2020, Luminescence will embark on their first international tour when they travel to Finland, Latvia and Estonia.
Luminescence Children’s Choir is also the umbrella organisation for our training ensemble, Little Lumi. In Little Lumi, choristers aged 7 – 12 are introduced to musical literacy, ear training and singing skills, and get the opportunity to experience the joy of singing with like-minded children from across Canberra.
AJ America, Artistic Director and Founder
AJ is a conductor, performer, and creative producer. She grew up in Sydney as a member of the Sydney Children’s Choir and Gondwana Voices and has toured nationally as well as across the USA, Canada, China and New Zealand. In addition to her work at Artistic Director of Luminescence Children’s Choir, AJ performs regularly as a soloist and a consort singer, including as a member of Luminescence Chamber Singers, the Choir of St James King St, Pinchgut Opera, Gondwana Chorale and The Australian Voices.
As a young singer, AJ recorded for a number of Australian film soundtracks, including as a soloist for PJ Hogan’s Mental and Baz Luhrman’s Australia. In 2012, both her vocal performances and choral composition were nominated for Encore. Since relocating to Canberra in 2013, she has conducted a number of high achieving community choirs, taught vocal ensemble studies at the ANU School of Music pre-tertiary program, and is currently the Director of Choirs at Radford College.
AJ is also a member of the interdisciplinary ensemble Ampleya– a collaboration with composer and pianist Rasa Daukus and photographic artist Genevieve Swifte dedicated to live installations. Ampleya premiered their first work, Yugen: Profound Grace at Art, Not Apart festival in March 2019.
In 2017, AJ completed her PhB with Honours in History. Alongside her musical pursuits, she currently works as a sessional academic and research assistant at the ANU School of History.