Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Formed in 1920, it currently comprises the following choirs: Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Singers, formerly the Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir; an auditioned chamber choir of around 32 voices Sydney Philharmonia Symphony Chorus; an auditioned choral orchestral choir of 100 voices Vox; an auditioned young adult vocal ensemble for 18- to 30-year-olds Sydney Philharmonia Festival Chorus; a large community choir of up to 450 voices ChorusOz; an un-auditioned choir formed annually to rehearse and perform a single major choral work over the course of a long weekend. Christmas Choir; or Messiah Choir – an un-auditioned choir formed annually to rehearse and perform performances of either Handel's Messiah or Carols at the House in December. History The choir formed in 1920 as the Hurlstone Park Choral Society and gave its first "Glee Performance", conducted by Tom Downer, on 9 September 1920 in hut 13, Randwick Hospital. The program was listed as Come where my love lies dreaming, Great God of wonders, There is music by the river and Sleep, baby, sleep. The first public performance, also conducted by Tom Downer, was on 3 November 1920 at the Masonic Hall, Dulwich Hill and the program was listed as Come where my love lies dreaming, Great God of wonders, There is music by the river, Sleep, baby, sleep, Oh hush thee my baby, Moonlight, The bells of St Marys and God save the King. The earliest performances to have been noticed in the press were at the Masonic Hall, Dulwich Hill, in 1922 and at St Clement's School Hall, Marrickville, in 1923. In 1922 the choir gave its first performance of a major choral work, 'Assisting Marrickville Choral Society' in Handel's Messiah. The next performance of Messiah was in 1927, and then annually in a sequence interrupted only in 1933 and 1943, until 2010. Also in 1927, and continuing to 1939, the society entered Eisteddfods in various NSW locations, winning places on nine occasions. The prize money often had a significant bearing on the organisation's financial situation, which was always precarious. Despite its financial situation, in 1961 the Hurlstone Choral Society felt able to make an unsolicited gift of £50 to its 'major