The unbound expressive potential of our original instrument: the human voice

Luminescence Chamber Singers is a professional vocal ensemble based on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country (Canberra, ACT). Led by mezzo soprano AJ America, Luminescence has emerged as one of Australia's most exciting professional ensembles, championing the unbound expressive potential of our original instrument: the human voice.

First founded in 2015 amongst undergraduate students, Luminescence now comprises a professional six-voice ensemble (Luminescence Chamber Singers), an annual concert season, a commissioning and creative development program, touring activity across regional and metropolitan NSW, Victoria, and South Australia, and a wide array of outreach and music education programs, including Luminescence Children’s Choir, an acclaimed program for singers aged 10 – 17, and an annual Holiday Program (ages 7 - 12). Luminescence works closely with Roland Peelman AM, a regular conductor, collaborator, and artistic mentor for the Chamber Singers.

Luminescence Chamber Singers have built an enviable reputation as a uniquely virtuosic ensemble, performing repertoire that spans renaissance polyphony, medieval music, contemporary art music, pop, and folk, and increasingly working across both amplified and unamplified forms. Recent highlights include sold-out performances at the National Museum of Australia (2024), Melbourne Recital Centre (2024), and Sydney Opera House (2023), and debut appearances in Hobart and Adelaide, including at The Festival of Voices (2024) and at ACO’s The Neilson (Pier 2/3). Across the 2023 - 2024 seasons, the ensemble recorded and released their first studio recordings, including music films of new works by Dan Walker and Jess Green, an EP of music by Leah Blankendaal (released with ABC Classics), and new  works by and with composer/pianist Sally Whitwell, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia.  Luminescence’s debut album (Of The Body) was recorded in early 2024, and is scheduled forthcoming release with ABC Classic.

In addition to an increasingly national touring schedule, Luminescence has toured extensively through central west NSW with Music In The Regions (2023), as well as throughout the NSW South-Coast and southern highlands, including numerous residencies at Four Winds, Bermagui. Luminescence has appeared annually at Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF) since 2017. At the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival, Luminescence joined forces with 2021 Freedman Jazz Fellow Hilary Geddes (electric guitar) and Freya Schack-Arnott (cello) to present Andrew Ford’s ‘Red Dirt Hymns’ for a capacity crowd. Since 2020, Luminescence has joined forces with CIMF to present annual mini-festival for the festive season, A Luminous Christmas.