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Those who follow the creation of new vocal music in Australia know of the great contribution of Jenny Duck-Chong and cellist Geoffrey Gartner in premiering new works…building the foundations for other performers to follow and for composers to have a beacon in front of them…
The performing artists on this CD are completely in tune with each other’s approach to the music… there seems to be a joy in the music-making that leaps out of the speakers!
Alan Holley, Classikon, April 2025
“An invaluable collection of works celebrating a composer who should be a household name in this country’s music.”
Gordon Kerry, Loudmouth, September 2023
Read moreThis is an excellent disc of wonderful performances by Jenny Duck-Chong and the Geist String Quartet performing Cameron Lam’s gripping and emotional song cycle The Art of Disappearing. Highly recommended listening for all curious ears!
Alex Rainieri, Loudmouth, March 2023
“Tirade (1968) is in many respects the highlight of this recording…A massive array of percussion, harp and piano support the solo voice. It’s a gripping piece, and worth the price of the physical disc on its own. Performances throughout are excellent.”
Ivan Moody, Gramophone, October 2022
Four Short Songs (2017) for piano and voice are settings of texts by modernist American poet William Carlos Williams. These miniatures, each about one minute’s duration, are economical, exquisite and subtle. Jenny Duck-Chong’s elegant performances are exemplary…
Gwen Bennett, Loudmouth, February 2022
“How fortunate for any composer, young or old, to have one of the doyen of Australian art song performers, Jenny Duck-Chong as your musical protagonist.”
Alan Holley, Classikon, February 2020
Read moreHolland-Batt’s words are given life by mezzo-soprano Jenny Duck-Chong, co-founder of Halcyon. Her beautifully measured delivery and bell-like purity works with the strings so well that at times it seems all might be emanating from the same breath.
Lisa MacKinney, Limelight October 2019
Read more“Lam writes with assured confidence for Duck-Chong’s clear warm mezzo-soprano voice and the result is a perfect partnership of words, melody, emotion and cerebral contemplation.”
Victoria Watson, Sounds Like Sydney, June 2019
Read more“The soundscape is minimalist. Duck-Chong’s beautifully rounded voice is incisive yet gentle and she sings with impeccable diction. Amply suited to contemporary style, her voice joins the quartet as another instrument, straddling wild leaps in register and unerring in pitch.”
Shamistha de Soysa, Sounds Like Sydney, June 2019
Read more“I would encourage even those disinclined to engage with unfamiliar contemporary work to challenge yourselves with this strikingly lush collection of vocal chamber works by Elliott Gyger, performed masterfully by Halcyon.”
Alex Rainieri, Loudmouth e-zine, May 2019
Read more“Singers Jenny Duck-Chong and Alison Morgan, aka Halcyon, have been quietly getting on with making tricky and beautiful things for two decades now. For this, their latest CD, they return to the music of Elliot Gyger, a composer, colleague and co-creator who has been with them throughout their journey. It is a potent combination: Gyger juggles words, notes, jokes and observations, meanings and warnings with uncanny skill, creating something at once complex and as clear as still water; Duck-Chong and Morgan take his ideas and make them dance with deceptive ease. “
Harriet Cunningham, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 2019
Read more“Hardly surprising for the composer of the acclaimed chamber opera version of David Malouf’s Fly Away Peter (2015), this album presents some of the most virtuosic and uplifting vocal music ever created by an Australian composer.”
Vincent Plush, The Australian, December 2018
Read more“As a collection of contemporary compositions, it is a testament to the substantial history of collaborative performances by Halcyon and their colleagues. The voices blend beautifully, with a purity of tone and little vibrato, well matched in timbre and style. The vocal writing is adventurous; the complex rhythms with explorations of tonality and harmony are formidable and are ably achieved by the performers who make up an experienced and tightly knit ensemble, exploring 21st century music, its ability to engage and the power of its messages.”
Shamistha de Soysa, Sounds Like Sydney, November 2018
Read more“This moment must be sung is an important snapshot of contemporary Australian chamber song writing and performance.”
Shamistha de Soysa, SoundslikeSydney, October 2018
Read more“This music enhances and underlines the emotional impact of war in settings of letters written by people who experienced the actuality first hand, as relevant today as ever.”
Gwen Bennett, Music Trust Loudmouth e-zine, February 2017
"The human voice — and some of the best harmonising you’re likely to hear anywhere — is at the centre of Kingfisher"
- Steve Moffatt, NewsLocal July 2016
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"little gems that caress the ear in beauteous, rhapsodic and reflective sounds"
Vincent Plush, The Australian February 2016
"Kingfisher – Songs for Halcyon is a substantial project. It has expanded significantly the repertoire of contemporary Australian song, leaving an enduring gift for the future."
Shamistha de Soysa, Sounds Like Sydney, November 2015
"These two CDs are top quality. They present composers and performers of distinction and the results are exemplary. May there be many more."
Gwen Bennett, Music Trust Loudmouth e-zine November 2015
