About Us
Wayfarers Australia is a volunteer choir and music theatre community. Members contribute their time, energy and travel, and ticket proceeds are regularly donated to charitable causes.
Background
Wayfarers Australia grew from Judith Clingan's long work as a composer, conductor and music educator. The choir brings together choral singing, theatre, movement, story, instruments and visual imagination, with a particular commitment to children and young people learning inside a serious artistic community.
The choir is volunteer-led and multi-generational. Singers, families, chapter coordinators and musical leaders contribute rehearsal time, concert preparation, touring support and practical care for one another.
Wayfarers' public performances are also outward-looking. Ticket proceeds are regularly donated to charitable causes, so concerts remain connected to service as well as music-making.
Explore the touring historyPerformance Highlights
Wayfarers has performed a wide range of music by modern Australian composers including Liam Waterford, Ruth McCall and Stephen Leek. We also draw upon Judy's own works including Kakadu, Spiritus Sanctus Australis, Marco, Endangered!, The Little Prince, Heavenly Grandfather's Banquet and Harmonia Mundi.
We also regularly feature classic choral works including Handel's Messiah, Bach's Jesu meine Freude, Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and Schuetz's Deutsches Magnificat. Our upcoming 2026 Christmas concert in Canberra includes works by Vivaldi, Buxtehude and Monteverdi.
Performances have taken place in Steiner schools, arts centres, caves, churches, galleries, conference centres and festival settings, including the Two Fires Festival and the Sing for Joy choral festival in St Petersburg.
From 1997 to 2013 the choir was predominantly Australian. Since 2014, many overseas performers have joined thanks to our extensive touring activities, including singers from Japan, Germany, Finland, Taiwan, the UK, the USA, India and China.
We provide workshops while travelling and welcome international singers to join us at our Australian performances and on tours.
Concert Life
Our concerts have ranged from early music and folk-influenced programs to large choral works and original music theatre. Wayfarers' performance style is shaped by Judy Clingan's broad musical world: choral singing, early instruments, theatre, visual design and education.
A performance tour usually carries a core of short choral pieces from Western choral traditions, then expands into larger dramatic works, children's operas, recorder ensembles, dance, puppetry and improvised local workshop outcomes.
Every concert is made possible by volunteers. Singers, directors, organisers, families and friends contribute rehearsal time, transport, hosting, front-of-house work, promotion and practical care.
The choir's public work is also outward-looking. Ticket proceeds are regularly donated to charity, keeping the act of singing connected to service beyond the performance itself.
Community Impact
Sophia Mundi was alive with the sounds of the Wayfarers for 3 days at the beginning of this term. Judy Clingan and her troupe brought their extraordinary musical gifts for us to enjoy, both during break times in the courtyard and for the students to participate in during lessons. The sounds of crumhorn, recorder, drum, voice and more came drifting through the air, delighting us all. It was such a rare treat to have music of the high calibre of the Wayfarers not only to enchant us as listeners, but also to call us to new heights of music making as students and teachers joined in the singing. Every class was engaged with music and the performance on the last day showed what a musical feast we had partaken of. Thank you to Judy and the Wayfarers for their remarkable talents.
Jennifer West, Principal, Sophia Mundi Steiner School, Melbourne, Australia
Wayfarers Australia is a registered charity in Australia. Our concerts and public activities support a volunteer-led musical community, with ticket proceeds regularly donated to charitable causes.
Registered name: Wayfarers Australia
Charity registration number / ABN: 13 361 880 392
Physical address:
11 Mirbelia Crescent
Rivett, ACT 2611
Australia