Our music

The Music of Wayfarers

Our choral and instrumental music is drawn from the distant past up to the present. We bring audiences a cappella songs, music theatre, and instrumental pieces from a variety of traditions.

Repertoire

A living program

Wayfarers performers exploring theatrical movement during a Melbourne workshop for The Prophet — The Prophet workshop, Melbourne - April 2026

Wayfarers perform a wide range of choral music from all eras of the Western traditional canon, often referred to as classical or art music - including sacred and secular songs, both a cappella and accompanied. We love to highlight contemporary works by Australian composers, including works by our founder Judith Clingan and other choir members, or living composers elsewhere in the world. We also perform music from a variety of folk traditions. We often stage ambitious musical theatre performances, which may include acting, sets, costumes, props, and instruments, and story songs for children which are also staged.

The music we use in schools, workshops and performances will usually sit within a Steiner/Waldorf educational context. Read about our Steiner/Waldorf affiliation.

Wayfarers performances often move beyond concert format into theatre: singing can sit beside spoken text, movement, puppetry, instruments and visual design.

Wayfarers performances typically consist of short choral pieces from 500 years of Western choral traditions, alongside larger works such as Handel's Messiah, Bach's Jesu, meine Freude, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, Tolkien-inspired Songs of Middle Earth and Judy Clingan's own music theatre works.

Choral traditions and innovations

Wayfarers performs a wide range of choral music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern/Contemporary eras, alongside contemporary works by Australian and international composers.

Music theatre

Tours have frequently included a dramatic component – most often songs are added to a spoken script, or vice versa. Occasionally we have added dance or eurythmy movements to music.

Such stories have included Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet; Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince; and original creations such as Judy’s Mythical Beasts, Shakespeare’s Girls, Harmonia Mundi, and The Threshold.

Music from around the world

Folk music forms a large part of the Wayfarers repertoire, and includes music from a variety of traditions, cultures, and places.

Story songs and workshops

Story songs recreate through song and actions stories such as Custard The Dragon, Mrs. Malone, The Owl and the Pussycat, Waltzing Matilda, and Jabberwocky. Our workshops also use recorders, percussion, body percussion and movement.

music

Our classic repertoire

Cast of the Canberra performance of The Little Prince in December 2017 — The Little Prince, Canberra, 2017

Modern Australian Music

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.

Choral classics and collaborations

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.

Listen to “Reconciliation,” performed by A Chorus of Women and Wayfarers Australia, at the National Museum of Australia.

Learning

Helping every voice grow

Wayfarers singers rehearsing Waltzing Matilda in Geelong — Rehearsing Waltzing Matilda in Geelong

Rehearsals are designed to support singers with different ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. Simpler rounds and part-songs help everyone listen, blend and build confidence before the group moves into more complex repertoire.

Instruments are part of that learning. Recorders provide an accessible entry point to instrumental musicianship, while piano, guitar, percussion and other instruments help singers understand rhythm, harmony, phrasing and ensemble discipline.

In practice, children, teenagers and adults learn the same musical language in the same room: listening, watching, singing, moving and helping one another find confidence.