Allegria Choir

Allegria, formed in Adelaide in January 2008, is a 30-strong women’s acapella group singing in harmony. Their repertoire is varied and spans from traditional to contemporary.

Who We Are

Allegria is a group of strong, enthusiastic and committed South Australian women who have sung together for over 13 years. Ange Sharp has been our Musical Director since the group’s inception. Allegria means joy in Spanish. To us, Allegria means singing through the roofs of cabaret haunts, gin distilleries, wine barrel rooms, churches, railway stations, tunnels, and any other unique venues to be found. We like nothing more than singing our beautiful harmonies in venues carefully chosen to complement the songs we perform.

What We Do And Have Done

The talented and accomplished choral entrepreneur, Ange Sharp, leads the voices of Allegria to beautiful and challenging harmonies that cover several genres. Over the years, Allegria has delighted audiences, singing in diverse venues and at a variety of events, festivals and on country and interstate tours. Some of the emost memorable experiences have included:

performing to sell-out shows at the Adelaide Fringe Festival
singing with The Choir of Hard Knocks in Melbourne
sharing the stage with The Spooky Men from the West
providing choral backing for the stunning performances of Jo Quail, UK international composer and virtuoso cellist
providing choral backing for the State Theatre Company’s – The Events
singing with other community choirs in Adelaide Sings and in Melbourne
singing to asylum seekers at Inverbrackie
flashmobbing on the steps of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.

Flashmobs are a specialty of the group and our most recent two have been orchestrated at local weddings – much to the surprise and delight of the guests and the bride!

Allegria regularly performs at the Adelaide and Cabaret Fringe Festivals entertaining its audiences with carefully selected music to suit the venues.

Come along to a performance and enJOY Allegria! A word to the wise… be sure to book early as performances are usually “Sold Out’!!!

Why We Do What We Do

Allegria comes together to celebrate life through song and bring joy to others. We derive great strength and inspiration from singing together in harmony. We sing for the love of singing, for the comradeship, sense of community connection and to lift our spirits. We enjoy being part of the musical creative process, to grow and develop ourselves musically both as individuals and as a group.

Allegria has stood the test of time through thick and thin! We’re enormously proud of our commitment to singing and to each other; nothing demonstrated this more than the way in which we continued to connect and sing online through Covid-19 restrictions.

As part of our commitment to continued learning and collaboration, Allegria has travelled interstate to sing with a number of other community choirs including the fabulous Choir of Hard Knocks with Jonathon Welch and Living out Loud with Sue Johnson. The group has also hosted community workshops and coordinated community flashmobs to promote a love of singing and performance.

Members Of Allegria

Members of Allegria come together every Thursday night for rehearsal. This is a time to sing together, and learn new repertoire whilst having fun along the way. There is nothing more uplifting than singing with a group of like-minded women, creating beautiful harmonies and filling the space with the magic of music. This is why we keep coming back, week after week, year after year.

Allegria offers a program of workshops to its members led by specialist musicians, to learn new singing technique, performance skills and to expand our repertoire. Allegria welcomes new members as numbers allow. We are currently at capacity but may look to increase our numbers in 2022 once Covid restrictions ease. If you would like to register your interest, please contact us.

In the meantime, please take the time to listen to a sample of our repertoire – a capella with the occasional percussion accompaniment. If you’re interested in seeing us perform, please click here to find out about upcoming events.

Ange Sharp, Musical Director

Ange Sharp is Allegria’s musical director and has been since their inception more than 13 years ago. She is a highly trained and experienced pianist, teacher, music arranger and choir director.

Her passion for singing, especially community choir singing, is driven by the overwhelming desire for everyone to celebrate their voice and enjoy the camaraderie of singing in a group. Ange has encouraged and convinced singers of all ages and abilities to sing out loud for many years now.

Ange has established singing groups throughout South Australia including one at the Adelaide Women’s Prison and another at Catherine House.

She co-led these projects to allow incarcerated and vulnerable women to finally feel safe to use their voices. She has co-led choirs in pubs, community centres for people who are feeling isolated, and in nursing homes for people with dementia. She has also established new choirs when the waiting list to join Allegria was full to overflowing.

Ange has led the Allegrian women to sing in a variety of venues and collaborations and has no desire to stop any time soon!

Allegria Repertoire

Below are some of Allegria’s favourite songs from our recent and current repertoire.

Fix You Coldplay
Havana Camila Cabello
In this Heart Sinead O’Connor
Into the Dark DeathCab for Cutie
Jolene Dolly Parton
May I suggest Red Mollies
River of Dreams Billy Joel
Rolling in the Deep Adele
Ship Song Nick Cave