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The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic choir, pictured in 2014, has been singing the Hallelujah chorus since 1853.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Jesse Marlow<\/cite><\/p>\n This Sunday the choir will perform it for the 243rd time at Melbourne Town Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite a miraculous record,\u201d says Royal Melbourne Philharmonic artistic director Andrew Wailes.<\/p>\n The Philharmonic is Melbourne\u2019s oldest choir and could have easily become a clique of ageing singers and musicians, but dozens of new members are in their 20s and 30s, many of whom have joined to continue the world record.<\/p>\n Royal Melbourne Philharmonic\u2019s Andrew Wailes with new young members Lachlan Dent, Chizuru Maruyama, Leah Columbine and Sandra Ionescu. The Philharmonic holds the world record for consecutive Messiah performances.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Justin McManus<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you sing a work that has this depth of history to it, you place yourself within a larger human tradition,\u201d says Eleanor Ratcliffe, one of the choir\u2019s recruits in her mid-30s who joined seeking new experiences after lockdowns.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not the first person to sing this, and you won\u2019t be the last.\u201d<\/p>\n The choir claimed the world record for continual Messiah<\/em> performances after finding few secular choirs of a similar age surviving in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably the one thing that has kept this group going for 170-odd years,\u201d Wailes says.<\/p>\n But the majority of musicians who successfully audition are looking to tackle challenging works. The pandemic led to the retirement of some older members, Wailes says, requiring the renewal of half of the 120-person group. About two-thirds of newcomers are under 40.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty-five years ago, I said, \u2018If this choir doesn\u2019t rejuvenate and embrace younger people, it will die\u2019,\u201d Wailes says. \u201cWe just tried to make ourselves look a bit more modern.\u201d<\/p>\n Performing several works in different languages at citizenship ceremonies and during a recent tour with Andrea Bocelli, as well as welcoming international students, has helped the choir attract new members and become more diverse.<\/p>\n Chizuru Maruyama, 23, moved to Australia from Japan in February to study and joined the choir because she loved music but was unable to bring her instrument here.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first instrument for human beings,\u201d she says of singing.<\/p>\n Ben Smyth, 22, who was a member of St Paul\u2019s Cathedral Choir as a teenager, wanted to join a bigger choir with more turnover of music.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re all participating in this one activity at the same time, it feels like you\u2019re part of something larger,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely social.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n