About ECS

The Essendon Choral Society is a non-profit choir based in the community of Moonee Valley. We have been performing in and around Moonee Valley since 1979.

We are an adult mixed non-audition community choir of 20-35 singers, of all ages. We perform a variety of sacred and secular works - usually holding two concerts each year, in addition to a regular performance of Handel's Messiah in December.

Rehearsals are on Tuesday nights from 7.15 pm
at the St Thomas' Anglican Church
760 Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds Vic 3039

New singers are always most welcome.

Purpose

We aim to foster the growth of choral music in Moonee Valley and its neighbouring areas through various means:

1. Creating Opportunities: We offer our members the chance to rehearse, perform, and record choral music, helping them showcase their talents and passion.

2. Skill Enhancement: We focus on developing our members' choral music skills, enhancing their performance abilities, and refining their individual voice production and singing skills.

3. Artistic and Social Experience: Our community provides a platform for members to embrace the artistic, choral, and social dimensions of a choral society. Together, we aim to uphold and share the values of quality, enjoyment, and camaraderie.

4. Accessible Music: We endeavour to bring high-quality sacred and secular music performances to the local area, making them accessible to the public at reasonable costs.

Additionally, we actively raise funds and collaborate with other associations, clubs, or organisations that share our goals of promoting and enriching the world of choral music.

Join us in our mission to harmonise the community through the power of music.

Musical leadership

Musical Director
Ellery Durrant

Ellery Durrant joins us in April 2026 as Musical Director. He is a singer, conductor, and pedagogue. He holds a Bachelor of Music (Distinction) from the University of Newcastle. Further training includes masterclasses in consort singing with The Song Company and conducting with The Australian Voices.

Ellery’s Choral experience is extensive, encompassing numerous international tours and eisteddfods with the award-winning Newcastle Chamber Choir. As Musical Director of The SeaSide Singers, he co-created their three-week tour of Japan in 2018, and was a grant recipient of the Australia-Japan foundation in that year.

An advocate of community music making, he currently leads the Laverton Community Choir, the Mosaic Community Choir, and now the Essendon Choral Society.

Ellery has extensive experience as a private music tutor. He specialises in working with changing voices, fostering confidence in his students. He has significant experience teaching neurodivergent students, tailoring lessons to support student-led objectives.

Beyond music, Ellery is an avid snowboarder and an aficionado of strategy games.

Accompanist &
Assistant Conductor

Yvonne Carr

Assistant Conductor

Christine Timoney

Assistant Conductor
Michael Cooper

ECS Committee

President
Brigid Cooper

Secretary
Michael Cooper

Treasurer
Deborah Louey

Vice President & Librarian
Catherine Hall

Visual Communications
Vashti Maher

Committee Member
Cecilia Cooper

Past Musical Director
Chan Ern Theng (Ed)

We were very fortunate to have Ed at the helm from 2023 to 2025. Ed is a classical pianist, choral conductor and singer. Ed graduated from the Master of Music (Performance Teaching) program at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Ed is the musical director for the Essendon-based female choir, Grace Notes Singers. He also directs the St Columba's College Chamber Choir, the St Monica’s College Male Vocal Ensemble, and is accompanist for the Camberwell-based choir, Yarra Gospel.

Past Musical Director
Greg Hocking, AM

Greg was Musical Director of the Essendon Choral Society since 1989 and is still involved with our annual The People's Messiah. He has considerable experience conducting choirs and orchestras as well as performing in shows. Professionally, he is an entrepreneur and theatrical producer and runs the Athenaeum Theatre and the Comedy Club. A founding director of the Melbourne Opera Company, he is also resident conductor. We were thrilled that Greg was recognized in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours being awarded an AM for "significant service to the performing arts as a conductor, director and theatre manager, and to the development of the Melbourne comedy industry."

Latest Concert

Ripples from Haydn Concert

14 September 2025 - St Thomas' Anglican Church Moonee Ponds

An afternoon of music with connections to influential composer, Joseph Haydn. Including Joseph Haydn's “Little Organ Mass”, Michael Haydn's "Missa tempore Quadragesimae" and Marianna Martines' "Miserere".

Conductor Ed Chan Soprano Claire McDonald Organist Zac Hamilton-Russell