In June and July of 2005 the Choir of Ormond College gave its eleventh international concert tour, visiting Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Poland and Italy. Other tours have included New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Holland, England, Scotland, Switzerland and Belgium. These tours have received outspoken praise from the public and critics alike.
The choir was formed by its Director; Douglas Lawrence, Master of the Chapel Music, in 1982. The choir sings each Sunday evening during term in the College chapel and presents an annual concert series. Each year a number of outside engagements are undertaken. These have included concerts for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Musica Viva, the Melbourne International Festival, the Melbourne Concert Hall, the Faculty of Music at Melbourne University, Monash University, the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord, the Ballarat Opera Festival, the Fremantle Bach Festival, the Mildura Arts Festival and the Port Fairy Festival. In Europe Festival engagements have included the Wiener Festwochen, the Vendsyssel Festival, the Copenhagen Summer Festival, the Accademia Chigiana, the Sorø Festival, the Arolsen Barock Festspiele, the Dunkeld Festival, the Bonn Sommerkonzerte, the Festival de L'Orgue Ancien-Sion. The choir's repertoire is wide, ranging from the Renaissance to the Baroque, with special attention given to the music of J.S. Bach, and with music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as contemporary compositions. The Choir of Ormond College has given over forty premières. The choir has a strong commitment to early performance practice and gave the first authentic Melbourne performances along with the Australian Baroque Ensemble of, amongst other works, Handel's Messiah and Coronation Anthems and Bach's St John Passion, St Matthew Passion (with the Choir of Trinity College), Mass in B Minor, the Magnificat and several cantatas.
