Voices of the Sydney Street Choir

Spend any time with the Sydney Street Choir and it becomes clear this is not just a group of people singing together. It is a place where stories, grief, and connection is shared. 

For Felix, the choir is inseparable from survival.

He knows homelessness intimately. He has slept on Sydney’s streets, learned how to live in the city’s cracks, and watched friends disappear without warning.

Standing at the Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service in Martin Place last year, Felix spoke not in statistics but in names: Busker Stew, Trina, Amir, Big John, Graeme. People who mattered, people remembered.

“Even when we’re gone, love and memory keep walking these streets,” Felix said at the time.

The choir gives those memories somewhere to land. It offers continuity in lives shaped by loss and instability, and a reason to be seen and heard.

That sense of belonging has been nurtured for more than 16 years by guitarist and choir leader David Richardson.

The former English teacher found the choir in 2008 through an invitation to join rehearsals ahead of a Northern Territory tour. He never left.

For David, the choir is about friendship and community – like when former chef and current choir member Jono brings in freshly baked scones to rehearsal.

“It’s those little things that make the choir special,” David said.

And for co-director Mary Kiani, a celebrated Scottish vocalist who has worked alongside legends such as Prince, it is that strong sense of community that has reshaped her relationship with music.

“When you’re singing, you’re not thinking about everything else in your life,” she says. “You can just be in the moment.”

For choir members navigating homelessness, isolation, or financial stress, that moment matters. The choir is a place of trust and mutual care; where people leave feeling lighter than when they arrived.

Together, these voices form more than harmony. They form a living reminder that dignity, creativity and connection endure, even in the most difficult circumstances.