Our story
So, where did this all begin? Back in early 2016, Phia wanted to highlight and celebrate the work of her favourite contemporary artists and she thought what better way than to get together with her mates and sing about it. What began as a weekly drop-in session at her house with around 20 people quickly grew in popularity, and before long, it needed to find a bigger home.
Today the choir has over 400 members and a permanent rehearsal space in the heart of Coburg. We have performed and collaborated with a growing list of legendary Australian artists including Meg Washington, Paul Kelly, Jen Cloher, Vika & Linda Bull, Ali Barter, Paul Dempsey, Ainslie Wills, Stella Donnelly and Clare Bowditch.
We usually throw an end of year celebration to show off everything we’ve worked on. In 2019 we sold out Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre. Twice! Recently we performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Palais Theatre.
If you’re interested in becoming part of our choir, head OVER HERE to learn more about how we run things and join the waitlist.
What makes us different
We are redefining what it means to be in a choir.
We know everyone can sing, so we don’t audition.
You don’t need to be able to read sheet music; you just need to love singing.
No solos; we’re all in this together.
We have Josh. He plays electric guitar with us and if we’re lucky, he busts out the loop pedal.
There is not a hymn in sight (no drama if that’s your thing, it’s just not our thing).
The glue that holds us together
Sophia Exiner (aka Phia)
Artistic Director
Phia is a songwriter and composer who has music in her blood. Known for her genre-defying live-looping show, she has toured her music through Europe and Australia multiple times. She founded and led the Dienstag Choir in Berlin for a number of years before she came home to Australia, leaving a choir-shaped hole in her heart. (Dienstag means Tuesday in German for all you movers and shakers… You’ll never guess what day they rehearsed on.) Lucky for us, she founded Melbourne Indie Voices so she could carry on doing what she loves – arranging and composing music in glorious harmony for the world to enjoy.
Joshua Teicher
Technical Director
Josh is a Melbourne-born musician, producer, songwriter and singer. Phia roped him into lending some guitar backing skills at the first ever rehearsal and he loved it so much that he hasn’t missed one since. Josh accompanies the choir on guitar and provides technical support along the way. Joshua “doesn’t do karaoke” Teicher can be found late at night busting out David Bowie classics with unrivalled levels of sass, causing the rest of choir to collectively lose their minds.
Josh is currently releasing ambient guitar pieces weekly ON SPOTIFY. Check it out!
Wanna join Melbourne Indie Voices?
