About us

Alta Collective

A newcomer on the Melbourne chamber music scene, Alta Collective is already charming audiences with a fresh and genre-defying approach to treble vocal music. Combining movement, story-telling and the collective verve of experienced singers, Alta breathes life into a world of music written for high voices.

Alta's artistic director Renee Heron, and its core singers, Alex Ritter, Ciara McCoppin, Elizabeth O'Leary, Juliana Kay, Marjorie Butcher & Monika Harris, each bring a wealth of experience as singers, conductors, composers and instrumentalists.
Together they are committed to:
- Inclusive, diverse and innovative programming
- Crafting memorable audience experiences
- Building relationships with composers to premiere new works

- Collaborative artistic direction

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Alta frequently collaborates with other artists and venues to explore new works and performance formats. Significant collaborations include a shared concert with Sjaella (Germany), a public workshop at the Melbourne Recital Centre with The Gesualdo Six (UK), a concert in Tempo Rubato’s 2022 Minimalism series, a visually-driven performance with projection artist Agata Mayes, and upcoming collaborations with local contemporary musicians Monique Clare and Pat Jaffe. Alta also received an ABC Classic Composer Commission in 2022 to record Earth-Shaped Hearts, a new song cycle by Juliana Kay, and was releasedthrough ABC Classic in 2024. Earth-Shaped Hearts was also nominated as a finalist for Choral Work of the Year for the 2024 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards.

The name "Alta" comes from the feminine form of the Latin word for "high" and the choral designation "alto". The name reflects Alta Collective's core mission to bring depth and richness to music for high voices.