All members of the College, their families and friends as well as members of the public are warmly welcome to attend any of our worship services in the College Chapel. In Holy Week especially participation in chapel is encouraged for any of the following services:
Sunday 13 April, 5.30 pm: Palm Sunday Holy Communion
Monday 14 April, 8.30 am: Morning Prayer
Tuesday 15 April, 8.30 am: Morning Prayer
Tuesday 15 April, 5.15 pm: Choral Evensong with the College Chapel Choir and Organists, guest preacher the College’s Official Visitor, His Grace The Most Rev’d Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney
Wednesday 16 April, 8.30 am: Morning Prayer
Thursday 17 April, 8.30 am Morning Prayer
Thursday 17 April, 12.00 noon: Maundy Thursday Holy Communion
Friday 18 April, 10.00 am Morning Prayer and the Litany followed by The Passion Narrative from John’s Gospel
Sunday 20 April, 10.00 am: Easter Day Holy Communion
For those attending the pedestrian gate at 9 City Rd Camperdown will be open prior to services to allow access into the College grounds.
Two black tie dinners for students and their fathers were held on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 March organised and hosted by students. With over 330 undergraduates two nights are needed across the dining hall and JCR to accommodate the demand for this very happy event. The College is in indebted to the Holmes à Court family and Vasse Felix and the Toll Family for their generous support of the event.
Friday’s line up of speakers began with the Chaplain Rev’d Antony Weiss welcoming the gathering and pronouncing the College Grace, then Senior Student Tilly Walker gave a rousing toast to the fathers with her dad and old Pauline Dr Matthew Walker (in College 1986) responding. Dean of Undergraduates Matthew Newcombe proposed the toast to the College followed by Kristian and Michael Masi performing ‘Sultans of Swing’ by Dire Straights. After dinner the gathering enjoyed great music in the Salisbury from the student band ‘Downhill Romance’ with Daniel Paridis on drums, Rex Bouvier on guitar, Felix Power on bass, voice and keyboard and Lockie Walter on voice, keyboard and guitar.
The line up for Saturday again began with the Chaplain, then Harry Scambler proposed the toast to the fathers with his dad David Scambler giving a tremendous reply about the St Paul’s values and traditions he had learnt about since becoming a Pauline dad. The toast to the College was proposed by the Warden, followed by musical item ‘I’m on Fire’ by Bruce Springsteen played by Adam Wong on guitar and voice and Helen Jordan on voice. They both continued to entertain the guests in the Salisbury with the addition to their ensemble of Rex Bouvier on guitar, Deuchar Taylor on drums and Michael Masi on bass.
“Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.” Charles Kettering, prolific American inventor and head of innovation at GM.
John Gaden AO is one of the country’s leading actors who cut his teeth as a member of Mummers when he was at Paul’s 1959-61. He has been on stage and screen for the last 60 years and at 83 is performing with the Sport for Jove Theatre Company at the Seymour Centre this March-April in The Player Kings. This is a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part 2, Henry VI Part 3, and Richard III by Damien Ryan Founder and director of the company. The Player Kings is staged over two epic performances during the season from 26 March to 5 April 2025.
“The story glances backward to the journey from Richard II to Richard III, in order to thrust our gaze forward to how political systems collapse and societies devour their own potential” (Seymour Centre), and John says of Damien Ryan’s creativity: “He has an extraordinary sort of understanding of the way Shakespeare works and the way it can be bridged across to a modern world without in any way destroying the fabulous sort of language and structure Shakespeare gives it; so he’s the ideal person to be directing Shakespeare and it’s a joy to work with! I mean it’s inspirational, actually.” (Honi Soit)
Some of the finest actors of Shakespeare in Australia present a hugely inventive and genuinely immersive experience. In the tradition of Shakespear’s Globe Theatre the play is performed on the York stage at Seymour Centre.
As a student John Gaden captivated the College community with his presence and wit. In ThePaulines of the time his creative writing was published under “JSG” on several occasions and he was applauded as “the most consistently excellent” (The Pauline 1960) alongside Philip Clifton-Bligh in the Mummers production of Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow in 1960, a production very positively reviewed by the SMH.
John’s life has so many highlights and the statistics tell the story of a very rewarding career. He performed leading roles in 146 plays between 1961 and 2019 with 13 roles in 1970 alone. His Filmography includes roles in Muriel’s Wedding and 21 other motion pictures, and his TV roles span 1968 to 2022 in 19 productions including ABC’s Fisk, Rake, Mother and Son and Crawford Productions Homicide on Chanel 7.
John is one of the most distinguished Paulines who has been honoured on many occasions including AM in 1986, promotion to AO in 2018, and Helpmann Awards in 2001, 2005 and 2007.
Netball began the Rosebowl 2025 campaign with Women’s just edging out St Andrew’s by the close of the competition. The St Paul’s team worked hard and won in Round 1 against Wesley and Round 4 against Sancta. They only lost to the ultimate winners, Women’s, by 2 points after nail-biting game in Round 3. Strong play from St Andrew’s in Round 2 and St John’s in Round 5 produced the final result of St Paul’s in 4th place and gaining 3 Rosebowl points.
Congratulations for their hard work to all members of the St Paul’s Netball Team: Tori Spark and Sam Janssen (joint conveners), Eva Dexter (captain), Kate Brenner, Emma Crack, Emily D’Souza, Hannah Ferguson, Rose Kenderes, Pippi McIntyre, Matilda Myers, Grace Newton, Ali Radford, Angie Ramsay, Sophie Robinson and Ines Treharne.
The election for the two vacancies for six-year terms as Lay Fellows for St Paul’s College Council has concluded.
The election was conducted in accordance with sections 55 (l), 55 (m) and 55 (n) of the By-laws of Saint Paul’s College (2023) and schedule 2 part 2, (5) of the Saint Paul’s College Act 2018 No 71 (NSW).
The four candidates were: Mr Matthew Gerber, Mr Jethro Mahon, Mr Andrew Sinclair, and Mr Adrian Wong.
Congratulations to the following candidates who have been declared elected by the Returning Officer, Dr Jim Franklin:
Rawson Cup Cricket leads the campaign to retain the Rawson Cup in 2025. The team played a scheduled pre-comp game on 27 February on the College Oval against I Zingari Australia. This is an annual match and helps our cricketers prepare for the Rawson Cup campaign. The College is very appreciative to have one of the premier cricket clubs in the country, founded in 1888, on our wicket for this early-season game.
The first two games were against St Andrew’s and then Wesley. St Andrew’s 151 all out, and Paul’s chased it losing 3 just wickets to win. Wesley 249 all out, and St Pauls 230, all out to lose.
On 13 March the tables turned when Wesley beat St Andrew’s and St Paul’s beat St John’s. A successful day saw St Paul’s bat first and set a total of 197. With the ball, St Paul’s got off to a solid start thanks to Julian Bagget which saw St John’s 3/17 off 8 overs. St Paul’s secured the win after dismissing St John’s for 170 in the 48th over.
Going from losing 3 games in last year’s campaign to securing a Victory Dinner this year, it is a testament to the team’s hard work and dedication. Congratulations to the cricket convenors of Bo Baffsky and Axel Bailey who led a solid campaign.
Congratulations to our victorious Cricketers, pictured above after their win against St John’s.
Rawson standings: St Paul’s 5 | St John’s 5 | Wesley 5 | St Andrew’s 1
The annual tradition of the Academic Dinner to recognise the university achievements of our undergraduate students was held on Monday 10 March 2025. To celebrate the 2024 results, the best ever, old Pauline Professor Peter Anstey, gave the address and presented the College prizes for 2024. Peter discussed the real-life example of the philosophy of the separation of powers in the context of the fledgling Trump administration in the USA.
Professor Anstey (at College 1985) completed his BA in Philosophy in 1988, ThL in 1989 and PhD in 1997. We also learnt that he taught the Warden in Philosophy 1998 and continued to teach as Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney until this year specialising in European philosophy in the early modern period. He was appointed recently as the Commencing Director, Western Civilisation Program in the Faculty of Education and Art at the Australian Catholic University.
Michael Masi (guitar) [BE I] entertained the gathering with Angelina by Tommy Emmanuel (b.1955).
The College community congratulates all students who have worked so hard to achieve excellence in their academic work which is so beneficial to the individuals concerned and rewarding for the College.
2024 College awards were presented by Professor Anstey for:
PRIZE FOR HIGHEST ANNUAL AVERAGE MARK (FRESHER):
PRIZE FOR HIGHEST ANNUAL AVERAGE MARK (SENIOR):
ST PAUL’S COLLEGE TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD awarded to the most outstanding Tutor nominated by their fellow students:
Ben Varela
MCWILLIAM PRIZE (established through the generosity of Bruce McWilliam (College 1974-79, Fellow 2005-15 and Bursar) awarded for Law other than final year and for service to College:
Jason Zhu He
JUDGE HUMFRY HENCHMAN PRIZE (in memory of Hereward John Humfry Henchman (College 1922-28, Fellow 1938-94, Chairman 1976-79), Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW and Judge of all District Courts in NSW) awarded to a student in final year Law: n/a
SIR IAN MCFARLANE PRIZE (in memory of Ian McFarlane (College 1941-44), engineer, economist, philanthropist and major innovator in exploration for shale oil in Australia)
awarded for exceptional results in Economics and/or Commerce and for service to College:
Ed Taylor
PORTUS PRIZE (in memory of Garnet Vere Portus (College 1903-04, Fellow 1918-34), the College’s first Rhodes Scholar) awarded for exceptional examination results in History, Economic History or Philosophy:
Orlando Throsby
UTHER PRIZE (established by a bequest from Allan Hammill Uther (College 1888-90, Fellow 1901-51), principal founder of the University Sports Union and Fellow of the College) awarded for three years’ distinguished examination results and service to College:
Austin Markwick
Ed Taylor
Academic Achievements, The University of Sydney 2024
EXAMINATION RESULTS 2024 – HIGH DISTINCTION AVERAGE (85-100)
Grace Anderson
Andrew Brennan
Kate Brenner
Aidan Cheung
William Defina
Gabriel Desiderio
Rebecca Galeano
Julian Guesnon
Sean Hamadi
Matilda Hayward
Liv Laverty
Ben Lee
Harry Ludwig
Juliet Malcolm
Austin Markwick
Owen Marschner
Grace Merrilees
Isander Mesimeris
Jack Parker
Samuel Richards
Christine Smith
Ed Taylor
Isabella Taylor
Lucy Tucker
Ben Varela
EXAMINATION RESULTS 2024 – DISTINCTION AVERAGE (75-84.99)
Zoe Anderson
Abigail Ballhausen
Jack Beck
Annica Bendall
Scarlett Benias
Heidi Best
Charlie Bishop
Ryan Bond
Eric Bong
Jack Bouvier
Rex Bouvier
Sophie Bradshaw
Sakura Brennan
Jackson Broad
Rohan Cameron
Eleanor Campbell
Libby Carey
Freya Carmody
Joshua Chanmugam
Thomas Chassat
Luke Chopra
Angus Clifford
Robert Clinton
Bryson Constable
William Cox
Sophie Davis
Jack Dawson
Charlotte Digges
Charles Dight
Tia Durovich
Jack Earwaker
James Edwards
Louis Eglinton
Aya-Lani Elias
Oscar Everett
Allegra Fleming
Tom Forsythe
Maddy Freeman
Ella Graves
Lachlan Green
Chloe Gunning
Josh Hall-Johnston
Natalie Hee
Phoebe Henry
Jesse Henry
Olivia Hills
Charlotte Hocking
Archie Hyles
Samantha Janssen
Arlo Johns-Hammond
Annika Johnson
Finn Johnson
Matilda Johnson
Mack Johnston
Harry Joils
Sophie Jones
Hugh Jordan
Helen Jordan
Emma Juneja
Dominic Kadmon
James Kerr
Harry Kirton
Dan Kovacs
Armand Larche
Gillian Lawrance
Matthew Leijer
Christopher Lennox
Joshua Lindon
Ryan Lynch
Rocco Marcolongo
Velvet Martino-Zlojutro
Sam Matruglio
Luka Mattani
Samuel Mccredie
James Mccreery
Hunter Mcgregor
Fraser Mclaren
Olivia McMillan
Molly Mcphillips
Ruben Mead
Cameron Morris
Grace Morrow
Will Nicholas
Milly O’Connell
Sebastian O’Connell
Lachlan Oldfield
James Parker Kelly
Alessandro Petagna
Maximilian Philips
Jennifer Pilarinos
Thomas Ramsey
Alex Ranson
Dylan Reid
Maisie Reid
Francesca Richards
Abbey Ridgewell
William Rivlin
Alex Robinson
Elise Rosser
Jack Sandelin
James Saywell
Gabe Scott
Spencer Selikowitz
Belle Sherlock
Connor Sinn
Victoria Spark
Jack Sproats
Georgia St John
William Stafford
Maya Stapleton
Valentina Steele
Toby Symons
Joshua Taleb
Olivia Thoma
Hugh Thompson
Zoe Thomson
Orlando Throsby
Charlotte Toll
Elinor Trevelyan-Jones
Katie Tyo
Luka Vujanovic
Tom Wait
Matilda Walker
Bligh Walter
Gemma White
Levi Williams
Ella Winterbottom
Adam Wong
Lily Wood
Sophie Wright
Will Wright
Andy Xie
Bailey Yeates
Jason Zhu He
VICE CHANCELLOR’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP
Benjamin Scott-King
PJ JACK PRIZE FOR ARABIC LANGUAGE:
Rocco Marcolongo
Armand Larche
ACADEMIC MERIT PRIZE
Austin Markwick Bella Taylor
Elinor Trevelyan-Jones
Isander Mesimeris
Benjamin Varela
DEAN’S LIST OF EXCELLENCE
Austin Markwick (Engineering)
Bella Taylor (Science)
Elinor Trevelyan-Jones (Law/Arts)
Isander Mesimeris (Law)
Jack Lockhart (Science)
Kate Brenner (Engineering)
Luka Mattani (Veterinary Science)
DENISON RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP
Owen Marschner
BETA GAMMA SIGMA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS HONOURS SOCIETY ELECTION
Jack Beck
ENGINEERING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP
Benjamin Varela
STUDENT MANAGED INVESTMENT FUND SCHOLARSHIP
Tom Collins
THE GREGG HUMANITARIAN SCHOLARSHIP
Myroslav Boroviak
Awards on entry to The University of Sydney 2025
DALYELL SCHOLARS (Awarded for applicants who demonstrate a guaranteed ATAR of 98+)
Jessica Allen-Waters
Zoe Beattie
Rupert Begg
Riadh Bowler
Lola Cayzer
Harry Chu
Emily D’Souza
Charlie Dale
Charlotte Ellis
Molly Espie
Tom Fisher
Tara Gold
Rory Lambert
Lachlan Larsson
Jack Laurie
Jessica Li
Mischa Lim
Abby Long
Angus Malcolm
Elliot McKay
Matthew McKee
Maxine McKellar
Patrick McLeish
Anna Morrison
Audrey Newman
Jack O’Brien
Sarah Poolman
Rachel Poon
Will Powell
Lily Richards
Lucas Robertson
Oliver Stafford
Anneka Steele
George Tait
Harry Tanner
Jasper Tuckwell
Isabella Watson
Jemima Williams
ERIC CONSTANCE SHAW LAW SCHOLARSHIP (awarded to students who are from a regional or remote area of Australia, are commencing a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor and demonstrate leadership experience, communication skills, personal interests and community engagement)
Ved Patel
WALTER REID MEMORIAL PRIZE (awarded to students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
Ved Patel
ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE MERIT SCHOLARSHIP (to encourage and support domestic students commencing an undergraduate degree in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney with a guaranteed ATAR of 96+)
Oliver Stafford
ERIC CAMPBELL SCOTT SCHOLARSHIP (supports academically excellent students studying in the Business School)
Jack Laurie
CHANCELLOR’S SCHOLARSHIP (awarded to applicants who have achieved an ATAR (or equivalent) of 99.90 or above)
Jack Humphries
Jessica Li
Matthew McKee
Rachel Poon
FACULTY OF ENGINEERIG WOMEN IN ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP (awarded to applicants for Engineering who have achieved ATAR of 98 and above)
Jessica Li
SUSF ELITE ATHLETE SCHOLARSHIP
Audrey Newman
Milana Henderson
JUDGE RALPH J PERDRIAU FIRST NATIONS SCHOLARSHIP FOR BACHELOR OF LAWS (to support First Nations students undertaking a Bachelor of Law at the Sydney Law School)
More from the spectacular International Tour of St Paul’s College Chapel Choir.
For some members of the Choir this visit was their first time to the ‘City of Light’ but they made sure it was for them their ‘city of music’. Having a well-prepared programme from the UK leg of the tour three concerts were given in the most amazing places of worship in Paris.
La Madeliene – 7 January 2025. The first church was a rehearsal and performance at Égise de la Madeliene dedicated in 1764 and re-purposed in 1814 in the Neo Classical Style by Napoleon Bonapart as a monument to his victories in war, and completed as a church again 1842. Its entrance, like that of an ancient Greek Temple, leads you into a sumptuous and enormous interior that provides an outstanding acoustic for voice ensemble and particularly for organ music.
The College Choir was delighted to welcome the Australian Ambassador to France, Her Excellency Lynette Wood. She greatly enjoyed the concert and greeted the choir members afterwards and commented on X “It is a great pride to witness the talent of the 32 talented choristers of the choir at St Paul’s College, University of Sydney. Thank you to them for this magical performance in the heart of Paris.” She invited the choir to the embassy the next day for a tour of the art collection. The Choir was also delighted that the legendary Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg came along to attend the concert. Siobhan commented that it was a similar tour that she did whilst a chorister at the Choir of Trinity College Melbourne that inspired her to pursue an international career in singing – that has taken to her as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin and more.
Égise de la MadelieneAmbassador Lynette Wood greets the members of the choirThe choir met Australian opera star Siobhan Stagg who had heard about the concert from the Embassy news posts
St Paul’s College Choir singing in front of the altar with the painting by Jules-Claude Ziegler (1804–1856) which depicts major events in the history of Christianity above, their voices rose into the marvellous acoustic performing a range of works from the baroque to modern Australian including Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine. Fauré was the Organist at La Madeleine from 1896-1905. Both College Organist David Drury and our Organ Scholar Bailey Yates played the Chancel organ built by the revered organ firm of Cavaillé-Coll in 1842.
Saint-Sulpice – 8 January 2025
Apart from rollicking around the Eiffel Tower, museums and cafes the choir had more work for Concert No. 2 on 8 January in the baroque interior of Égise Saint-Sulpice of 1646. This stunning church is the third largest in Paris and it has another huge acoustic to come to terms with. The choir under the masterful lead of Jack Stephens sang a range of acapella pieces and in the very French church tradition these were interspersed with organ improvisations on the chancel organ by David Drury.
The concerts in Paris also featured a new composition by a member of the Choir, William Varga, who set the poem ‘Faith, Love and Death’ by Old Pauline Dowell O’Reilly. Dowell O’Reilly was a member of NSW Parliament in the late 19th Century, and who moved the first motion in favour of Women’s suffrage in New South Wales.
The choristers found a fascinating place to change and prepare for the service in their allocated room in the crypt, where another small organ was used. This room led into the foundations of the church where remnants of the original 13th century structure can be found.
Viewing the gallery at the Australian Embassy, Paris
Saint-Eustache – 9 January 2025
The final concert was held on the night of 9 January at Église Saint-Eustache, the second largest church in Paris, built between 1532 and 1633 with is flying buttresses in Gothic style. This church contains some important Renaissance art and one of the highest vaulted church ceilings in Europe. This presented another challenging acoustic for the choir who were accompanied by David Drury playing the 8,000 pipe grand organ (one of the largest organs in France). This final concert featured the Choir’s largest works on the tour – centred around Jean Langlais’ epic Messe Solenelle. At a huge surprise, the Choir was thrilled to discover that Madame Langlais (the widow of Jean Langlais), had heard about the concert that would feature her late husband’s work.
Pictures above: Vanessa Agius, Noel Debien, Richard Morgan
The City of Canterbury in the County of Kent is one of the most picturesque cities of England and is home to the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury the symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Church.
Founded in 597, Canterbury Cathedral was rebuilt between 1070 and 1077 and greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures.
The surviving Roman WestgateCanterbury CathedralTudor-era buildings
Here the Choir of St Paul’s College were warmly welcomed by the Dean the Very Reverend David Monteith and the other clergy and sang Evensong for New Year’s Day and again on 2 January. They delighted the large congregation of locals and a few who had come down from London, after word spread about the splendour of the choir’s music, with the singing of William James’s Australian carol Carol of the Birds, David Drury’s arrangement of Silent Night and Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn.
Canterbury Cathedral rehearsal room and music LibraryThe cloisters of Canterbury CathedralThe tomb of the first bishop of Australia – William Broughton
The cathedral is the burial place for many interesting people including Bishop William Broughton, first bishop of Australia who was an early advocate for a Church of England college in Sydney. With his involvement in the establishment of the University of Sydney he was against it being a secular institution and therefore opposed the proposal that church residential colleges be established within its grounds. Yet he remained involved with Sir Alfred Stephen in the committee for the establishment of St Paul’s until his return to England in 1852 [See. J M Bennett, Sir Alfred Stephen, 2009 and A Atkinson, Hearts and Minds, 2017].
York
York Minster, the Quire
Then to the City of York in North Yorkshire where this other ancient settlement boasts one of the finest cathedrals in Europe, York Minster. The under croft contains re-used fabric of c. 1160, but the bulk of the building was constructed between 1220 and 1472 in Perpendicular Gothic style. Being the weekend, the choir was given a busy schedule which started with a very rewarding choral workshop with Robert Hollingworth – winner of numerous Gramophone Awards, artistic director of the internationally-renowned I Fagiolini and the head of the Masters of Solo Voice Ensemble singing at the University of York. Then it was Saturday Evensong with a large congregation filling the choir and on Sunday the Feast of Epiphany, when the 32 choir members and the retinue of 16 followers trudged through the early morning snow up to the Minster, where they sang at Matins, Eucharist and Evensong.
The touring party gather at St Peter’s School York (founded in 627) for the choral workshopJack Stephens, Bri Louwen and Robert HollingworthYork MinsterThe College Organ Scholar Bailey Yates and College Organist David Drury
A special treat was the impromptu unaccompanied singing of Philip Stopford’s 2008 setting of Luli Lulay sung in the incredible acoustic of the octagonal Chapter House. The video below had incredibly been sent to the composer of the work, who messaged the Choir stating that he wished we had invited him along to join in.
Above pictures and video: Vanessa Agius, Noel Debien, Richard Morgan
Our student leaders and pastoral staff gave their time for professional development over the week before Welcome Week including a two-day retreat to Blackheath. ‘Being a leader’ and ‘being a team’ were two of the most significant topics presented to the students who are College Junior Deans or members of the Students’ Club and Middle Common Room management committees. They were joined by Welcome Week leaders and the Peer Support Leaders back at College on day 3 and completed further development in respect, first responder, mental health and bystander training.
One of the positive outcomes is having the Junior Deans taking on leading roles in presentations to freshers in Welcome Week (pictured presenting is JD Ed Taylor). They then continuing leading into semester, modelling positive behaviours, mentoring, guiding and inspiring their peers.
Join us at the Summer Soiree
The Warden and the Union Committee warmly invite Old Paulines, their partners and friends to join us for an unforgettable evening of festivities and live entertainment in the Quad and Salisbury.
