Happy, heartwarming songs have their place, but true beauty rings from the dark voices of melancholy. Wallow through a catharsis of disconsolate classical, jazz, gospel, folk, and a capella singing, as well as guest choral and instrumental pieces.

photograph by Morgana O'Regan

With their deep, dark voices and deeper, darker hearts, Prosody's Jodie and Emlyn have been making audiences sob for many years, with their selection of morose and miserable classical, folk, unpopular and obscure music.

Jodie and Emlyn honed their skills in vocal misery with tutelage from Adelaide's king of the dark voice, Robert Dawe. They have sung a little and wept a lot in numerous ensembles and regularly perform at events such as funerals and memorial services. Jodie trains several choirs in sorrowful singing.

These morbid characters join forces with Tony Lillywhite tickling the ebonies. By day Tony instructs younger generations in the lugubrious arts. By night Tony's melancholy finds expression in the tragic performance of commercial and jazz piano, where he favours minor keys with many flats.

The dark trio is joined in tragedy by guests. Nicolina Barcello's spectacular soaring soprano belies the depths of her soul. For the first concert, Claire Oremland's cello wails and weeps for an audience drained by its sorrowful song. On the sixth of March, in the second concert Chris Bradley joins them from Queensland, adding his ringing tenor to the tolling of these haunted belles. The fingers of darkness reach out far beyond classical and alternative rock singer songwriter Fergus O'Regan will add his morose repertoire to the second concert.

This is Jodie and Emlyn's fourth fringe offering. In brief moments of lightness, bolstered by cheery guest performers they have previously presented "Polly – the Opera", and in collaboration with Tony and The Old Scholars Choir - "Letters to a Queen" and "Mass for a New Day" (all Jodie's original compositions).

St Johns in the Wilderness provides the perfect setting for this celebration of despair. The splendid accoustics ensure the sound will carry like the winter's cold, and reach into the heart of every member of the audience.