Entertainment
Lyric fm puts spotlight on City choir project
The Schola Cantorum, a unique and ambitious choral initiative at Galway’s St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, is the subject of a new radio documentary to be broadcast on RTÉ Lyric fm this Friday.
The Schola Cantorum is the brainchild of Mark Duley, choirmaster at St Nicholas’ Church, who is also an acclaimed organist and former director of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir. This large-scale and wide-ranging project, which is now in its third year, draws on the church’s centuries old Collegiate status.
Going back as far as medieval times, St Nicholas’ was home to a college of singing priests, who performed choral liturgy on a daily basis. The Schola Cantorum aims to revive this ancient tradition.
The initiative involves five different choirs, with participants spanning all age groups and all ranges of musical ability and experience.
The youngest group, the Choirsters, is made up of children and young people aged 8-14. Then there are the Choral Scholars, a group of NUIG students who rehearse twice a week in St Nicholas’ Church and perform a Compline service several times each term. The Church choir, one of Galway’s most highly-regarded choral ensembles, is the bedrock of the Schola. Including people from a wide range of backgrounds, the choir rehearses every Sunday morning from 9.30am, learning a new motet each week. This is then performed at the sung Eucharist at 11.
Then there are the St Nicholas’ Singers, a project choir that meets over two weekends twice a year to learn and perform ambitious choral works. This, too, is open to all comers.
“We feel it is important to give people who might not be able to commit to a weekly rehearsal the opportunity to sing in a big, ambitious choir,” says Mark Duley.
For anyone interested, the next venture with the St Nicholas’ Singers is happening next weekend, November 7 and 8, with performance the following weekend, November 14 and 15.
Galway accordion player Máirtín O’Connor, who is a patron of the Schola, will perform, both as a soloist and in arrangements specially conceived for this concert. To sign up, email info@scholacantorumgalway.com
Collegium is the newest and most ambitious choir to be set up by the Schola Cantorum. Made up of 16 of Galway’s finest voices, the group had its inaugural concert in St Nicholas’ Church last Good Friday. The group sings without a conductor, and draws on an early -music repertoire.
Lyric’s documentary about the Schola was recorded mostly in St Nicholas’ church and it features live performances from all five choirs.
Members of all five groups also share their views about what makes singing in this church so special.
St Nicholas’ Church – Voices of Galway will be broadcast on RTÉ Lyric fm this Friday at 7pm.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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