New Dublin Voices

Acclaimed for a “choral effect… simply breathtaking… in its refined beauty” (The Sunday Business Post), New Dublin Voices is a leading Irish chamber choir. It has given the world premieres of nearly 90 works, demonstrating its commitment to championing new music and capping a vast repertoire that spans the centuries.

Founded by its international award-winning conductor Bernie Sherlock in 2005, the choir is renowned for concert programming that strives to captivate, surprise and reward its audiences. New Dublin Voices is a leading light in commissioning, premiering and performing music by living composers; this includes disseminating choral music written by Irish composers, both in Ireland and abroad, and introducing music from outside Ireland to audiences at home. International composers who have written for the choir include Ēriks Ešenvalds, Paweł Łukaszewski, Roxanna Panufnik, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi and Sarah Quartel, very often with settings of Irish poetry.

The choir receives regular invitations to prestigious international festivals and has presented concert tours in many countries, including France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. New Dublin Voices was the first Irish choir invited to perform at the triennial World Symposium on Choral Music. The choir also has a long track record of success at international competitions, winning multiple prizes at competitions in France, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Spain, England, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Latvia, Wales, Poland and Bulgaria.

Alongside numerous prizes in various classes, the choir has won the overall Grand Prix on many occasions, most recently in Poland at the 13th International Krakow Choir Festival ‘Cracovia Cantans’ in 2024. It won the Grand Prix in Latvia at the 2nd International Baltic Sea Choir Competition in 2017, in Italy at the 61st Concorso Polifonico Internazionale ‘Guido d’Arezzo’ in 2013, and in Hungary at the 12th Budapest International Choir Competition in 2009. In Ireland, New Dublin Voices was awarded first prize in the Oak Tree of Derry International Competition at the 7th City of Derry International Choir Festival in 2019, and first prize in the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition at the 61st Cork International Choral Festival in 2015.

The choir’s discography is extensive and includes ‘Snow Dance for the Dead – Choral Music by Seán Doherty’, released in February 2025 on the VOCES8 Records label. With a five-star review describing it as “a superb showcase for Seán Doherty’s vivid and imaginative choral voice—rich in colour, clarity and emotional depth” (Choir & Organ), this album is New Dublin Voices’ fifth, and the choir’s third consecutive album of music by Irish composers.