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Latest News

Festival Programme launched at Cork City Hall

Posted by: corkchoral In: news 04 Apr 2016 Comments: 0

Launch photo

The 2016 Festival Programme was successfully launched at Cork City Hall last Thursday, 31st March.

There was a wonderful turn out for the programme launch at this special reception, which featured choral performances by The Polyphonics, CADA Senior Singing Group, Pfizerphonics and Champagne Cork. Lord Mayor Cllr. Chris O’Leary was on site to officially launch the festival programme, while Festival Chairman Ger Breen also introduced Artistic Director John Fitzpatrick, who gave everyone a good overview of what we can expect at the upcoming festival.

John Fitzpatrick was eager to thank Choral Festival grant funders Fáilte Ireland, The Arts Council of Ireland, and Cork City and County Councils, as well as key festival sponsors and partners – in particular Indaver Ireland, First South Credit Union, the Clarion Hotel, Triskel Christchurch, CIT Cork School of Music, the Ó Riada Family and the Everyman Theatre.

* Image shows children from the Montford College of Performing Arts at City Hall before the Choral Festival Programme Launch

 

Cork International Choral Festival will take place over the May bank holiday weekend from April 27 to May 1. Now in its 62nd year, the Festival is the oldest in Cork and one of Europe’s most prestigious Choral Festivals.  Nearly 5,000 singers from around the world will bring the city to life over the weekend in a series of Gala Concerts, Schools Concerts, National and International Competitions, workshops and free outdoor performances – wherever you turn you will hear a wonderful celebration of choral music, including many impromptu performances on the streets and in the bars and cafés of Cork.

Tickets for all Gala Concerts are now on sale from the Everyman Box Office, and you can view the 2016 festival programme here.

 

View Programme slider

Winner Announced for Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition

Posted by: corkchoral In: Uncategorized 01 Mar 2016 Comments: 0
Amanda FeeryCork International Choral Festival is proud to announce Offaly-born Amanda Feery as the winner of the 2016 Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition.

Amanda’s piece, Changed Utterly, will receive its world premiere in the spectacular surrounds of St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral on Friday 29th April at 7.30pm. The Festival’s Choir in Residence, Chamber Choir Ireland, conducted by Paul Hillier, will premiere the performance as part of its annual collaborative concert with the Festival in what promises to be a wonderful evening of song.

 

Amanda Feery is currently completing a PhD in Composition at Princeton University, New York having completed a B.A. in Music in 2006, and an M.Phil in Music and Media Technologies in 2009 at Trinity College Dublin. Past collaborators include Crash Ensemble, Fidelio Trio, ConTempo Quartet, Orkest de Ereprijs, Lisa Moore, Cora Venus Lunny, Michelle O’Rourke, Zoe Conway, and Paul Roe. She has participated as a composer fellow at Ostrava Days Festival (Czech Republic), Soundscape Festival (Italy), Bang on a Can Summer Festival (U.S), and the International Young Composers Meeting (Netherlands). She was winner of the West Cork Chamber Music Composer Award in 2009, and the Jerome Hynes Award in 2013. Current and future projects will see Amanda take on a large-scale multimedia work for vocal quartet So Percussion, and commissions from Ensemble Mise-en, Bearthoven, Jacquin Trio, and cellist Amanda Gookin. Her composition, Changed Utterly, came out on top in a year that saw a high standard of entry. The members of the judging panel, composers Rhona Clarke and Stephen McNeff, and Paul Hillier, Artistic Director and Conductor of CCI, summarised their reaction and evaluation to Feery’s winning piece as follows:

 

“Changed Utterly is a strong individual work which, using a text that reflects on the 1916 Rising, absolutely reflects on this year’s competition brief. Musically, a reflection of the past appears in the form of a fragment of “The Derry Air”, which sounds like something from the distant past in the context of contemporary, carefully conceived choral sounds. The work achieves what it sets out to achieve, with affect and relative simplicity of means.”

 

Along with receiving a cash prize, kindly donated by the Ó Riada family, Amanda’s piece will receive its world premiere during the Festival. It will be performed by Chamber Choir Ireland in a concert which will also feature another world premiere of a piece – A half darkness, by Stephen McNeff specially commissioned by the Festival. Amanda will also play an integral part in the Festival’s new Choral Symposium, which will be curated by Paul Hillier and John Fitzpatrick. As part of this new Symposium the Festival will feature two runners up in the Seán Ó Riada composition Competition, Peter Moran and Criostóir Ó Loingsigh, giving their composed works a platform under the direction of Paul Hillier and Chamber Choir Ireland in interactive workshop sessions on  Friday 29th April at 2pm and Saturday 30th April at 10am in Cork School of Music. On receiving the news of her win, Amanda said:

 

“I was so excited to hear from John Fitzpatrick that I had won the Seán Ó Riada competition. I have written for smaller groups of vocalists previously, but this is my first choral piece, and I’m delighted that it will be premiered by Chamber Choir Ireland in April.”

 

Initiated in 1972, the present format of the Seán Ó Riada Competition offers a platform for Irish composers to have their work judged and rewarded purely on its own merits without the judges being influenced by the reputation or status of the composer. All compositions are submitted under a pseudonym, with the author’s real name not being revealed until after the judges’ decision has been made. Works composed in the Irish language are encouraged.   The competition has, as a central aim, the intention of providing Irish choirs with fresh, authentic material for inclusion in their programmes. The competition has attracted the attention of many highly-regarded composers, with past winners including Solfa Carlisle, Rhona Clarke, Patrick Connolly, Frank Corcoran, Séamas de Barra, Michael Holohan, Marian Ingoldsby, Donal MacErlaine, Simon MacHale, Michael McGlynn, Kevin O’Connell, and last year’s winner, Eoghan Desmond. With over 170 compositions being submitted in the past 6 years of the new format, the Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition clearly highlights the number of composers now working and living in Ireland, and further demonstrates the Cork International Choral Festival’s continuing commitment to encourage the composition and performance of contemporary music.

 

in collaboration with Chamber Choir Ireland

 

Colm Murphy is the 2016 Choral Artist

Posted by: corkchoral In: Uncategorized 01 Feb 2016 Comments: 0

Colm Murphy image

 

Cork International Choral Festival is delighted to present Colm Murphy as the artist responsible for this year’s commissioned Choral Art. Colm is a professional painter living and working in Cork,  whose work relies on the natural world for inspiration.

Click here to find out more about our Choral Art and view images of Colm’s work.

2016 Non-competitive International Choirs Announced!

Posted by: corkchoral In: news, Uncategorized 27 Jan 2016 Comments: 0

 

deineMaidsThe international non-competitive choirs that will appear at this year’s festival have been selected.

Five international choirs will travel to Cork in April to perform as part of the non-competitive programme:
  • Sing For Your Life! Choir (Australia)
  • Choeur et Mouvement (France)
  • Tung-Hsin Choral Society (USA)
  • Dienemaids (Germany)
  • Casasawt (Morocco)

Find out more about the 2016 non-competitive international choirs here.

 

Cork International Choral Festival Celebrates World Choral Day with Outdoor Concert

Posted by: corkchoral In: news, Uncategorized 13 Dec 2015 Comments: 0

 Sunday 13th December, 12pm

Grand Parade, Cork

December 2015 – On Sunday, Cork International Choral Festival launches their exciting 2016 Gala Concerts Programme along with their box office in celebration of World Choral Day. This year will be the Festival’s 62nd and will reaffirm its position as the longest running Festival in Cork. As part of the Glow Celebrations in marking World Choral Day, Cork International Choral Festival brought together a great number of voices, including children from the Montfort College of Performing Arts Youth Choir, Cantate Chamber Choir and Pfizerphonics to perform on a specially-assembled stage on Grand Parade to celebrate World Choral Day and to get us into the Christmas Spirit!

The newly launched programme will see everything kick off at the Opening Gala Concert on Wednesday 27th April in Cork City Hall with Fleischmann Choir, and CIT CSM Symphony, Conductor – Conor Palliser celebrating Irish heritage and will feature Gerald Finzi’s Intimations of Immortality for Tenor, Chorus and Orchestra with soloist Robin Tritschler and the first performance in Cork of Fleischmann’s Cornucopia for Horn and Orchestra with soloist Cormac Ó’ HAodáin. Programme will also include Seán Ó Riada’s Mise Éire Suite together with an accompanying film of the period. Pre-concert recital will feature the Band of 1 Brigade.

The following Gala Concert on Thursday 28th April will have The Real Group reprise their incredible 2013 concert in Cork showcasing their amazing vocal talents. Based in Sweden, The Real Group is one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles. They are renowned for their excellent ensemble singing, stunning arrangements, and captivating audiences world-wide. Their repertoire consists of arrangements of jazz, sometimes leaning towards folk and pop. A night of entertainment and vocal quality not to be missed! Friday 29th April will leave you spoilt for choice.  The 7.30pm concert in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral from Chamber Choir Ireland (Festival choir in residence) premières not only a newly commissioned work from composer Stephen McNeff commemorating the women of 1916, but also from the winner of this year’s Séan Ó Riada Competition for Irish composers. The entire programme includes a wider 1916 commemorative repertoire and a Shakespeare element commemorating the Bard’s death. Friday 29th April gets even busier with the late-night concert Evocations set to take place in the Cathedral of St Mary & St Anne at 10.30pm. The evening will platform the foremost exponents of medieval song, White Raven. Based in Switzerland, this a cappella vocal trio, sings arrangements of Irish traditional, Scottish, and Medieval song. Hailed as “voices of purest gold” by the Irish Times critics, White Raven has perfected the art of ensemble singing with their unique timbre and exquisite blend of voices.

With over twenty International groups already confirmed for the Festival, 2016 looks set to maintain its high standard and cosmopolitan appeal, ensuring its artistic future and integrity as one of the world’s most prestigious Choral Festivals. In light of that prestige we have the International Fleischmann Gala which will take pride of place on Saturday 30th April in City Hall, where some of the world’s top amateur choirs compete for one of the most prestigious prizes in International standards.

The Closing Gala Concert in City Hall on Sunday 1st May will mark the end of a jam-packed Festival week with International choirs presenting choral music representative of their musical and cultural backgrounds in a joyful celebration of song and colour.

Festival Tickets are available for purchase through the online booking system at www.corkchoral.ie, and in person from the Festival Box Office at The Everyman, McCurtain Street. So get set this Christmas with the perfect gift for you or a loved one and get booking to ensure your May Bank Holiday weekend will be the one to have you singing in the city, the ultimate soundtrack to your social life.

 

The Cork International Choral Festival gratefully acknowledges the financial support of The Arts Council of Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork County Council.

 

A Soulful Christmas with Karen Underwood – Tickets now on sale!

Posted by: corkchoral In: news 10 Nov 2015 Comments: 0

 

Christmas Concert.indd

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