City on song for choral festival

Nearly 5,000 singers from 20 countries will participate in this year’s Cork International Choral Festival, which gets under way on May 1.

Details of the events were announced last night. Some of the choirs will be coming from as far away as Russia and Belarus for the five-day event, which is one of Europe’s premier choral festivals.

The opening gala concert takes place on May 1, in City Hall. It will feature Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time by the Fleischmann Choir, members of the Cologne Philharmonic Choir and Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dr Geoffrey Spratt, who will be marking his final appearance as conductor of the prestigious group.

Mary Hegarty, Bridget Knowles, Robin Tritschler, and Owen Gilhooly will also feature as soloists on the night, alongside The Band of the First Southern Brigade.

The following night’s concert takes place at Cork Opera House, where Sweden’s top choral outfit The Real Group will perform a diverse programme from the sacred to the serene and the sassy.

On May 3, the National Chamber Choir of Ireland stages a concert in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral from 7.30pm, while Britain’s finest and most versatile a cappella groups The Songmen will perform in the Cathedral of St Mary & St Anne at 10.30pm.

The following day some of the world’s top amateur choirs compete for the Fleischmann International Trophy in City Hall.

The jam-packed festival will conclude on May 5, with international choirs presenting choral music representative of their musical and ethnic backgrounds in a joyful celebration of song and colour.

Festival manager Sinéad Madden said the Choral Gathering Trail alongside the more formal Fringe Concerts, all of which are predominantly free events, will bring the music and passion of the festival out on to the streets. There will also be an extended programme of events taking place countywide from Castletownbere to Cobh in specially selected Gathering Friendship Concerts.

Ms Madden said the festival was offering choirs the opportunity to present formal and informal performances in over 80 venues across the city and county.

Festival tickets can be booked online at www.corkchoral.ie, by phoning 021 4501673 or from the festival box office at The Everyman, McCurtain Street.