CANTAIRÍ BLOG
A collection of articles, links and other miscellanies about choirs, composers and concerts.
In this article in the Irish Independent, our Director of Music, John Doyle, discusses some of the steps Cantairí Avondale and other choirs have been taking to continue making music together.
“It’s a case of examining what’s possible at the moment rather than trying to shoehorn what we used to do into a model that doesn’t really fit”
Sunday 15th December 2019 saw a special double feature with Cantairí Avondale’s annual Christmas concerts in St Stephen’s Pepper Canister Church, on Mount Street.
The theme of this year’s performances was that of meditation and reflection. John Doyle, our musical director, put together a thoughtful programme of pieces, inviting those present to enjoy the stillness of their surrounds and escape the hustle and bustle outside.
The choir once more had the pleasure of performing Tom Lane’s “A Christmas Childhood” following on from an atmospheric recitation of Patrick Kavanagh’s poem by Ros Mc Feely. Another highlight was the choir’s debut performance of Poulenc’s collection of Christmas motets which echoed beautifully within the walls and aisles of the Church.
Thank you to all of you who joined us for our concerts and shared in our love of music.
Merry Christmas from all of us in the choir and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.!
Below are some pictures from our two concerts:
A huge thank you to all who came along to listen to us in the stunning Long Room in the Old Library in Trinity College.
We really enjoyed performing our selection of Elizabethan partsongs and madrigals for you and look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Concerts in December.
Here are a few pictures from the night.
We finished our 2018/2019 season on 26 May with a beautiful selection of Elizabethan madrigals and partsongs in the intimate surroundings of the Unitarian Church on St. Stephen’s Green.
We are very grateful to all of our wonderful supporters who came out to share in what was a much more ‘stripped-back’ concert when compared to Verdi’s Requiem which had performed in the Olympia less than eight weeks earlier.
In case you missed this concert you will get the chance to hear most of these pieces when we perform in the Long Room of the Old Library in Trinity College on Culture Night on Friday 20 September.
In the meantime. here are some pictures from our summar concert. Credit goes to Ciarán Ó Gaora for them all.
Last night (Monday, 1 April) saw the culmination of months of hard work as Cantairí Avondale took to the stage with Dun Laoghaire Choral Society, Co-Orch Dublin and soloists: Sandra Oman, Raphaela Mangan, David Howes and David Lynn to perform Verdi’s Requiem to a packed house all in aid of The Marie Keating Foundation.
All of this was performed under the steady baton of our Musical Director, John Doyle, in an atmosphere that was absolutely electric.
We are truly privileged to have had the chance to perform this amazing work with such talented performers.
Below is a selection of pictures from the performance.
Credit: Shane Flanagan
Credit: Sandra Oman
Credit: Sandra Oman
Credit: Sandra Oman
Credit: Shane Flanagan
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
Credit: Hannah Levy
On Christmas Eve RTÉ Lyric FM’s Culture File aired a special feature A Christmas Childhood, a new work by Tom Lane, commissioned by Cantairí Avondale and based on the poem by Patrick Kavanagh. Cantairí Avondale performed this work for the first time at our Christmas concerts on 16 December in the beautiful Pepper Cannister Church. You can listen to the podcast here.
Credit: Culture File/RTÉ Lyric FM
On Sunday 16 December, Cantairi Avondale performed two concerts in the environs of the beautiful St. Stephen’s Church (“The Pepper Cannister Church”) in Dublin 2.
The performances featured the premiere of A Christmas Childhood, a new work by Tom Lane, commissioned by Cantairí Avondale and based on the poem by Patrick Kavanagh. Lyric FM will be doing a feature on this work on Christmas Eve at 6.05pm, so be sure to tune in.
Thank you to all of you who joined us to make the concerts so very special and to really kick start the Christmas season.
Below is a selection of photos from the concerts.
