Category: News

The choir held its summer concert last Sunday afternoon June 9th in the Church of St. Thérèse, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin.  We were privileged to perform with the internationally acclaimed Irish pianist John O’Conor, who delighted an enthusiastic and highly appreciative audience in a series of works by Beethoven.  This included a solo performance by him of the Pathetique Sonata as well as the piano accompaniment (along with solo violin and cello) of the wonderful soprano soloist Emma Nash and the choir sopranos and altos in a number of Beethoven’s arrangements of Irish melodies.

The concert culminated in a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy for piano, orchestra and chorus, a work which opens with an extended passage of brilliant music for solo piano before continuing with orchestral accompaniment and finally being joined by the choir for a rousing and ecstatic conclusion, which received a standing ovation from the enraptured audience.   We were particularly delighted to be able to give a repeat performance of a work that John O’Conor had previously played with the choir in 1976.

Go to our Gallery webpage to see some photos of the occasion.

We are delighted and honoured to be performing Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy on Sunday afternoon, 9th June 2024, with the internationally acclaimed Irish pianist John O’Conor.  This is a repeat performance of the work which he previously gave with the choir in Dublin in December 1976.   The concert will take place in the church of St. Thérèse, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin, the venue for our memorable performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in February 2023.

The programme will also contain a performance by John O’Conor of Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique’ piano sonata and a performance by soprano Emma Nash of Beethoven’s arrangements of a number of Irish songs, with choir accompaniment.  The choir will also be singing additional works by Mozart and Handel.  Tickets cost €35 each and are available online from Eventbrite or at the door on the day of the concert.

Today (29/03/24) is the centenary of the death of Charles Villiers Stanford, a prolific composer who was born in Dublin in 1852 and died in London in 1924.  Stanford wrote many orchestral, chamber and choral works, as well as a number of operas, but is remembered today mostly for his sacred music.  The Goethe Choir will be marking the centenary by performing three of these works in a concert in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday evening, 6th April 2024, which will also contain works by Bruckner (‘Te Deum’) and Smetana, marking the bicentenary of the birth of both these composers.

Tickets for the concert are available via Eventbrite.   You can see and hear us singing part of one of the Stanford works in a recent rehearsal at https://youtu.be/Ic4r81hYpS8.

For our next concert, the Goethe Choir will be commemorating the centenary or bicentenary of three prolific composers: Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), and Anton Bruckner (1824–1896).  This musical journey through time will take place on Saturday April 6, 2024, at 7:30 pm in the historic Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.  The concert will be directed as usual by John Dexter, and will also feature a number of accomplished vocal soloists, a brass ensemble and St. Patrick’s organist David Leigh.

Join us for an unforgettable experience as we celebrate the musical milestones of Stanford, Smetana, and Bruckner.  Tickets cost €27.50 and are available for purchase online at Eventbrite.

We are busy with final rehearsals and preparations for our annual  Christmas concert in the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Monday, Dec 11.  As usual, the programme includes a number of international carols – as a taster, you can hear us singing Stille Nacht in a recent rehearsal in the Unitarian Church in Dublin at https://youtu.be/qXT-0qzCy5w.

Tickets for the concert cost €25 and can be bought online on the National Concert Hall website at https://www.nch.ie/all-events-listing/gloria-the-goethe-choir-christmas-celebration.

During the interval in our rehearsal last Tuesday (7 Nov), the choir was delighted to present our musical director John Dexter with a top-of-the-range laptop computer to mark 25 years since he first started as conductor of the (then) Goethe-Institut Choir.  The presentation was made by chairperson Ann Barrett, who spoke warmly and appreciatively of John’s superb gifts as a musician and choral trainer and of all that he had taught the choir over the last 25 years, mentioning in passing a number of the musical high points that the choir has attained over that period.  You can read Ann’s lovely appreciation here on our website.