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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.

We will once again be  returning to the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Monday 11 December for our annual Christmas concert.  This time we will be performing Bach’s cantata “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland” (BWV 61), Vivaldi’s “Dixit Dominus”, “Rorate coeli” by William Byrd and a selection of European Christmas carols.  The choir and orchestra will be joined in these works by a number of solo singers, all under the direction of John Dexter.   Tickets cost €25 each and may be purchased online by visiting the National Concert Hall website .

For our first performance of the new season, the Goethe Choir will be taking part in a charity concert in St. Mary’s Church of Ireland in Navan at 7.30pm on Saturday evening, 14th October, performing an eclectic range of a capella works of various musical styles and from multiple periods.  Also taking part will be the Navan Silver Band.  Admission is free but donations for the Meath Child Care Society and Navan Union of Parishes will be gratefully accepted.

We are very much looking forward to returning to rehearsals on Tuesday 5th September in preparation for our 2023/24 season.  We have an exciting concert schedule lined up for the new season, which includes an a capella concert in Navan in October, our annual Christmas concert in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in December, a concert in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in early April 2024 to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the composer Charles Villers Stanford and ending with a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with pianist John O’Connor and the RTE Concert Orchestra in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in June 2024.

This promises to be an active and exciting season for singers and audiences alike.  More details can be found on the Events page of our website.

The Esker Festival Orchestra and Choir will be performing Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin at 8pm on Sunday evening August 20th.  There is still an opportunity for tenors and basses to join the choir for this one-off performance.  For more information and to register to take part, go to www.eskerfestivalorchestra.com.