The Goethe Choir’s next concert will be a performance of Will Todd’s Mass in Blue at 8pm on Saturday 25 May in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The concert will be in aid of Carmichael Ireland. The choir will be accompanied by the Will Todd Ensemble, featuring the composer himself on piano and Hilary Cronin as soprano soloist.
This work was first sung by the choir in St. Ann’s Church, Dublin, on 2 June 2018 and was received with critical acclaim. This is another opportunity to hear a performance in Dublin of this dynamic, uplifting, and highly popular jazz setting of the Latin mass. Go to the Events page on the choir website for details of how to order tickets online. And to get you in the mood, you can also listen on that web page to a recording of last year’s performance of the work by the choir.
The choir notched up another successful appearance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin last night (Friday 3 May) when we took part with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’. This involved the film being shown on a large cinema screen suspended in front of the organ and central choir stalls, with the film’s dialogue being relayed to the audience via the speaker system, and also displayed via subtitles on the film, and the accompanying soundtrack being performed by orchestra and choir, members of the choir sitting in the remaining choir stalls at either side of the screen.
While we had no difficulty with the words (chiefly because there weren’t any), fitting the oohs and aahs and various sound effects in at the right time required a great deal of concentration and counting. Fortunately we were ably assisted by the conductor Ernst van Tiel who provided the necessary direction to orchestra and choir, synchronised exactly to the action on the screen with the assistance of his own monitor. Everything worked perfectly on the night resulting in a very exciting and atmospheric performance which was hugely enjoyed by the large audience, who showed their appreciation at the end with a standing ovation.
Another of the varied musical experiences which we all enjoy as members of the Goethe Choir. Thanks to all the singers who took part in this memorable evening and a special thanks to our choir director John Dexter in successfully preparing us for this somewhat different musical assignment.
A photo taken before the event by an audience member
Following our successful and innovative performance of Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” to a sell-out audience at the Freemasons’ Hall in Dublin on 23 March, the Goethe Choir’s next performance will be on Friday 3 May 2019 with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall, Dublin in a presentation with live music of Steven Spielberg’s 1977 masterpiece “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. The film features a groundbreaking and magnificent score written by John Williams, which will be performed live and in sync with the film. The choir is honoured to be asked to participate in this popular presentation.
Tickets are available from the National Concert Hall and may be booked online at www.nch.ie.
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For our next concert we will be presenting a concert performance of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Freemason’s Hall, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 on Saturday 23 March, starting at 8pm. Written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua, L’Orfeo is the earliest surviving opera that is still regularly performed.
Tickets cost €27.50 each and may be booked online via Eventbrite
The performance will feature the following artists:
Matthew Long — Orfeo
Sharon Carty — Euridice
John Elwes — Apollo
Sylvia O’Brien — Soprano
Brendan Collins — Bass
Siobhán Armstrong — Harp
Paul Herriott – Narrator
with the Goethe Choir & Goethe Ensemble conducted by John Dexter.
Welcome to the new Goethe Choir website at goethechoir.ie. Following the decision of the choir to change its name from the Goethe-Institut Choir we have now launched a new website with a complete redesign and a change of content, including an expanded members’ area.
