Monkstown Chamber Choir
2014 News
March- The Choral Evensong on 9th March had a distinct “Celtic” theme and included two versions of St Patricks’s Breastplate. For the anthem we sung the hauntingly beautiful “The Deer’s Cry” by Shaun Davey, then our closing hymn was the traditional floury version by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. The choir have now become accustomed to singing acapella (unaccompanied) and with this in mind, we hope to sing an anthem in April by Italian composer Luigi Mulfino – “O Sacrum Convivium”. This piece is only about 16 bars of music long, but can take up to three minutes to sing, so we have all had to learn to relax and wind-down before singing it! We welcomed a new singer to the choir in January. Roger Clough has joined Liam, John and Maeve in the tenor section and he brings our membership to seventeen now, which is great.
April-The choir have just returned from their trip to West Cork last weekend. The usual delicious tea and buns were enjoyed by everyone after singing at 4pm Mass in St Mona’s Church on Sherkin Island. Our next Choral Evensong is at 7pm in St John’s Church, Monkstown on Sunday 11th May. Then on 8th June, we will be singing at the Parish Confirmation service in St Mary’s, Carrigaline at 11am. So, a busy few weeks before we break up for summer! (RE)
2013 News
The choir travelled to West Cork for our annual “pilgrimage” on 27th April. We took the ferry over to Sherkin before singing at Mass in St Mona’s Church, where the locals treated us to delicious buns and cakes afterwards. The sun stayed with us as we ferried back to Baltimore where we relaxed for a meal and returned to Cork next morning.
On Sunday 19th May, we joined with the Junior Choir in St Mary’s to sing at the hugely successful Flower Festival. Unbeknown to us, we were filmed singing “Eternal God, we give you thanks for music” by John Rutter – a bit of a surprise to hear us singing on Facebook thanks to John Andrew!! But we sounded well, so all were happy.
On Sunday 16th June, we will join with the Choir of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny for Mattins at 11.30am. This will be a great opportunity to not only sing in this historic and holy place, but also to sing with a Cathedral Choir. The members are looking forward to meeting up with the St Canice’s choir again after their trip to Cork last year. It will be good to meet Malcolm Proud (Organist and choirmaster) and David Forde (Assistant organist and choirmaster) again too.
Due to holiday commitments, we break up for the summer but will be back for a busy Autumn and Winter season commencing with Choral Evensong in St John’s Church, Monkstown on Sunday 8th September at the usual time of 7pm. Sung Choral Evensong then continues in the second Sunday of the month. There are vacancies for Tenor, Bass and Alto voices. Please call Roger Ellis on 087 9607750.
