Would you like to:
- Take part in an exciting new choral venture?
- Sing one of the great choral classics under expert direction?
- Learn challenging new choral work?
- Mark a special time of the year (Remembrance) with appropriate music?
- Learn more about voice production and choral technique from one of Ireland’s foremost choral directors?
… all in just two and a half days!
Then sign up for St Nicholas Singers—Galway’s newest choral ensemble which is offering expert tuition and great choral experiences in two short projects every year. The projects are timed to allow participation by members of other regularly scheduled choirs, and are also open to all regardless of age, experience or background.Autumn 2012:
Requiem Aeternam
Direction: Mark Duley
Music: Gabriel Fauré, Requiem (complete), Eric Whitacre, When David Heard
Technical foci: Breath control & Resonance
Dates: Saturday 20th October, workshop rehearsals 10am–5pm, Saturday 17th November, workshop rehearsals 10am–5pm, Sunday 18th November, rehearsal 2–4pm, concert 5pm
Cost: €50 per singer, to include all music, tuition and tea/coffee.
To take part, please contact: [email protected] or Maureen Rabbitt at 087 230 8860.
St Nicholas Singers—Some Background Information
The Collegiate Church of St Nicholas is one of Ireland’s most important medieval buildings, and boasts a proud musical past: in 1486, a College was established in the church comprising a warden, a number of singing clerics, and boy choristers educated by them, together who sang the daily services in the church. The College no longer exists today, but the church continues with a thriving parish and musical life.
A new millennium demands new ideas. Wishing to honour a unique heritage whilst meeting challenges and opportunities of the future, the Rector, Select Vestry and parish community of St Nicholas have decided to revive the ancient college in the form of a new foundation: St Nicholas Schola Cantorum.
At the heart of the Schola’s activities is education through high-level vocal training, and the opportunity for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to take part in the church’s special musical heritage. This brief is met in the Schola’s largest ensemble: St Nicholas Singers. This is a large all-comers group drawn from the wider Galway region, city and county. The choir meets for two projects each year, and over the course of two Saturday workshops studies a major work appropriate to the liturgical season and then performs it in concert. The workshops incorporate instruction on vocal production and choral skills, with each project focussing on a particular technical theme.
