75th Anniversary Year 2026-2027

The Guinness Choir is delighted to celebrate its 75th Anniversary in 2026-2027. A number of special events have been planned over the next 18 months;

‘The City of Our Dreaming’ Thursday 7th May 2026

On Thursday 7th May 2026, The Guinness Choir performed the premiere of ‘The City of Our Dreaming’ in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. This work has been specially commissioned by The Guinness Choir to celebrate the choir’s 75th Anniversary. Based on an original poem by renowned poet Paula Meehan and composed by the exciting Irish composer Seán Doherty, this is a celebration of Dublin City, of how creativity and memory shape our understanding of place, a poetic and choral map of belonging.

The concert was a highlight event within the Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival, 4th – 11th May 2026 and included a special appearance by well known Dublin musician Bren Berry.

The Irish Times produced a video piece on the concert, view it here

Photographs from the concert

England Tour

ENGLAND TOUR – JUNE 2026 – A REFLECTION

The Guinness Choir undertook a four-day Tour to England, from 11^th June – 14^th June 2026, as part of its 75^th Anniversary celebrations. Here are some reflections on the tour, calling to mind some of the highlights we enjoyed.

Thursday was such an early start but Ryanair got us away on time and having been met at Stansted airport by the representative from RunbySingers (our tour agent) and escorted to the coach, we transferred to Norwich, Norfolk, in the rain! Despite that, many managed to find local hostelries for lunch, followed by a fascinating tour of Norwich Cathedral. Several enjoyed Evensong at the Cathedral after the tour.

Friday morning, we set off by coach (Richmonds Coaches) for Cambridge and a visit to Sidney Sussex College Chapel, where we were greeted very warmly by the Director of Music, who gave us a short overview of the history of this beautiful Chapel (including the fact that Oliver Cromwell’s head is buried there and only two members of the chapel officers are aware of the location). Our popup concert was wonderful and organ scholar Sam Kemp accompanied our Bach chorale (no. 167) on the chapel organ and the other pieces on the Steinway piano! It was a lovely experience to sing in such an amazing and historical setting.

Following a short break for refreshments, we assembled and boarded the punts for our guided tour on the Cam. This was ably supported with bottles of chilled prosecco to keep us cool in the sun. Our guides were very knowledgeable and told us a lot about the Cambridge Colleges as we were passing and made our way along the river. One of the bridges is called the ‘concussion bridge’ – the guides have to bend down to travel under and avoid hitting their head. Obviously there have been some incidents in the past! The sun shone on us that day which added to the feeling of joie de vivre  – the prosecco probably also had a lot to do with it, and happily no incidents were reported as we disembarked!

Back to the coach then and return to Norwich for an evening at our own leisure. Despite being let loose to find our own way, a large crowd seemed to choose the same restaurant for dinner (five tables in The Ivy Restaurant) and another group found by all accounts the best Indian restaurant in Norwich (‘Merchant’s Spice’) followed by a pint or two on the way back to the Hotel.

We were free on Saturday until rehearsal time and many enjoyed strolling around Norwich exploring the medieval streets, the open market, including some retail therapy, or visiting the Castle and Museum. No matter where one walked that morning, it was hard not to bump into some of our fellow travellers.

Our rehearsal and our Concert in the stunning St. Peter Mancroft Church in the city centre was accompanied on piano by Benjamin Frost, who is the principal accompanist for the London Symphony Chorus and we were all completely blown away by his playing – not just on the piano, but also his solo performance on the totally amazing organ in St. Peter’s, during our interval.

Our violin accompanist was non other than our own Liliana Mahu – despite being on a crutch!    Thanks to Liliana for bringing her violin on tour and for her wonderful playing. It was such a nice moment as Ciarán mentioned that she was not only our violin accompanist that evening, but is also a long standing member of the Choir.

Leanne Fitzgerald delivered, as always, a stunning performance both of The City of our Dreaming, but also singing Habanera (“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”) from Bizet’s Carmen. Her performance of ‘I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls’ from The Bohemian Girl was another very special moment, and especially as we were to sing in the Marble Hall at Elveden on the following day, which was duly mentioned by Ciarán in introducing it. And finally Leanne led us in The Parting Glass to wind up the Concert. The concert programme comprised: 

The City of Our Dreaming (U.K. Premiere) Seán Doherty (to a poem by Paula Meehan)
Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren, (cantata no. 167) J.S. Bach

Aida, Grand Chorus, (Finale, Act II) Giuseppi Verdi

Cantique de Jean Racine (Op.11) Gabriel Fauré

Carmen, Habanera (no.5) George Bizet

I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls (Bohemian Girl) Michael William Balfe

The Rocky Road to Dublin Arr. Mark Brymer

Molly Malone Arr. Mark Brymer

The Parting Glass Arr. Mark Armstrong

We were delighted to have Lord Iveagh in attendance at the Concert too with some guests, supporting us, and we received a rousing reaction from the appreciative audience.  We had invited the East Anglia Air Ambulance to fund raise at the concert and their volunteers were delighted to receive so many generous donations from the audience for this wonderful charity.

Following the concert, we enjoyed a relaxing reception in the parish centre, although we were soon told by the parish staff in no uncertain terms that we had drunk them dry! No big surprise there. So we made our way towards some local hostelries, with some groups breaking away and settling into the local pub by the hotel, entertaining the few shocked locals to an impromptu concert. When the closing bell was rung, we moved back to the hotel lobby until the wee small hours of Sunday morning, where there was more impromptu singing, and again, eagerly enjoyed by some late night hotel residents. These included the legendary Don Letts, film director, DJ and musician, and Andy Smith, DJ and former member of the big 90s band Portishead. At one stage Letts and Smith were seen videoing our mellifluous singing! We were eventually requested to please stop singing by the staff, who had apparently received some comments from the bedrooms above …….

Sunday morning – our last day – we headed off to Elveden Hall, Suffolk. We were greeted by Lord Iveagh and following a short stop in The Courtyard – Elveden’s Café and the Farm Shop – he joined us on the coach and we moved onwards to the main house. En route, he gave us so much interesting information about the surrounding acres, how the estate functions and the crops and businesses associated with Elveden Hall.   

At the main house, we were given the history of the house, bought by Lord Iveagh’s great great grandfather Edward Cecil in 1894 from the last Maharajah of the Sikh Empire. Lord Iveagh had so much detail to share with us not just about his family’s life at Elveden back to his great great grandfather’s time, but the detailed history of the Maharajah and their lives at the time. His pride was obvious when he spoke in such detail about his ancestors’ impact on the Estate to this day.   

Following the tour, we moved into the Marble Hall, where there was an audience of approximately fifty invited guests waiting to hear us sing. The Marble Hall was another wonderful room, with walls and ceiling embellished in Carrera marble, and it was a very special moment to stand there and sing.    A keyboard had been installed and Ciarán played and conducted us through a few pieces from The City of Our Dreaming, followed by the Fauré and ending with The Parting Glass – accompanied of course by Leanne and Liliana. It was obvious that the audience truly appreciated this short concert and it was an honour for us to sing for them in such a setting.

Back onto the coach and Lord Iveagh accompanied us again through the enormous estate, to the Guinness Arms, an old cottage pub in Icklingham, Suffolk, giving us more information and many interesting facts about the operation of the Estate and its business.        

We were lucky on the journey to see some great wildlife, including a few Muntjac (often pronounced or spelled muntchuck) – which is a tiny, ancient species of deer native to Asia that has established a large population in England – along with stone curlews, strange prehistoric looking birds who spend their summers in and around the Brecks in Norfolk.

At the Guinness Arms, Lord Iveagh offered us  pints of Guinness and glasses of Pimm’s on arrival. Following an excellent lunch, he waved us goodbye and thanked everyone very warmly for making the trip and for visiting Elveden.   

We were all very appreciative of the time and effort that he put into this tour – he was quite obviously delighted we made the effort to include the few hours in our schedule at Elveden and for performing for his invited guests and friends in the Marble Hall.  

Now on the last leg, we boarded the coach for Stansted Airport, full of great memories and special moments of the Tour, spending relaxed and quality times with our fellow choristers, and with plenty of fun thrown in the mix. Hard to identify any one highlight as there were several but I’m sure each of the group will have their own special highlight. Most of all, it was clear that the Tour was a most enjoyable musical and social experience.

We extend our sincere appreciation to Nick Couchman, founder and M.D. of RunBySingers, who worked closely with the choir in developing this tour over the last two years and was present on the tour managing logistics. And particularly to Lord Iveagh, our Honorary Patron, who put so much thought and energy into making our last day such a special highlight.

Most of all, we must extend our fulsome thanks and appreciation for so much hard work to John, Rose and Eva for the work they put in over the past year or more and for bringing it all about and overseeing it. Massive thanks are due to them.   

There are photos circulating on Social Media, but a few are included here.

Now for the next Tour …….

New Singers Welcome!

.All voice types are invited to get in touch, we would love to hear from you (especially if you are a tenor or a bass!). Ability to read or formal musical education are not essential but desirable.

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