December 2025: J.S. Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’
The Guinness Choir and Orchestra performed J.S. Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ on Wednesday, 3rd December 2025, in the National Concert Hall (NCH), Dublin at 8 pm. Written in 1734, Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ was composed as a celebration of the Nativity, unfolding the joyous events of Christ’s birth across six magnificent cantatas. The Choir, along with our wonderful ensemble of soloists and orchestra, performed four of these cantatas, in German, numbers 1,2,3 and 6.
Ciarán Kelly held the baton, directing our world-class soloists Kelli-Ann Masterson (Soprano), Leanne Fitzgerald (Alto), Christopher B. Fischer (Tenor & Evangelist), and Eoghan Desmond (Bass). Of special interest was the debut appearance in Ireland of celebrated German tenor Christopher Fischer who is in great demand across Europe for his impressive narrative style and the dramatic yet clear and expressive timbre of his voice.
October 2025 Concert: ‘Dream of Gerontius’
Our concert, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius at the Church of Adam & Eve, Merchant’s Quay, in Dublin, along with East Cork Choral Society, was conducted by Colin Nicholls. It featured East Cork Choral Society, the semi-chorus, Fabre Chamber Choir, and the amazing Fleischmann Symphony Orchestra, with brilliant soloists Christopher Bowen (tenor), Sarah Luttrell (mezzo), and Eoghan Desmond (baritone), held in the atmospheric setting of Adam and Eve’s church, offering a more engaging connection between audience and performers.
The weekend of this concert was of great importance for the Franciscan community and the parishioners of the Church of Adam & Eve’s, as it was at this time that their patron saint, Saint Francis of Assisi, died almost 800 years ago, on the 3rd October 1226. What’s more, the first ever performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius took place in Birmingham, England also on the 3rd October, in 1900. This magnificent work has a particular Dublin interest as it is based on the poem, ‘The Dream of Gerontius’, by Saint John Henry Newman.