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Summer of Vivaldi, Friday 2^nd June 2023

The Guinness Choir completed its 2022-23 Season with a joyful programme of sacred and secular music by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741).

One of the greatest of the Baroque composers, Vivaldi, born in Venice, had an enormous musical output and his influence across Europe was widespread. His accessible, lively compositions are still greatly loved worldwide. This programme displays multiple permutations of solo voices, choir and orchestra of which Vivaldi was a master. His Gloria composed between 1713-17, was lost for over two hundred years until rediscovered in 1939. The Magnificat is a wonder of choral and orchestral power, brimming with light and drama. The performance of Summer, the second concerto from the Four Seasons, a glowing tribute to life-giving nature, will be led by the outstanding violinist Lynda O’Connor.

The Guinness choir was particularly delighted to feature soloists from the Music Conservatoire of TUDublin, some of Ireland’s very best young emerging vocal talent.

Speaking about the concert Ciarán Kelly, Music Director of The Guinness Choir, said:

“Vivaldi is absolutely one of the most influential baroque composers – his music was adapted by many, from Bach to Haydn – and his programmatic style inspired the likes of Beethoven and the French Romantic composers. It is a testament to his genius that his music sounds as invigorating today as it did three hundred years ago in the churches of Vicenza, Venice and Mantua,”

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Mozart Requiem and Mass in C Minor

On Saturday 1st April 2023 The Guinness Choir and Orchestra performed Mozart’s Requiem and his Mass in C Minor in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin 2 at 7.30p.m. Conducted by Ciarán Kelly with soloists Kelli-Ann Masterson, Soprano, Megan O’Neill, Soprano, Leanne Fitzgerald, Alto, Andrew Gavin, Tenor, and Rory Dunne, Bass. The Requiem was Mozart’s final work, composed in the short period before his death in December 1791. He was only 35. Though completed by others in his circle, Mozart, as with the Mass in C Minor, which he had mostly written by the mid 1780s, captures the drama and visceral emotion of the liturgy. Though much scholarly debate continues as to who completed the pieces, there is no escaping the magnificence and virtuosic demands of both, such that generations of artists have been inspired by these great masterpieces ever since. Speaking about the concert Ciarán Kelly, Music Director of The Guinness Choir, said: “The Requiem was one of the first large-scale pieces I ever learned and performed, and it remains my favourite choral work to this day. The mystery around these works only adds to the excitement we feel when we hear and perform them. The ways in which Mozart takes us on a journey, musically, spiritually and dramatically are, in my opinion, unique to this masterful composer.” The Guinness choir and its professional Orchestra was joined by our wonderful soloists: Kelli-Ann Masterson, Soprano; Megan O’Neill, Soprano; Leanne Fitzgerald, Alto; Andrew Gavin, Tenor and Rory Dunne, Bass.    

‘Christmas Joy’

The Guinness Choir performed our ‘Christmas Joy’ concert at on Sunday 11^th December 2022 in St. Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin 2. The concert included a selection of works from some of the outstanding living composers from across Europe, UK and USA, balanced by pieces from the renaissance and baroque eras. With additional contributions from our wonderful guest accompanists Anthony Byrne, Piano and Sokol Koka, Cello, together with soloist Jade Phoenix, Soprano, and a helping of ‘old favourites’ from the seasonal repertoire, this was a Christmas feast of choral sound! We were delighted to see so many people brave the very cold weather to attend and we were doubly delighted at the warmth of the audience reaction to the programme. Sokol Koka,    Anthony Byrne,    Jade Phoenix             The choral programme was as follows. Some have links for you to listen to a sample. Choir Winter                                Jake Runestad           America        1986- Carol of Joy                       Dan Forrest              America        1978-      click to listen O Come, Emmanuel          E. Hagenberg           America        1979-     click to listen Jade Phoenix Maria Wiegenlied               Max Reger               Germany      1873-1916 Little Road to Bethlehem   Michael Head           England        1900-1976 Choir Comfort and Joy                Philip Lawson           England        1957-      click to listen The Beauty of The Earth    Philip Stopford           England        1977-   click to listen The Rose                           Ola Gjeilo                 Norway         1978-     click to listen Jade Phoenix Ave Maria                           Charles Gounod           France          1818-1893 In the Bleak Midwinter        Harold Darke            England        1888-1976 Choir Hodie Christus Natus Est   J.P. Sweelinck           Holland         1562-1621 Resonet in Laudibus          Jacob Handl            Slovenia       15^th c Sir Christèmas                   William Matthias           Wales           1934-1992   click to listen In Dulci Jubilo                    Robert Pearsall           England        1795-1856 All Hark The Herald Angels Sing O Holy Night    

A record of all our concerts performed to date can be found in our Archives.