2015 CODI Programme Book

Wednesday 21st – Sunday 25th October 2015 programme

Ticket Information

Tickets available from the Millennium Forum Box Ofce New Market Street, Derry Call +44 (0) 28 7126 4455

Book online at www.millenniumforum.co.uk N.B. Booking fee of £1 applies per ticket

Evening Concerts

An Evening with The King’s Singers

£20 (full), £12 (concessionary)

Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra

£10 (full),£6 (concessionary)

All other concerts

Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th October

£12 (full), £8 (concessionary), £6 (groups of 10+)

Full Day Passes

All competitions plus concert on same day

Thursday 22nd October £12 (full), £8 (concessionary)

Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th October

£15 (full), £10 (concessionary)

Full Festival Pass

All events £60 (full), £50 (concessionary)

Competition Day Passes

All competitions for one day £5 (full), £3 (concessionary), £2 (groups of 10+) Available to purchase on the door only

For more information see www.codichoral.com.

Contents

Foreword 4

Festival Overview 9

Evening Concerts

An Evening with The King’s Singers 10 Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra 12 Utopia & Reality | Codetta 18 International Competition 24 Closing Gala Concert 26 Festival Club 28

Competitions

Primary School Competitions 30 Post-Primary School Competitions 31 National Competitions 33 Special Awards 37

Workshops and Symposium

Sing Joyfully! International Choral Symposium 38 Big Sing Workshops 38 Sales and Merchandise 39

Trails and Community Events Choral Trails 40 Sacred Trail 42 Community Concerts 43 Kickstart Your Choir 43 Utopia & Reality Tour 44

Biographies

Adjudicators 46

International Choir Biographies 50

Evening Concert Presenters 60

Festival Friends and Sponsors 62

Choral Trail Map 64 Sacred Trail Map 66

At-a-Glance Festival Schedule 68

foreword welcome to the city of derry international choral festival 2015

I’m delighted to welcome you to the third edition of the City of Derry International Choral Festival. We hope you enjoy what has been packed into an extremely exciting and varied fve days of music-making.

Even a cursory glance at the festival timetable will reveal just how much the festival has grown this year, with what has already become the established pattern of concerts, workshops, choral and sacred trails, and, of course, a range of school, national and international competitions. The line-up of choirs for the international competition is the most varied and impressive so far, with singers from Slovenia, Sweden, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, England and Ireland.

Other key events include the second International Choral Symposium, taking place this year in the Great Hall of the Ulster University. It will focus on the choral works of Bob Chilcott, recognised as one of the world’s foremost choral composers and a former member of the King’s Singers, who will perform at the Opening Gala Concert. We are particularly pleased to welcome the Ulster Orchestra for their frst visit to the festival, as they accompany a 300-voice children’s choir in a performance of Bluebottle by Brian Irvine and John McIlduf.

It has always been a key aim of the festival to reach deep into the heart of local communities; this year we’ve expanded on that theme by organising a concert tour of venues outside the city by the festival’s resident guest choir, Utopia & Reality. They will be performing in Armagh, Enniskillen and in the Alley Theatre, Strabane, where they will be joined by Strabane Concert Brass. Utopia & Reality complete their concert series when they combine with Codetta to give the world première of newly commissioned pieces by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

None of this ambitious programme would be possible without the generous support of our sponsors –Arts Council Northern Ireland, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Derry Journal, City Hotel, Enkalon Foundation and the Honourable the Irish Society – along with the exceptional dedication of the Choral Festival Committee and a small army of volunteers.

We extend an especially warm welcome to frst time visitors to the city and a heartfelt welcome back to friends from previous festivals, our esteemed international panel of adjudicators, all festival participants and you, members of the audience.

In words taken from Bluebottle, ‘everything you need to know, you’ll fnd it in a song’. Enjoy the singing!

Dónal Doherty Artistic Director

As Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, I am hugely proud that we are once again hosting the City of Derry International Choral Festival.

Now in its third year, this magical celebration of music and song is unique: not only does it showcase the wonderful choral talent we have on our doorstep, it also gives us a chance to see choirs and performers from all over the world who travel to our city and region to be part of the event.

We are delighted that a number of choirs are making a return visit to our festival and the feedback we have received from them has been phenomenal, with all of them enjoying the Derry welcome and hospitality. This year will be no diferent, as we welcome choirs and performers from Ireland, the UK and Europe for what promises to be a spectacular celebration of music and song.

The Derry and Strabane area is renowned for its musical history and talent. The Council continues through its legacy projects to champion emerging talent.

We showcase our local talent at every opportunity, and we encourage the public to engage with music as a way to overcome barriers, celebrate our diverse culture and history, and appreciate our talent and passion.

The International Choral Festival is a fantastic event that was frst established during our year as City of Culture but that has continued to develop and grow. Now in its third year, it provides a forum for choirs of all ages, genres and abilities to come together, sing and celebrate.

I am extremely excited about the lineup for this year’s festival and would like to pay tribute to everyone involved in the festival.

On behalf of Derry City and Strabane District Council, I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone associated with the Festival and wish it every success.

I am confdent that this year’s festival will once again deliver an exceptional celebration of choral tradition and performances.

Cllr. Elisha McCallion

Mayor of Derry City and  Strabane District Council

A note from our sponsors…

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted once again to be a principal funder of the third City of Derry International Choral Festival. This festival has established Derry City as a world centre of excellence for choral singing, capable of attracting major choirs and leading choristers from across the globe.

The festival presents audiences with a wonderful opportunity to experience the very best of choral singing. It also creates important openings for local singers of all ages and abilities, from school and community choirs right up to national choirs, to develop and showcase their talents on the festival stage.

Providing inspiration and opportunity for an emerging generation of singers and musicians is the way to build continued success and to strengthen Derry’s richly deserved reputation as a City of Song. We wish all those taking part in the 2015 festival another tremendous success.

Ciaran Scullion

Head of Music Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The City Hotel is delighted to be on board as festival sponsor of the City of Derry International Choral Festival for the second year running.

The festival is one of the highlights on the city’s calendar and we are proud to be associated with such a successful event. Last year we welcomed an array of international visitors to our city and this year we hope to see even higher visitor numbers. We look forward to working with the organisers on yet another fabulous event.

Cooper Deputy General Manager, City Hotel Derry

The Derry Journal was delighted to have been approached by the organisers of the City of Derry International Choral Festival to become the media sponsors for this year’s event.

Now entering its third year, we have no doubt that the success achieved over the past two years will again be surpassed, given the quality and high profle of this special event.

Derry has always been recognised as the “City of Song”, with so many of our sons and daughters having performed at the highest level in the feld of entertainment.

The Derry Journal prides itself on regularly featuring the city’s many musical events that continue to attract signifcant attention throughout the North-West area.

Having fashioned a partnership with the International Choral Festival, we believe that we are associated with an organisation that breeds success and continues to serve our city so well as a perfect ambassador for musical achievement.

As the leading local newspaper, we are confdent that our readers will continue to support and, indeed, applaud the eforts of the City of Derry International Choral Festival over another fve magnifcent days of high-quality musical entertainment.

Marian Harkin Advertising Manager, Derry Journal

Rory

Introducing Ireland’s charmingly historic 17th Century Walled city. Immersed in culture, packed with personality and home to a diverse range of a ractions, rich heritage and a vibrant events calendar.

Named by Lonely Planet as a ‘Top 10 City in the World’ and winner of the inaugural ‘UK City of Culture 2013’ we guarantee a LegenDerry Experience Awaits… visit derry.com

Festival Programme Overview

Wednesday 21st – Sunday 25th October 2015

Wednesday 22nd October

Sing Joyfully! International Choral Symposium Opening Gala Concert with The King’s Singers

Thursday 23rd October

Primary school competitions and workshops Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra

Friday 24th October

Post-primary school competitions and workshops

Choral Trail Evening concert with Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir and Codetta

Saturday 25th October

National competitions for Equal Voice, Mixed Voice and Gospel Music Big Sing Workshop Choral Trail Community Concert International Competition

Sunday 26th October

Sacred Trail National competitions for Sacred Music, Vocal Ensemble and Youth Choir Choral Trail Community Concert Closing Gala Concert & Awards Ceremony

See inside back cover for more detail.

EVENING CONCERTS

An Evening with The King’s Singers

Wednesday 21st October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm Presented by John Toal, BBC

The third City of Derry International Choral Festival opens with a special Gala Concert by world-renowned vocal ensemble The King’s Singers. The group will present a lively and varied programme, ranging from Renaissance madrigals to Romantic partsongs, along with Gofredo Petrassi’s madcap setting of Edward Lear’s Nonsense Limericks. Other selections will come from two recent King’s Singers’ recordings: “Postcards”, featuring songs gathered by the singers on their trips around the world, and some of the great jazz standards from the “Great American Songbook”.

Programme

The King’s Singers

They have premiered more than 200 new works, including landmark compositions by Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, James MacMillan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Toru Takemitsu, John Tavener and Eric Whitacre, and commissioned thrilling arrangements of everything from jazz standards to pop chart hits.

The King’s Singers are double Grammy award-winning artists, honoured for their Signum Classics release, Simple Gifts, and again for their contribution to Eric Whitacre’s Light & Gold album on Decca. In 2013 they were chosen as one of only two vocal ensembles to enter the Gramophone Hall of Fame fortheir unique discography of over 175 albums.

Now is the month of maying

Thomas Morley Thule, the period of Cosmography

Thomas Weelkes Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone John Farmer Cruel, wilt thou persever?

Thomas Morley All creatures now are merry-minded John Bennett Quick, we have but a second

The Bluebird

The Goslings

Long Day Closes

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir John Frederic Bridge

Sir Arthur Sullivan

Nonsense Gofredo Petrassi

INTERVAL

Postcards

Great American Songbook

A selection of folk songs from around the world

A selection of songs from the Great American Songbook

Acclaimed for their life-afrming virtuosity and irresistible charm, The King’s Singers are in global demand. Their work – synonymous with the best in vocal ensemble performance – appeals to a vast international audience. They perform over 120 concerts each year, touring regularly to Europe, the United States, Asia and Australasia. The King’s Singers are admired for their musical excellence and recognised as consummate entertainers – a class act with a delightful sense of humour. Their generous spirit and magical ability to move audiences have remained constant since the group’s foundation in 1968.

In addition to their multi-continent concert, broadcast, workshop and recording career, the group also runs a residential Summer School in the UK and, through The King’s Singers Foundation, a composition competition in association with King’s College Chapel Cambridge and Classic FM.

David Hurley Countertenor

Timothy Wayne-Wright Countertenor

Julian Gregory Tenor

Christopher Bruerton Baritone Christopher Gabbitas Baritone

Jonathan Howard Bass

Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra

Thursday 22nd October, St. Columb’s Hall, 5pm & 7.30pm

Music by Brian Irvine, Words by John McIlduf, Animation by Matthew Robins

‘Everything you need to know you’ll fnd it in a song’

Nancy loves the noise of her neighbourhood – the trains, the planes, the televisions, the neighbours, the dogs barking… all of this flled her with life and energy. Most of all she loved her Dad singing… pop songs, love songs, opera arias, rock’n’roll… he sang all the time. Until one day he stopped.

Mum said that Dad was afraid of swallowing a bluebottle. Nancy was broken-hearted. So of she went on a rampaging mission to get rid of all the bluebottles, fies, wasps, mosquitos, daddy-long-legs – every type of fying insect must be exterminated. As Nancy struggles to change the world around her, she eventually realises that the most potent thing she can do is to change herself.

Bluebottle is a 50-minute whirlwind of music and creativity involving songs by a massive 300-piece children’s choir, orchestral fy-squashing, gripping narration, live animation and a musical climax of all forces together.

Text by John McIlduf, music by Brian Irvine in his trademark style; infuences from classical, jazz, rock and every other musical type, zany in

conception, captivating and gripping in performance, and full of unstoppable joie de vivre.

Bluebottle is a joyful avalanche of orchestra, animation, narration and 300 singing children – a roller-coasting rollicking ride that tells the uplifting story of one little girl’s quest to get her dad to sing again. Lying somewhere between the big orchestral worlds of Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, Wizard of Oz and Stravinsky, Bluebottle bursts at the seams with hope, adventure, celebration and big unapologetic tunes. Watch out for the mystic, wise and all-knowing hipster, Riche Golden, the menacing ballet of frefies, the Jobar Electronic Bug Zapper JB5000 and, of course, one particularly huge gooey, sucker-footed Bluebottle. Bring your musical fy swat and step inside Richie’s Fear and Phobia Extermination Emporium to stock up on happiness.”

Brian Irvine

Ulster Orchestra

Aoife Dufn Narrator

Niamh Lawlor Live Animation

Márta Cunningham Soloist

Brian Irvine Choir Conductor

Fergus Sheil Orchestra Conductor

City of Derry Junior Choir

Participating Schools

Altishane Primary School

Bunscoil Cholmcille

Broadbridge Primary School

Chapel Road Primary School

Cumber Claudy Primary School

Ebrington Primary School

Gaelscoil na Daroige

Gillygooley Primary School

Greenhaw Primary School

Groarty Integrated Primary School

Longtower Primary School

Lisnagelvin Primary School

Model Primary School

Mullabuoy Primary School

Rosemount Primary School

Sacred Heart Primary School

St. Anne’s Primary School

St. Colmcille’s Primary School

St. Eugene’s Primary School

St. John’s Primary School

St. Mary’s Primary School, Altinure

St. Oliver Plunkett Primary School

St. Patrick’s Primary School

St. Patrick’s Primary School, Castlederg

St. Patrick’s Primary School, Dunamanagh St. Therese’s Primary School

Steelstown Primary School

Brian Irvine, Composer and Choir Conductor

Brian was born in Belfast. His huge body of work refects an obsessive love of music creation in all its forms, and includes operas, orchestral works, flm scores and dance works. His music has been performed and commissioned by many international artists and organisations, and much of his output has involved close collaborations with diverse artists from a range of disciplines.

He was Associate Composer with the Ulster Orchestra from 2007 to 2011, and with his own ensemble he has toured extensively throughout the world, appearing at some of the world’s leading international music festivals/venues.

He has won a number of awards for his work including a British Composer Award for Opera, BBC Radio 3 Jazz Award, MCPS Joyce Dixey Award for Composition, Major Individual Artist Award (Arts Council of Northern Ireland) and Bass Ireland Award.

Along with John McIlduf, he is artistic director of the multi-discipline production company Dumbworld.

John McIlduff, Writer

John McIlduf is a writer, flmmaker and stage director from Belfast. He studied at L’École de Theatre Jacques Lecoq, Paris. He has made flms about fghting cows, pear trees and irresponsible parents, which have been screened in festivals from Tehran to Clermont Ferrand.

His debut feature flm, Behold the Lamb, was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011 and has garnered awards throughout the world. As a writer, he has worked on both opera and soap opera, most recently writing for the French television show Strictement Platonique  and for the opera Postcards from Dumbworld

His works for children include the libretto for Rain Falling Up and the upcoming A Peculiar Wintery Thing. Along with composer Brian Irvine, with whom he runs the creative production company Dumbworld, he was awarded the Artists Taking the Lead commission for Northern Ireland as part of the Cultural Olympiad celebrations for London 2012 for their project NEST.

Matthew Robins, Puppets and Animation

Matthew is an artist and musician from the UK. Combining live-animation, puppetry, music, short flms, made-up games and competitive craftwars, he tours regularly with his band,taking their show around the country, performing stories about animals, death,monsters, the ocean and love.

Matthew is now turning his live shows into a collection of short flms, and he has worked on animation commissions from The Barbican, Arts Admin, Opera North and Dumbworld/Northern Ireland Screen. Work for the National Theatre includes making shadow puppet sequences and, most recently, a series of papercut-out stop-motion animations for a new musical by Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson.

His most recent shows as puppetmaker and designer include work for Opera North and for the Unicorn Theatre, which won the Of West End award for Best Show for Young People. Matthew has just completed work on a commission from the Science Museum in London, making an installation for their new permanent gallery.

Fergus Shiel, Orchestra Conductor

Fergus Sheil is a conductor and producer of music and opera based in Ireland. He is Artistic Director of Wide Open Opera, Wide Open Music and Opera Theatre Company.

With Wide Open Opera, Fergus scored a notable triumph with Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the 2012 Dublin Theatre Festival, and he has since conducted the world première of Raymond Deane’s opera The Alma Fetish and the Irish première of John Adams’ Nixon in China. He has worked for numerous opera companies in a wide range of repertoire. He has also forged a strong relationship with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and conducted the Ulster Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and many other groups.

Strongly committed to youth music, Fergus is conductor of the Dublin Youth Orchestra and the Julianstown Youth Orchestra, which he founded in 2011. He has conducted the Irish and Australian Youth Orchestras, and undertaken youth opera projects for Welsh National Opera and the Belfast Festival.

Ulster Orchestra

For almost 50 years the Ulster Orchestra has been at the forefront of musical life in Northern Ireland. Founded in 1966, the Orchestra’s 63 full-time musicians form the region’s only professional symphony orchestra. In 2014 the Ulster Orchestra appointed Rafael Payare as its Chief Conductor.

The Orchestra gives around 40 evening and lunchtime concerts each season in its home, the Ulster Hall, and in the Belfast Waterfront. It performs for the BBC Radio 3 invitational concert series at the Ulster Hall and in front of tens of thousands on the Titanic Slipway for the BBC’s Proms in the Park celebrations each year. In 2015 it will give two performances as part of the Ulster Bank Belfast International Arts Festival. The Orchestra’s successful partnership with Northern Ireland Opera will see it perform Puccini’s Turandot with an international and Irish cast and 90-strong chorus in the Grand Opera House, Belfast in October/November 2015.

Learning and engagement is at the core of all that the Ulster Orchestra does, ranging from free concert tickets for children to the award-winning Move to the Music scheme that helps isolated elderly people in rural area access live orchestral music, and from cross-community projects in areas of social deprivation to workshops and education programmes in schools throughout the region.

Wishing

the City of Derry International Choral Festival every success from all at

Utopia & Reality | Codetta

Friday 23rd October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Presented by Mark Patterson, BBC

The Food of Love

International chamber choir Utopia & Reality join Derry chamber choir Codetta for the world première of three new works by composer Gary Carpenter set to the words of Shakespeare as part of the “Singing Shakespeare” project.

The second half of this concert will feature a programme by Utopia & Reality. Utopia & Reality is an international chamber choir established in 2011 by conductors Ragnar Rasmussen (Norway) and Urša Lah (Slovenia), who have brought together talented young singers from Norway, Slovenia, Serbia, Italy and Iceland to perform contemporary choral music. The aim of the choir is to perform at a high artistic level and to explore diferent ways of afecting audiences with their music.

Programme Alack! Gary Carpenter Cleopatra Gary Carpenter Sigh-Fie Gary Carpenter Suite de Lorca Einojuhani Rautavaara

- Canción de jinete

- El Grito - La luna asoma

- Malagueña

Alack!

From Love’s Labour’s Lost

On a day, alack the day! Love whose month is ever May. Spied a blossom passing fair Playing in the wanton air. Through the velvet leaves the wind, All unseen can passing fnd; That the lover sick to death, Wish himself the Heaven’s breath. Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow Air, would I might triumph so!

But, alack, my hand is sworn Ne’er to pluck thee from thy thorn,Vow, alack! For youth unmeet Youth so apt to pluck a sweet! Do not call it sin in me that I am forsworn for thee. Playing in the wanton Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow Air, would I might triumph so!

But, alack, my hand is sworn Ne’er to pluck thee from thy thorn, On a day!

Thou for whom Jove would swear Juno but an Ethiope were, And deny himself for Jove Turning mortal for thy love.

Cleopatra

From Antony and Cleopatra

The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burned on the water;

The poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfuméd, That the winds were lovesick with them.

The oars were silver, Which to the tune of futes kept stroke, And made the water which they beat to follow faster; As amorous of their strokes for her own person, It beggared all description. She did lie in her pavilion in cloth of gold tissue, O’er picturing that Venus, Where we see the fancy Outwork nature.

On each side her, Stood pretty little dimpled boys, smiling like Cupids, With divers coloured fans

Iz kamna v vodi

Lojze Lebič Ciudad sin sueño (Nocturno del Sarajevo) Einojuhani Rautavaara

Motion Ragnar Rasmussen

The Hope Ragnar Rasmussen

Whose wind did seem to glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool. The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burned on the water;

The poop was beaten gold; And what they undid. Purple the sails and so perfuméd.

The Fight Ragnar Rasmussen Call of the Wild Ragnar Rasmussen Wie ein Kind (1. Wiigen-Lied)

Per Nørgård

Sigh-Fie

From The Merry Wives of Windsor and Much Ado About Nothing

Fie on sinful fantasy!

Fie on lust and luxury!

Lust is but a bloody fre, Kindled with unchaste desire.

Fed in heart whose fames aspire, As thoughts do blow them higher and higher,Higher and higher!

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea and one on shore; To one thing constant, never.

Then sigh not so, But them go, And be you blithe and bonny; Converting all your sounds of woe into

Fie on sinful fantasy!

Fie on lust and luxury!

Lust is but a bloody fre, Kindled with unchaste desire.

Fed in heart whose fames aspire, As thoughts do blow them higher and higher, Higher and higher!

Sing no more of ditties, Sing no more of dumps so dull and heavy;The fraud of men were ever so Since Summer was so leavy. Then sigh not so, But them go, And be you blithe and bonny; Converting all your sounds of woe into -Pinch him!

Hey, Nonny! Sinful lust, Fantasy, luxury, unchaste desire. Burn him! Turn him! Starlight! Moonshine! Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea and one on shore; To one thing constant, never. Pinch him fairies mutually, Oh pinch him for his villainy! Pinch him and burn him, And turn him about, ’Til candles and starlight and moonshine be out.

Hey, Nonny, hey! Ah, sigh – Fie!

Singing Shakespeare Project

“Singing Shakespeare” is a large-scale project focusing on choral settings of Shakespeare to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has already commissioned a number of new works for “Singing Shakespeare”.

Gary Carpenter has written four books of Shakespeare Songs: the frst was premiered at the Stratford launch concert; the second was premiered by the National Youth Choir of Scotland in Edinburgh in April 2015; and the remaining books are being premiered at the City of Derry International Choral Festival in October 2015 and by the Northampton Male Voice Choir in March 2016.

In the next 18 months there will be concerts, festivals and workshops focusing on Shakespeare in many parts of the world: performances by professional, amateur, youth and college choirs at venues particularly associated with Shakespeare (such as The Globe Theatre, Southwark Cathedral in London and venues in Stratford-upon-Avon), but also performances by groups in countries as varied as the US, Ireland, China, Israel, Lithuania, Poland and South Africa.

The “Singing Shakespeare” website was launched in the summer of 2015, and includes a list of events, a repertoire list, photographs and details of commissions/ premières. It provides a contact point for choirs/conductors/composers and will also give choirs/festivals the chance to advertise their own events and upload flms of their performances (www.singingshakespeare.com).

Gary Carpenter

Gary studied composition at the RCM with John Lambert. He has lived in Holland and Germany, and has written operas, musicals, ballets, a radio music-drama (The One Alone with Iris Murdoch) and much concert music. The musical director and/or arrangerorchestrator on many stage shows and flms (including The Wicker Man [1972]), he received a 2006 British Composer Award (chamber category).

A portrait CD, Die Flimmerkiste, is available on NMC. Recent works include The Listening Project Symphony (Radio 4, Prix Europa 2013 nominee), Fred and Ginger (LSO, Daniel Harding), SET (Iain Ballamy (tenor sax), BBCPO, HK Gruber), The Food Of Love (12 Shakespeare songs commissioned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust) and Dadaville (BBCSO, Sakari Oramo) for The First Night of the Proms 2015.

Gary is Professor of Composition at the RNCM, Manchester and a professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (HonRAM) in 2013 and is a director of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

Utopia & Reality

The International Summer Academy “Utopia & Reality” is a project established in 2011 by two conductors, Ragnar Rasmussen from Norway and Urša Lah from Slovenia. They have brought together talented young singers from diferent countries to perform contemporary choral music.

The aim of the project is to perform at a high artistic level and to explore diferent ways of afecting audiences. Encouraged by their excellent singing companions, every young singer rapidly improves their singing ability, grows in the role of performer and develops an understanding of diferent nations through their singing traditions.

The project is aptly named “Utopia & Reality”: two very diverse ideas become interdependent through creative activity and through the human desire to change.

Is it utopia or reality to bring together talented young singers from diferent singing traditions and get them to sing advanced contemporary music at a high artistic level in just a few days? Is it utopia or reality to expect young people in today’s world to pay for their journey to become part of a project during which they will rehearse tirelessly? Is it utopia or reality to hope that these young ambassadors of their countries might teach their politicians to invest in culture in order to make our world a better place?

Urša Lah, Conductor

Urša Lah studied Musical Education at the Ljubljana Music Academy and Choral Conducting at the University of Tromsø (Norway).

With Mixed Youth Choir Veter, APZ Tone Tomšic University of Ljubljana and the National Radio Chamber Choir, she has been involved in many première performances, and won many frst prizes, golden plaques, special prizes and conducting awards at national and prestigious international choral competitions, including the Grand Prix of Europe (Debrecen, 2008).

In recognition of her valuable work with choirs, Urša received the highest award of the Municipality of Ljubljana for cultural achievement in 2008, and in 2009 the award of Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities. Urša now lives in Norway, where she conducts the Finnmark Opera Choir, the choir of the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra and the chamber vocal ensemble of the Tromsø Music Conservatory. She teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tromsø, is a lecturer in educational seminars for choral conductors, a frequent member of juries at international choral competitions, a guest conductor of recognised ensembles and one of two artistic leaders of the international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir.

Codetta

Codetta is an internationally acclaimed chamber choir based in Derry. It has given many notable performances both at home and abroad.

Highlights include trips to Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia, appearances at two Prom concerts in London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2013 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and two concerts in 2014 at the Sacred Music Festival in Cuenca, Spain, performing with Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland.

Nadene Fiorentini, Accompanist

Nadene Fiorentini, the National Concert Hall’s “Rising Star” of 2014, made her solo recital debut on the main stage of the NCH in March 2014 and her concerto debut with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in July of the same year, which featured on a live broadcast for Lyric FM.

In December 2014, she released her debut solo piano album entitled “Nadene Fiorentini, Piano Recital”. Nadene was the highest placed Irish competitor in the 2012 Dublin International Piano Competition, claiming the Brennan Prize, The National Concert Hall Prize, The RTÉ Prize, The Seán O’Connor Bursary and the McCullough Bursary.

As well as performing with the NSO, Nadene has appeared as soloist with the RIAM Symphony Orchestra, the Dublin Orchestral Players and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and in 2010 she was invited to record Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

She is currently in the fnal year of a Doctorate of Performance in Music course at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and was appointed as an examiner for the RIAM, where she is also a teaching fellow.

International Competition

Saturday 24th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Presented by Stephen McCauley, BBC

The International Competition will undoubtedly be the highlight of the City of Derry International Choral Festival, featuring 10 competitors from Belarus, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden, who will compete for the prestigious Oak Tree of Derry trophy, designed by international sculptor Maurice Harron.

Programme

Vokalconsort Osnabrück, Germany

1. Haec Dies, William Byrd

2. Du best taller Dinge schon, Melchior Franck

3. Ich had die Nacht getraumet, Max Reger

4. Gloria, Greg Knauf

Polifonica, Belarus

1. El Grillo, Josquin des Pres

2. Angelis suis Deus, Vytautas Miskinis

3. Sodai, sodai, leliumoi, G. Svilainis

4. Karavai, A. Litvinovsky

Härlanda Voces, Sweden

1. Trilo, Ale Möller

2. Gjendines Bådnlåt, Gunnar Eriksson

3. The Tyger, Emil Råberg

4. Pingst, Oskar Lindberg

5. Exultate Justi, Ludovici Viadana

Academic Choir of Carinthia Mohorjan, Slovenia

1. Unsere Trübsal, Johann Ludwig Bach

2. Denn Er hat seinen Engeln befohlen, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 3. Peace I leave with you, Knut Nystedt 4. Riba Faronika nosi svet, Nana Forte

Choros Amici, England

1. Daemon irrepit callidus, Gyorgy Orban

2. Hear My Prayer, O Lord, Henry Purcell

3. The Conversion of Saul, Z Randall Stroope 4. Richte mich Gott, Felix Mendelssohn

5. The Way You Look Tonight, Jerome Kern, arr. Alan Simmons

INTERVAL

Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

1. Hear My Prayer, O Lord, Henry Purcell 2. O Vos Omnes, Szymon Godziemba-Trytek 3. Ave Maris Stella, Trond Kverno 4. Daemon Irrepit Callidus, Gyorgy Orban

Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus

1. Cantate Dominum, Claudio Monteverdi 2. Rivers of Light, Ēriks Ešenvalds 3. Goscik (Guest), Andrey Sauritski

Vox Iuvenalis, Czech Republic

1. Ne forte credas, Antonin Tucapsky 2. Ascendit Deus, Peter Philips 3. Lydia, dic per omnes, Jan Novak 4. Milostny, Klement Slavicky 5. Vinea mea electa, Francis Poulenc

Voci Nuove, Ireland

1. Bagairt na Marbh, Michael Holohan 2. Dixit Maria, Hans Leo Hassler 3. Letztes Glück, Op. 104, No. 3, Johannes Brahms 4. Advance Democracy, Benjamin Britten

Saint Nicholas Choir Litija, Slovenia

1. Musica noster amor (Moralia 28), Iacobus Handl Gallus 2. Richte mich, Gott, Psalm XLIII (Drei Psalmen op. 78, No. 2), Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 3. The Conversion of Saul, Z. Randall Stroope 4. Sing joyfully to God our strength, Ambrož Čopi (2015, world première)

Join us at our Resonance Bar Festival Club, St. Columb’s Hall Ballroom immediately after this concert for a drink and some impromptu singing!

Closing Gala Concert

Sunday 25th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Presented by Marie-Louise Muir, BBC

The Closing Gala Concert will provide a celebratory end to the third edition of the City of Derry International Choral Festival. The International Competition winner will be announced and awarded the Oak Tree of Derry trophy, designed by Maurice Harron, and the competitors of the prestigious International Competition will each perform a celebratory programme of music.

Programme

Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

1. I denna ljuva sommartid, Bengt Ollén

2. Na glinianym wazoniku, Stanisław Wiechowicz

Academic Choir of Carinthia Mohorjan, Slovenia

1. Petelinček Je Zapieu, Slovenian folk song, arr. Hilarij Lavreni

2. Igraj Kolce, Slovenian folk song, arr. Jakob Jež

Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus

1. Gukannie viasny (Calling the spring), Anastasiya Benderskaya

1. Ci nie bystraya rechka (By the running river), Andrey Sauritski

Saint Nicholas Choir Litiija, Slovenia

1. Bog daj, Bog daj, Slovenian folk song, choral improvisation

2. Petelinček je zapieu (The Rooster sang), Slovenian folk song, arr. Hilarij Lavreni

Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

1. Words, Anders Edenroth

2. Sauka and Gryshka, Andrei Savritski

Voci Nuove, Ireland

1. The Wishing Tree, Joby Talbot

2. Kalinda, Sydney Guillaume

INTERVAL

Vokalconsort Osnabrück, Germany

1. Tanz, Mädchen, tanz!, Joh. H. E. Koch

2. Fatise kolo, Ivan Markovitch

Härlanda Voces, Sweden

1. Butterfy, Mia Makarof

2. Shosholoza, Traditional South African

Choros Amici, England

1. I Get Along Without You Very Well, Hoagy Carmichael, arr. Chris Mallinson

2. The Battle of Jericho, Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan

Vox Iuvenalis, Czech Republic

1. Lydia, Jan Novák

2. Tancuj, tancuj, Czech Folk Song

Closing ceremony of the festival and award of the Oak Tree of Derry International Trophy to the winning choir of the 2015 International Competition.

Maurice Harron, Artist and Sculptor

Maurice Harron was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. After studying at the Ulster College of Art & Design, he taught at schools in Belfast and Derry, and in 1983 began working as a painter and sculptor.

For the last 18 years he has worked to address issues of belief, ethnicity and political tension through his sculpture. Working in public locations, he has made works that explore themes connected to social, historical and cultural identity.

In creating the Oak Tree of Derry trophy, Maurice has taken the oak tree of Derry as a symbol, with the many strands of roots coming together to form a canopy. The trophy stands on a stainless steel base with many thin rods of stainless steel emerging from the ground to entwine around it and join together in a vertical column. Those at the centre climb to the highest point, while the outer group forms the lower branches. The canopy is made from bronze plate using a design based on the ancient La Tene (Celtic) abstract patterns.

Maurice says: “Choral art is the result of many varied and diverse talents coming together to create something amazing. Ordinary people blend voices in harmonies to create extraordinary works.”

Join us at the Closing Night Festival Club, City Hotel immediately after this concert for a drink and some impromptu singing!

Resonance Bar Festival Club

Following an exciting evening of choral music-making, why not join us in the beautiful surroundings of the Resonance Bar Festival Club, located on the ground foor of St. Columb’s Hall via the Orchard Street entrance?

It’s the perfect way to meet new friends or renew old acquaintances, chat about what you’ve just heard in the main hall, or sit back and enjoy impromptu performances. You might even be inspired to join in the singing!

Wednesday 21st October, 9.30pm

Thursday 22nd October, 8.30pm

Friday 23rd October, 10pm

Saturday 24th October, 10.30pm

Sunday 25th October, City Hotel, 10.30pm

NB. Please note that the Closing Night Festival Club will take p lace in the City Hotel.

City Hotel

The 4* City Hotel is set in the heart of the City of Londonderry on the banks of the River Foyle. The hotel is 5 minutes walk from the famous historic Walled City which boasts excellent high street shopping and tourist attractions such as the Tower Museum and the Guildhall. The City Hotel also is the perfect place to base yourself for a few days whilst exploring other areas of North West Ireland such as Donegal & Causeway Coast.

• Four star hotel complete with 158 bedrooms • Conferencing facilities for up to 450 delegates • Thompson’s Restaurant for excellent cuisine in the heart of the City

cityhotelderry.com

COMPETITIONS

Primary School Sessions

Thursday 22nd October

St. Columb’s Hall, 10am – 12.30pm

Big Sing Workshop with The King’s Singers, 10am

Primary Unison Competition

Castledawson Primary School, Magherafelt (non-competitive performance)

1. All Night, All Day/Jesus Loves Me Medley, Anna Barlett Warner

2. Do-Re-Mi, Richard Rodgers

Gaelscoil na gCrann, Omagh

1. Sister Act Medley, Alan Menken/Glenn Slater, arr. Brian McDevitt

2. Isle of Hope, Brendan Graham

Lisnagelvin Primary School, Derry

1. Castle on a Cloud, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Herbert Kretzmer

2. A Windmill in Amsterdam, Ted Dicks and Myles Rudge

Holy Family Primary School, Omagh

1. Colours of the Wind, Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken

2. Friend Like Me, Howard Ashman/ Alan Menken, arr. Bryan Louiselle

Primary Partsong Competition

Ebrington Primary School, Derry

1. Beauty and the Beast, Howard Ashman/Alan Menken, arr. MacHuf

2. Chattanooga Choo Choo, arr. Pete Schmutte

St. Colmcille’s Primary School, Claudy

1. My Favourite Things, Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers

2. True Colours, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly

Holy Family Primary School, Omagh

1. Beauty and the Beast, Howard Ashman/ Alan Menken, arr. MacHuf

2. Jubilate Deo, Jay Althouse

Nazareth House Primary School, Derry

1. Somewhere Out There, James Horner

2. Happy, Pharrell Williams, arr. Rick Hein

Chamber

Choir of the Feliks

Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland (guest performance)

1. Hear my prayer, O Lord, H. Purcell

2. Ave Maris Stella, T. Kverno

Primary adjudications will take place after the Partsong Competition.

Post-Primary Sessions

Friday 23rd October

St. Columb’s Hall, 10am – 2pm

Big Sing Workshop with Bernie Sherlock, 10am

Post-Primary Unison/2-Part Competition

Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus (guest performance)

1. Ci nie bystraya rechka (By the running river), Belarusian folk song, arr. Andrey Sauritski

2. Sauka dy Gryshka ladzili dudu (Sauka and Gryshka fashioned a tune), Belarusian folk song, arr. Andrey Sauritski

Thornhill College, Derry

1. Steal Away, Harry Dexter

2. Mr Sandman, Pat Ballard

The Motley Crew, Perth High School, Scotland

1. A Courting, Sheena Phillips

2. Singin’ in the Rain, Brown arr Kinahan

St. Mary’s College, Derry

1. Cabaret, Kander, arr. Kirby Shaw

2. Remember Me, Bob Chilcott

Knockavoe School, Strabane (non-competitive performance)

1. Something Inside So Strong, Labi Sifre

2. Oliver! Choral Medley, Lionel Bart, arr. Barrie Carson Turner

Post-Primary 3/4-Part Competition

Härlanda Voces, Sweden (guest performance) 1. Pingst, Oskar Lindberg 2. The Tyger, Emil Råberg

Thornhill College, Derry 1. The Seal Lullaby, Eric Whitacre 2. De Angelis, Petr Eben

Mulroy College, Donegal 1. Alleluia, William Boycre, arr. Robinson 2. Just Give Me a Reason, Pink & Nate Ruess, arr. Mark Brymer

Loreto Grammar School, Omagh 1. The Frog in the Well, Phyllis Tate 2. O Waly Waly, John C. Philips

Lumen Christi College, Derry 1. The Bluebird, Charles Villiers Stanford

How High is the Moon, Steve Zegree

St. Mary’s College, Derry 1. Adiemus, Karl Jenkins 2. Dúlamán, Michael McGlynn

Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle 1. Love Divine, Howard Goodall 2. This Old Man, arr. James Fulleylove

Holy Child Secondary School, Killiney, Dublin 1. The Snow Begins to Fall, Andy Beck 2. Hotaru Koi, Ro Ogura

St. Nicholas Choir Litija, Slovenia (guest performance)

1. Bog daj, Bog daj, Slovenian folk song, choral improvisation 2. The Conversion of Saul, Z. Randall Stroope

Post-primary adjudications will take place immediately after the guest performance.

National Equal Voice Competitions

Saturday

24th

October St. Columb’s Hall, 11am

Female Voice

The Musical Originals Singers, Jersey 1. Orpheus, Dominic Argento 2. Bobby Shaftoe, Traditional, arr. Robert Latham Allegri, Derry 1. Shenandoah, Traditional, arr. Mack Wilberg 2. Blackbird, Lennon & McCartney, arr. Deke Sharon

Lynn Singers, Westmeath 1. Ave Maria (Angelus Domini), Franz Biebl 2. Las Amarillas, Stephen Hatfeld

Male Voice

Rosemount Male Voice Choir, Derry 1. And So It Goes, Billy Joel, arr. Kirby Shaw 2. Do You Hear The People Sing, Schönberg and Boubil

Vokalconsort Osnabrück, Germany (guest performance) 1. Verleih uns Frieden, Heinrich Schütz 2. Es gulu gulu, Arijs Skepasts

The Equal Voice adjudications will take place immediately after the Male Voice Competition.

National Mixed Voice Competition

Saturday 24th October

St. Columb’s Hall, 1.30pm

Cantamus Choir, Derry

1. O-Re-Mi (Nigerian Highlife Song), arr. Mike Brewer

2. Defying Gravity, Stephen Schwartz, arr. Roger Emerson

Quire, Belfast

1. Adiemus, Enya/Starfnger

2. Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen/ Roger Emerson

Strabane Chamber Choir,

Cork Chamber Choir, Cork

1. Ah! Dolente partita, Claudio Monteverdi

2. Dejadme a ras del mar, Dante Andreo

Cór Mhaigh Eo, Mayo

1. Si ch’io vorrei morire, Claudio Monteverdi

2. In Memoriam from the Vauday Part Songs, Patrick Hawes

National Gospel Music Competition

Saturday 25th October

St. Columb’s Hall, 3.15pm

The Motley Crew, Scotland

1. Rock My Soul, Traditional, arr. Barthelson, arr. Kinahan 2. Sinner Man, Traditional, arr Eddleman, arr Kinahan

North Dublin Community Gospel Choir, Dublin

1. Steal Away, Mark De Lisser 2. Higher and Higher, Mark De Lisser

Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus (guest performance)

1. Words, Anders Edenroth

2. Sauka and Gryshka, Andrei Savritski

Strabane

1. Two For the Price of One, Traditional, arr. Andrew Carter

2. Sleep, Eric Whitacre

Cill Aodáin Choral Society, Mayo

1. Turkish March for Voices, Wolfgang A. Mozart, arr. Greg Gilpin

2. Ave Maria, Bach-Gounod, arr. Henry Geehl

The

Moy Singers, Mayo

1. And So It Goes, Billy Joel 2. Óró ‘s é do Bheatha ‘Bhaile, Deirdre Moynihan

UCD Choral Scholars, Dublin

1. Du bist der Herr, unser Gott from ‘Vier geistliche Gesänge’, Wolfram Buchenberg 2. There is no rose, Eric Sweeney

Big Sing Workshop

with Julian Wilkins, 4pm

The adjudication of the National Mixed Voice and Gospel Music competitions will take place immediately after the Big Sing Workshop.

National Sacred Music Competition

Sunday 25th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 1pm

Cór Mhaigh Eo, Mayo

1. Almighty and Everlasting God, Orlando Gibbons

2. Crucem tuam adoramus, Domine, Pawel Lukaszewski

Cork Chamber Choir, Cork

1. Christus factus est, Felice Anerio

2. Salve Regina, Francis Poulenc

UCD Choral Scholars, Dublin

1. Ich bin ein rechter Weinstock

SWV 389, Heinrich Schütz

2. Jesu dulcis memoria, Pierre Villette

Strabane Chamber Choir, Strabane

1. Be Thou My Vision, John Rutter

2. Lux Arumque, Eric Whitacre

The Musical Originals Singers, Jersey

1. Ave Maria, Milosz Bembinow

2. Lauda Sion, György Orbán

National Vocal Ensemble Competition

Sunday 25th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 2pm

YouFour, Dublin

1. I Shall Keep Singing, Emily Dickinson/Philip E. Silvey

2. Now My Heart, Jacques Arcadelt/ Patrick M. Liebergen

Ardú

Vocal Ensemble, Dublin

1. Libertango, Astor Piazolla, arr. Fabio Alessi

2. Mack the Knife, Kurt Weill and Marc Blitszein, arr. Fabio Alessi

National Youth Choir Competition

Sunday 25th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 2.30pm

City of Derry Junior Choir, Derry

1. Can You Hear Me?, Bob Chilcott

2. Cat, Miklós Kocsár

Lynn Singers, Westmeath

1. O Salutaris Hostia, André Caplet

2. Puttin’ on the Ritz, Irving Berlin, arr. Kirby Shaw

The Musical Originals Singers, Jersey

1. Chinese Poem, Chen Yi

2. Prayer of the Children, Kurt Bestor

St. Mary’s College Alumni Choir, Derry

1. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, arr. Mark Brymer

2. Dúlamán, Michael McGlynn

The Motley Crew, Scotland

1. Wayfarin’ Stranger, Traditional, arr. Gilpin, arr. Kinahan

2. The Herrin’s Heid, Traditional, arr. Kinahan

City of Derry Youth Girls’ Choir, Derry

1. Jubilate Deo, Lee R. Kesselman

2. Lift Thine Eyes, Mendelssohn

Jewel

Tones, England

1. Astonishing, Howard, arr. Brymer

2. I Know An Old Woman, Alan Mills and Rose Bonne

The adjudication of the National Sacred Music, Vocal Ensemble and Youth Choir competitions will take place at the end of the afternoon session.

Special Awards

The festival is delighted to announce the introduction of three new special awards and is grateful to the generosity of Matchetts Music, Foyleside Shopping Centre and the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland for their part in making this possible. All three awards will be announced as part of the awards ceremony at the Closing Gala Concert on Sunday 25th October.

Matchetts

Music Award for Best School Choir

Foyleside Shopping Centre Award for Best National Choir

Choros

Amici, England (guest performance)

1. Deus qui illumines, Dominguez

2. Soul Bossa Nova, arr. L’Estrange

Contemporary Music Centre award for best performance of a piece by an Irish composer, as listed in the CMC Library.

WORKSHOPS & SYMPOSIUM

Sing Joyfully!

International Choral Symposium

Wednesday 21st October, Great Hall (UU Magee)

A one-day symposium bringing together a distinguished panel of international conductors and composers to lead open rehearsals, a practical conducting workshop and panel discussions on the Irish choral music scene.

Led by Bob Chilcott, Ragnar Rasmussen and the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland.

9.30am: Registration.

10am: Session 1 Equal Voice Repertoire by Bob Chilcott. Open rehearsal of Chilcott’s equal voice repertoire with the City of Derry Junior Choir

10.50am: Tea/Cofee.

11.15am: Session 2 20th & 21st Century Choral Music by Irish Composers, Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland. This will focus on choral music by three diferent generations of Irish composers from the 1950s to the present day. Concentrating on a capella work and providing an historical context, a variety of styles will be discussed from the most straightforward to the most adventurous.

12pm: Session 3 Mixed Voice Repertoire by Bob Chilcott.

Open rehearsal of Chilcott’s SATB repertoire with Utopia & Reality International Chamber Choir

1.15pm: Lunch.

2pm: Session 4 Conductors’ Workshop led by Professor Ragnar Rasmussen. A practical workshop inviting aspiring choral conductors to work with guest demonstration choir Utopia & Reality to develop their conducting skills under the guidance of Ragnar Rasmussen, Professor of Conducting at the University of Tromsø , Norway.

4pm: Closing Comments.

Bob Chilcott

Described by the Observer newspaper as “a contemporary hero of British choral music”, Bob Chilcott has always been immersed in the choral tradition of his country. He sang as a chorister and choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and after singing professionally in London and as a member of the King’s Singers for 12 years, he became a full-time composer in 1997.

It was perhaps through his many works for young singers that he frst came to prominence as a composer, prompting some large-scale performances of his pieces. He has written a number of substantial sacred works including Salisbury Vespers (2009), St John Passion (2013) for Wells Cathedral Choir and his Requiem (2010), which has now been performed in over 16 countries. In 2013 he wrote The King shall rejoice for the service at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Over the past 18 years Bob has worked with many thousands of singers in Britain through a continuing series of Singing Days throughout the country. Between 1997 and 2004 he was conductor of the choir of The Royal College of Music in London and since 2002 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers.

Big Sing Workshops, St. Columb’s Hall

A series of entertaining, fun workshops exploring the building blocks of successful choral singing, led by inspiring performers from the festival programme.

Big Sing Workshop (primary schools)

The King’s Singers

Thursday 22nd October, 10am

Big Sing Workshop (post-primary schools)

Bernie Sherlock

Friday 23rd October, 10am

Big Sing Workshop (open to all)

Julian Wilkins

Saturday 24th October, 4pm

TRAILS & COMMUNITY EVENTS

Choral Trails

Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th October,

Various Locations

The City of Derry will come alive with pop-up performances in various locations throughout the choral festival weekend.

Friday 23rd October

Venue Time Choir

Ardnashee School and College

9.30am – 9.50am Doire Calgach Singers, Derry

Glenview Community Centre 12pm – 12.20pm Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

Foyle Disability Day Centre 1pm – 1.20pm The Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

Richmond Centre 1pm – 1.20pm U3A Singing for Fun, Derry

Central Library 2pm – 2.20pm Pink Ladies, Derry

Foyleside Shopping Centre 3pm – 3.20pm The Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

Asda, Strabane 3.30pm – 3.50pm Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

Richmond Centre 4pm – 4.20pm St. Nicholas Choir Litija, Slovenia

City Hotel 5pm – 5.20pm Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus

St. Joseph’s Parish Centre Bingo Hall, Galliagh

St. Joseph’s Parish Centre Bingo Hall, Galliagh

8.30pm – 8.50pm Momentum, Derry

Saturday 24th October

Venue Time Choir

Foyle Arena 11am – 11.20am Jewel Tones, England

City Hotel 12pm – 12.20pm Cork Chamber Choir, Cork

City Hotel 12.30pm – 12.50pm Big Belfast Choir, Belfast

Quayside Shopping Centre 1pm – 1.20pm Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

Central Library 1.30pm – 1.50pm The Motley Crew, Scotland

Maldron Hotel 2pm – 2.20pm Newtown Park Gospel Choir, Dublin

The Sandwich Co. 2.30pm – 2.50pm Ardú Vocal Ensemble, Dublin

Abbey House 3pm – 3.20pm Doire Calgach Singers, Derry

Craft Village 3pm – 3.20pm Quire, Belfast

Craft Village 3.30pm – 3.50pm Glórtha an Fheabhail, Derry

Richmond Centre 4pm – 4.20pm Härlanda Voces, Sweden

Sainsbury’s 4pm – 4.20pm Encore Contemporary Choir, Derry

Foyleside Shopping Centre 4.30pm – 4.50pm Ardú Vocal Ensemble, Dublin

City Hotel 6pm – 6.20pm Ardú Vocal Ensemble, Dublin

Sunday 25th October

Venue Time Choir

City Hotel 1pm – 1.20pm Jewel Tones, England

City Hotel 1.30pm – 1.50pm Choros Amici, England

Foyleside Shopping Centre 2.30pm – 2.50pm Voci Nuove, Ireland

The Sandwich Co. 3pm – 3.20pm YouFour, Dublin

8.30pm – 8.50pm Momentum, Derry

Foyleside SC 4.30pm – 4.50pm Newtown Park Gospel Choir, Dublin

Foyleside SC 4.30pm – 4.50pm Newtown Park Gospel Choir, Dublin

Sacred Trail

Sunday 25th October, various churches throughout the city, 10.30am – 1.30pm

Church Service Choir

Immaculate Conception Church, Trench Road

10.30am Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus

St. Columb’s Cathedral 11am St Nicholas Choir Litija, Slovenia Christ Church 11am Ardú Vocal Ensemble St. Joseph’s Church, Galliagh 11am The Motley Crew, Perth High School, Scotland

All Saints Clooney 11am Vokalconsort Osnabrück, Germany

First Derry Presbyterian 11.30am Härlanda Voces, Sweden Kilfennan Presbyterian Church 11.30am Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

St. Columba’s Church, Longtower 12pm Hollybush Primary School, Derry

St. Eugene’s Cathedral 12.30pm The Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

Community Concerts

FREE ENTRY The Gasyard Centre

Saturday 24th October, 12.30pm

This special event combining a choral concert and tea dance is delivered in partnership with the team at the Gasyard Centre. Three choirs will perform at the event, including local group Momentum, the Lisburn Harmony Ladies Choir and Salutaris Chamber Choir from Belarus, with additional music from Eddie Breslin. Includes complimentary refreshments and a Halloween theme.

“Songs in the Park” at St. Columb’s Park House

Sunday 25th October, 1pm

The festival’s community programme will return to the tranquil setting of St. Columb’s Park House for a second year, with new local choir Glórtha an Fheabhail (Voices of the Foyle), Newtown Park Gospel Choir from Dublin and Vox Iuvenalis from the Czech Republic. Lunch and refreshments available at the Café in the Park.

Kickstart Your Choir Project

With the support of Derry City and Strabane District Council and the Big Lottery Fund, the Choral Festival has been working with two of the city’s local community choirs to pilot ways of building capacity and developing musical skills in community singing groups. Siobhan Heaney, Conductor of Momentum, and Ruth McPhillips of new choir Glórtha an Fheabhail (Voices of the Foyle) have been working intensively with individual choir members and will showcase their new skills at community concerts and Choral Trail events in this year’s festival.

Utopia & Reality International Chamber Choir

NI Tour, 19th – 23rd October

One of Europe’s most talented young chamber choirs and our guest artists for 2015, Utopia & Reality takes the Choral Festival on the road with a tour of Northern Ireland leading up to the festival.

Running from Monday 19th October to Friday 23rd October, the tour takes the choir’s exuberant and virtuoso performances of contemporary work to The Alley Theatre, Strabane, St. Michael’s Parish, Enniskillen and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, before fnishing with a fnal performance on the Festival’s main stage, St. Columb’s Hall, Derry.

“Absolutely incredible performers, breathtaking atmosphere.”

Audience feedback, Utopia & Reality Concert, Derry October 2014

Supported by Arts Council Northern Ireland NI Music Touring Programme.

Tour Information

Monday 19th October

The Alley Theatre, Strabane, 8pm

*With Strabane Concert Brass Band

Tuesday 20th October

St. Michael’s Parish, Enniskillen, 7.30pm

Thursday 22nd October

St. Patrick’s RC Cathedral, Armagh, 7.30pm

Friday 23rd October

St. Columb’s Hall, Derry, 7.30pm

*With Codetta Chamber Choir

Adjudicators

Gabriella Thész Hungary

Ragnar Rasmussen

Norway (Chairman of the Adjudication Panel)

Ragnar Rasmussen is Full Professor of Choir Conducting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tromsø, Norway and artistic director/ conductor of the Mimas Chamber Choir and the Arctic World Ensemble. Together with Urša Lah he directs the international chamber choir Utopia & Reality. He was conductor of the Norwegian National Youth Choir in 2008-10, the World Youth Choir in 2010 and the Catalan Youth Choir in 2014.

He works frequently with professional choirs and orchestras, and gives masterclasses for choral conductors throughout Europe and other parts of the world. As a composer, he has written several a cappella works, vocal/ instrumental works and an opera.

Ragnar has been awarded numerous awards in Norway and abroad. In 2008 he was awarded both the “Northern Light Prize” and the “Honorary Prize of the Town of Tromsø” for his extraordinary artistic achievements, his contribution to artistic enjoyment among his fellow citizens, and his contributions to positive profling of his home town in Norway and abroad. In December 2009 the Norwegian Choral Association awarded him the “Norwegian Choir Prize” for his dedicated work at all levels in his homeland’s choral life.

Gabriella Thész is a graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary and has degrees in music education and choral conducting. From 1992 to 2012 she lectured in choral conducting at the Teacher Training Institute of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. For 27 years Gabriella was conductor of the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir and from 1995 to 2012 she was the artistic director of the ensemble. She has made numerous CDs and recordings for radio broadcast, and has toured both home and abroad including almost every country in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the US.

As the director of the Children’s Choir she gave several premières of contemporary pieces and worked with distinguished composers including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni, Niccoló Castiglioni and Philip Glass, and conductors such as Paul Sacher, Jefrey Tate, Semyon Bychkov, Georg Solti, Adam Fischer and Ivan Fischer.

With her ensemble she has participated in outstanding European music festivals such as Salzburger Festspiele, Milano Musica, Wien Modern, Flemish Festival and Biennale of Venice. Gabriella is a regular guest professor, lecturer and adjudicator in Hungary and throughout Europe, the US, Japan, Australia and Canada.

Josep Vila i Casañas Spain

One of the best-known choral conductors in Catalonia and Spain, Josep Vila i Casañas has since 1998 been the director of the Orfeó Català, based in the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona. He was recently appointed director of the Cor de Cambra del Palau, an ensemble of professional voices set up by the Orfeó itself in 1991. Alongside his artistic work, he has taught choral conducting at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya since 2005.

He was the founder and director of the Lieder Càmera choir of Sabadell for 16 years, enabling him to build up an extensive body of recorded work. Josep has also conducted the Coro Nacional de España, Orfeón Donostiarra, the choir of the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest, the Orquesta de Radiotelevisión Española, the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga.

In the feld of composing, he has created an extensive catalogue of works for choirs of all kinds, including works with chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestras. As a teacher specialising in choral conducting, he often gives courses and masterclasses in diferent cities, including Barcelona, Palma, Lleida, Murcia, Ljubljana, Budapest, Caracas, Puerto Madryn and Mendoza (Argentina).

Julian Wilkins England

Julian Wilkins is an inspiring conductor, organist and pianist who works throughout the UK and overseas with prestigious musical organisations, including the CBSO and Choruses, Hallé Choir, Brandenburg Sinfonia and Baroque Soloists, BBC Proms Youth Choir and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Julian has performed in many of the world’s cathedrals and leading concert venues as conductor, soloist and accompanist. He is Music Director of Cambridge Chorale, the CBSO Youth Chorus and the University of Birmingham Chorus. He is also the Associate Conductor of the CBSO Chorus.

A respected teacher, mentor and choral consultant, Julian teaches Choral Conducting at the University of Birmingham, is a member of the teaching panel for the ABCD National Conducting Courses, and is Vocal Coach and Guest Conductor for the City of Birmingham Choir, directed by Adrian Lucas. He has co-directed the Art of Choral Direction course at Sherborne Summer School of Music and the Sintra International Singing and Choral Conducting Course in Portugal. Julian has also adjudicated for the BBC Young Musician competition, the National Eisteddfod of Wales and a number of regional music competitions and festivals.

Bernie Sherlock Ireland

Bernie Sherlock has a BA in music from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in performance from NUI Maynooth. She studied choral conducting for two years with Peter Erdei and Ildikó Herboly Kocsár in Hungary, followed by orchestral conducting with Gerhard Markson in Dublin.

Her award-winning chamber choir, New Dublin Voices, is known for its innovative concert programming and its work in television, radio and recording. It is also a consistent prize-winner at major competitions throughout

Europe, including the Grand Prix at the 2009 Budapest International Choir Competition, all six prizes at the 2011 International Choir Contest of FlandersMaasmechelen (Belgium), the Grand Prix at the 2013 Concorso Polifonico Internazionale “Guido d’Arezzo” and the Fleischmann International Trophy at the 2015 Cork International Choral Festival.

Bernie is Musical Director of the eminent Culwick Choral Society and she is a Music Lecturer at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. She has an international profle as an adjudicator, choral animateur, and teacher of conducting and aural training, giving workshops in a wide variety of subjects.

Bernie is Artistic Director of the annual AOIC International Conducting Summer School and founded the Kodály Society of Ireland in 1993. She is also the Irish representative on the World Choir Council.

Mayo Sings in May!

Both competing and non-competing choirs are invited to sing in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in very scenic Mayo.

One hour flight time from many UK airports to Ireland West International Airtport Knock in Mayo. Direct rail link from Dublin.

Competitions with well renowned adjudicators Fantastic venues - some modern, some quaint and some quirky!.

International Choir entry before 31st December 2015. Choirs from Ireland entry before January 31st, 2016. www.mayochoral.com facebook/mayochoral

International Choirs

Academic Choir of Carinthia Mohorjan, Slovenia

Conductor: Helena Buhvald Gorensek

The Academic Choir of Carinthia Mohorjan comes from Prevalje and consists of around 40 singers, mostly university and secondary school students from the Carinthia region. During its frst six years the choir was conducted by Majan Berložnik, with Helena Buhvald Gorenšek taking over in 2005. The main focus of the choir is to perform choral music from various periods and countries, with special focus on Slovenian (and Carinthian) folk music.

The choir has won a number of national and international choral awards. At the 2012 Maribor International Choral Competition it won a silver medal in the national competition and the award for best frst-time competitor. In April 2014 the choir also won a gold medal at the same competition. In 2012, the choir took part in its frst international competition, “Slovakia Cantat” in Bratislava, where it won a gold medal and third place in the adult mixed choir category. It also won a gold medal at the international competition in Rimini, Italy in September 2013.

The choir regularly gives concerts in Slovenia and abroad, performing works by Slovenian and foreign composers. However, its main focus is to preserve the love of quality singing among young Carinthians.

Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Poland

Conductor: Janusz Stanecki

The Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music was set up in 1986, when students from various musical felds who wished to sing choral music were brought together by conductor Janusz Stanecki. Janusz has a degree in Choral Conducting and Music Education from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music and is an accomplished accordion player. He is currently the Deputy Dean of the Academy’s Faculty of Conducting, Jazz and Music Education.

Today the choir works with a number of orchestras, and its repertoire features Polish and other European music from the Middle Ages through to the present day. The choir has toured extensively and has frequently been awarded prizes in various competitions. In 2007 it won the Peace Trophy at the 53rd Cork International Choral Festival, and it took 2nd prize in the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition at Cork in 2015. It won gold and silver medals at the International Choir Contest of Sacred Music in Preveza, Greece in 2009 and fve medals in the “Singing World” International Competition in St. Petersburg in 2012.

Choros Amici, England

Conductor: Chris Mallinson

Since its frst meeting in 1992, Choros Amici (the ‘choir of friends’) has always been a very special and individual choir. The singers, all friends of the musical director, Chris Mallinson, come from all over England and meet for occasional rehearsal weekends to work hard, laugh hard and play hard.

Founder and Musical Director Chris Mallinson has worked with a number of highly regarded choirs and is a soughtafter choral trainer for groups of many styles, from chamber ensembles to quartets and barbershop choruses. Alongside his passion for inspiring and improving choirs of all types, Chris has trained new and experienced choral directors for Sing for Pleasure, the British Federation of Young Choirs and the British Association of Barbershop Singing.

The choir has won many competitions, including the Grand Prix and Mixed Voice Choir awards at the Isle of Man International Festival 2013. It was runner-up at the Choir of the World competition in Llangollen in July 2011 and it won the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition in Cork in 2005.

Choros Amici has built an international reputation in its 20odd years of singing, entertaining audiences of 70 to more than 70,000. The choir has also given concerts and recitals for BBC radio and television, and recorded several CDs.

Härlanda Voces, Sweden

Conductor: David Molin

Härlanda Voces was founded 10 years ago and consists of 35 singers aged 15 to 25, most of whom are students at Gothenburg’s music colleges. The choir has toured and visited festivals and competitions all over Europe, winning prizes in England, France, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Austria and Switzerland. It performs mostly a cappella music but also larger works with orchestra such as the Fauré, Mozart and Lloyd Webber Requiems and God In Disguise by LarsErik Larsson. Three years ago the choir performed at the “Göteborg Globe Award” and it often collaborates with musicians from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Conductor David Molin is the founder and conductor of Härlanda Voces. He works as a church musician in Härlanda Church and was educated primarily at the Academy of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden between 1994 and 1998. David is himself an experienced choral singer, having been a member of choirs such as Göteborgs Kammarkör and Simon Phipps Vocal Ensemble (now called Svenska Kammarkören). In 2011 he received the prize for Best Conductor at the Krakow International Choir Competition. David has also founded the choirs Härlanda Kammarkör and Härlanda Ortoriekör.

Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus

Conductor:

Viacheslav Larin

Polifonica Chamber Choir, Belarus comprises 25 members who have extensive experience of choral singing. The choir has a diverse repertoire, and its members have performed a wide range of choral music genres by classical and contemporary composers. The singers have shared their musical gifts on many stages across Europe, making them cultural ambassadors for Belarus, and they regularly give concerts in Minsk and abroad.

In June 2012 Polifonica performed a concert of Orthodox church music and folk songs at the Apeldoorn Zingt International Choir Festival, winning both critical and public acclaim. It won 2nd prize in the Competition for Petr Eben at the Prague International Advent Music Festival in December 2012. In 2013 it toured Italy, performing at the renowned International Choir Festival “La Fabbrica del Canto” and at “Concordia Vocis” in Sardinia.

Most recently, Polifonica won 3rd prize at the International Choral Competition in Derry in October 2013 and it took part in the Cork International Choral Festival in May 2014. It was also honoured to be a special guest and participant at the 2014 Karuizawa International Choral Festival, Japan, which it combined with concerts in Sakura and Tokyo.

Saint Nicholas Choir Litija, Slovenia

Conductor:

Helena Fojkar Zupančič

Saint Nicholas Choir Litija consists of over 45 singers, brought together by the power of spiritual music. Since its foundation in 1997, the choir, directed by Helena Fojkar Zupančič, has evolved into an acclaimed vocal group, and it has become renowned in Slovenia and abroad for its performances of classical and Slovenian folk music.

The choir performs compositions from diferent eras, and has received many awards at national and international competitions. Its latest achievements include 1st place at the “Venezia in Musica” international choral competition in Venice in 2011, a golden plaque at the national choral competition in Maribor in 2012 and 1st place at the Maasmechelen International Choral Competition, Belgium in 2013.

The choir has released three CDs of classical music and Slovenian folk songs, and has collaborated with many renowned ensembles and artists (Radio Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, David de Villiers, André J. Thomas, Yoav Talmi, Valerij Gergijev, etc.). Celebrated Slovenian composers, including Damijan Monik, Ambrož ČCopi, Nana Forte and Ivan Florjanc, have written new compositions for the choir.

The choir is under the patronage of the Nova Kultura Litija cultural organisation and is a member of the European choir union Europa Cantat.

Salutaris Chamber Choir, Belarus

Conductor: Olga

Yanum

Salutaris is a mixed choir consisting of 25-30 singers. The soul and creative director of the group is Olga Yanum. A talented scientist, conductor and leader, Olga graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Music in 1994 as a conductor and singer.

In May 2009 Salutaris was awarded 1st prize at the Orthodox Chants Festival in Minsk and a month later it took part in the International Choir Festival “La Fabbrica del Canto” in Italy. In May 2010 Salutaris won the “Hajnówka 2010” International Festival of Orthodox Church Music in Poland.

In 2012 Salutaris gave more than 70 concerts in Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Belarus. The high point of the season was undoubtedly singing in the most prestigious concert halls of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In May 2013, at the Cork International Choral Festival, the choir won the Lady Dorothy Mayer Memorial Trophy special award for one of its pieces. In 2014 the choir was lucky enough to be able to take part in two international music festivals, “Virgo Lauretana” in Loreto (Italy) and “Voix du Monde” in Nancy (France). It was also invited as a special guest to the “Rusu Klasika” international music festival in Vilnius (Lithuania).

Voci Nuove, Ireland

Conductor:

Lynsey Callaghan

Formed in Cork in 2011, Voci Nuove originally consisted of nine friends who came together to perform at the Galway Jazz Festival. Since then, the choir has expanded in both number and repertoire, and has performed all over Ireland and beyond, winning numerous accolades.

Founded by students from the Cork School of Music and conducted by Lynsey Callaghan, Voci Nuove has in the last fve years achieved acclaim and recognition that belies its young age. Currently holder of the title “Ireland’s Choir of the Year”, awarded at the 2015 Cork International Choral Festival, the choir focuses on a wide variety of a capella music and it has worked with some of the world’s most highly regarded international choral ensembles.

The group has won many awards at various choral festivals, including 1st place in the international and sacred music competitions at the inaugural City of Derry International Choral Festival in 2013, alongside numerous awards at the Feis Maitiú and the Cork International Choral Festival.

Voci Nuove has premiered a number of works by contemporary Irish composers and enjoys strong relationships with many other choirs, which have led to exchanges in Dublin and Vienna. The choir’s most recent tour, Going Home, saw the group perform in Waterford, Limerick and Dublin.

Vokalconsort Osnabrück, Germany

Conductor: Stephan Lutermann

Vokalconsort Osnabrück consists of a core of around 34 singers. The founder and conductor of the ensemble is Stephan Lutermann. Stephan began his career as a conductor with the Archi di Colonia Orchestra in Cologne. After several diferent positions in Salzburg and Cologne, he became assistant to Johannes Rahe, master of music at Osnabrück cathedral, a post he held from 2001 to 2009. In addition to his associations with church music and many engagements as a concert organist, Stephan also lectures in choral conducting at Osnabrück University.

Founded in 2011, Vokalconsort Osnabrück has a repertoire of unaccompanied works ranging from the Renaissance to the contemporary. Their concerts are an outstanding listening experience, they showcase the choir’s detailed analysis and stylistic interpretation, and they ofer an exploration of the entire acoustic experience. The choir’s trademark is its individual, well-informed membership, which creates the much vaunted harmonious sound that the ensemble produces. Audiences at concerts in Germany and further afeld have been left captivated and thrilled.

The choir has won numerous awards and prizes at various competitions at home and abroad, including the Heinrich Schütz Trophy at the Cork International Choral Festival in 2013. These awards are a refection of the choir’s quality and the excellent standard of singing that it produces.

Vox Iuvenalis, Czech Republic

Conductor: Jan Ocetek

Vox Iuvenalis (The Voice of Youth) was established in 1993 by graduates of Gymnázium Vídeská Brno secondary school who wanted to continue to sing in a choir after graduation. The choir has nearly 50 members, who are mainly students and graduates of Brno universities. Its founder and conductor is Jan Ocetek, who is also the assistant conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno and a PhD student and teacher at the Department of Composition and Conducting at the Faculty of Music at JAMU, Brno.

The choir’s repertoire comprises compositions from the 16th century up to the present day, with special focus on contemporary Czech choral music and sacred music of the 20th century. It has collaborated with numerous national and international artists and ensembles, and it gives a number of concerts throughout the year.

Vox Iuvenalis has gained a reputation as a high-quality young ensemble and it has won many awards at international competitions, including 3rd prize in the mixed choir category of the 2014 Béla Bartók International Choir Competition and 1st prize in the mixed choir category of the 2012 “Laudate Dominum” International Festival.

EVENING CONCERT PRESENTERS

John Toal

An Evening with The King’s Singers

Wednesday 21st October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Mark Patterson

Utopia & Reality | Codetta

Friday 23rd October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Stephen McCauley

International Competition

Saturday 24th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

Marie-Louise Muir

Closing Gala Concert & Awards Ceremony

Sunday 25th October, St. Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

John Toal presents The John Toal Show and Classical Connections on BBC Radio Ulster.

John joined the BBC in 1989 while he was studying for a music degree at Queen’s University Belfast. Since then he has presented “Your Place and Mine”, “Arts Extra” and the “Saturday Magazine”. John has been presenting live Ulster Orchestra concerts for almost 25 years on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio 3, and has broadcast on RTÉ and BBC Radio 4. Earlier this year he presented BBC Radio Ulster’s School Choir of the Year competition.

He has sung in choirs all his life, beginning with Newry Cathedral Choir, which performed for Pope John Paul II in his private chapel in the Vatican in December 1980 and in Aran sweaters (in July!) for the King and Queen of Belgium in 1982.

Mark is a BBC presenter and the current Northern Ireland “Speech Broadcaster of the Year”. He joined the BBC after an early career as a YMCA Director and presents “Lunchtime with Mark Patterson” each weekday on BBC Radio Foyle. Mark is also often heard presenting or contributing on Radio Ulster, Radio 4 and RTÉ Radio.

An ageing surfer, bookworm and passionate gardener, Mark is currently working on a new commission for Radio 4 and a canoeing documentary for BBC Radio Ulster.

“What an amazing year for music here. We’ve all watched with interest as local artists including SOAK, Margaret Keys, Mairéad Carlin, Wood Burning Savages and Best Boy Grip rise to the very top of their game. More than often you’ll fnd that choral training of one sort or another had a signifcant bearing on these young stars when they were kids in Derry. Every year our Choral Festival seems to raise the bar a little higher, too. I’m delighted to be associated with it once again, and eagerly await the arrival and fraternal endeavour of so much regional and international choral talent.”

Stephen McCauley was born and raised in Derry, and is a presenter and producer on BBC Northern Ireland.

He is the host of Electric Mainline and Stephen McCauley on BBC Radio Foyle and, most recently, Soundscapes with Stephen McCauley on BBC Radio Ulster. A passionate and devoted life-long music fan, Stephen thrives of the constant search for music.

Electric Mainline has become an integral catalyst within Northern Irish music. On a typical programme, the listener is presented with Stephen’s tireless search for a bold and contrasting mix of local and international hard-core punk, post-classical, electronica, indie and experimental acoustic, all delivered with the enthusiasm and joy of his discoveries.

In March of this year, Stephen embarked on an ambitious new weekly programme for BBC Radio Ulster called Soundscapes with Stephen McCauley, in which he blends feld recordings and spoken word with contemporary classical and electronic music. He also presents a daily two-hour afternoon request show on BBC Radio Foyle. In 2013, Stephen made his debut on BBC Radio 6 Music with a week-long series of programmes.

Marie-Louise Muir is the anchor arts presenter for BBC Northern Ireland radio and television. She fronts the awardwinning “The Arts Show” on BBC Radio Ulster, for which she won the CIPR NI Media Awards Entertainment Presenter of the Year 2014 and Entertainment Programme of the Year 2015.

She also presents “The Arts Show” and “In Conversation” for BBC Northern Ireland television, a monthly look at the best in arts and culture in Northern Ireland and conversations with leading arts people.

She regularly writes and presents arts documentaries for BBC Radio 4, including the prestigious European broadcasting festival Prix Europanominated “Notes on a Northern Irish Childhood”, in which she returned to her cello playing and her time with the Western Youth Orchestra. She also recently wrote and presented a threepart TV series on the hymn, “Then Sings My Soul”, for BBC Northern Ireland.

She is a graduate of English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and is a trained arts administrator, having studied at University College Dublin. She currently sits on the board of directors of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig.

Thank You!

The City of Derry International Choral Festival is produced in association with Walled City Music and wishes to thank…

Festival Funders

Arts Council NI

Derry City and Strabane District Council

The Honourable The Irish Society Enkalon Foundation

Festival Sponsors

City Hotel, Derry

Media Partner

Derry Journal

Festival Partners

Foyleside Shopping Centre

City Cabs

The Sandwich Co.

McGonagle’s Coach Hire

Matchetts Music

McIvor Plastics

Festival Staff

Dónal Doherty, Artistic Director

Matthew Greenall, Executive Director, Walled City Music

Fiona Crosbie, Festival Manager

Alice Lewis, Community and Outreach Ofcer, Walled City Music

Grainne Logue, Festival Assistant

Management Committee

Anthony McGurk, Chair

Colm Rainey

Gráinne Stevenson

Joy Tennis Martin White

Special thanks for the support from:

Pádraig Ó’Duinnín, Lumiere Events Ltd.

John Gallagher, Lumiere Events Ltd.

John McCandless, Graphic Design

Dale Blackwood, Graphic Design

Peter Meenagh, Web Design

Amy Forbes, Northwest Volunteer Centre

Frank Lyons, Ulster University Magee

Volunteers

Ann Barr

Emma Barr

Edwin Brown

Isobelle Browne Keisha Callaghan Helen Cassidy

Una Carlin

Joan Clancy Bryna Clarke

John Cleghorn

Raymond Courtney Kathryn Crosbie

Pat Crosbie

Tom Curran

Maria Cutlife

Bronagh Deeny

Cillian Doherty

Colm Doherty

Eoghan Doherty

Nicky Fallon

Jill Flanagan

Martin Flanagan

Olivia Goodman Rachel Harkin

Kevin Healy Ann Heatley

Bernadette Kelly Margaret Kelly Maurice Kelly Chris Kerrigan Fidelma Legge Margaret McCay

Laura McFall

Niamh McGowan

Julia McIvor

Denise Murphy

Rachel Newhouse

Andrea O’Donnell

Eimear O’Gorman

Rebecca O’Doherty

Helen O’Hare

Paddy Quinn

Maureen Rainey

Roisin Rice

Chris Rodgers

Mary Scally Rachel Tennis

Kam Zhi Yan

Marion McClintock

Festival Schedule

Wednesday 21st October Thursday 22nd October Friday 24th October

Sing Joyfully!

International Choral Symposium

Great Hall (UU Magee)

9.30am – 4.30pm

An Evening with The King’s Singers

St. Columb’s Hall

7.30pm – 9.30pm

Festival Club Cinema Bar 9.30pm

Big Sing Workshop with The King’s Singers (primary schools) St. Columb’s Hall

10am – 10.30am

Primary School Unison Competition St. Columb’s Hall

10.30am – 11.15am

Primary School Partsong Competition St. Columb’s Hall 11.15am – 12pm

Adjudication of primary competitions St. Columb’s Hall

12pm – 12.30pm

Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra St. Columb’s Hall 5pm – 6pm

Big Sing Workshop (post-primary schools) St. Columb’s Hall

10am – 10.45am

Post-primary Unison/2Part Competition St. Columb’s Hall

11am – 12pm

Post-primary 3/4-Part Competition St. Columb’s Hall

12pm – 1.30pm

Adjudication of postprimary competitions St. Columb’s Hall

1.30pm – 2pm

Choral Trail in city centre and community locations throughout the day 9.30am – 9pm Utopia & Reality Codetta St. Columb’s Hall

Festival Schedule

Saturday 25th October

National Equal Voice Competitions

St. Columb’s Hall

11am – 11.45am

Adjudication of Equal Voice Competitions

St. Columb’s Hall

12pm – 12.30pm

Choral Trail in city centre and community locations throughout the day 11am – 6.30pm

Community Concert

The Gasyard Centre 1pm – 2pm

National Mixed Voice Competition St. Columb’s Hall 1.30pm – 3pm

National Gospel Music Competition St. Columb’s Hall 3.15pm – 4pm

Sunday 26th October

Sacred Trail

City Churches

10.30am – 1.30pm

Community Concert St. Columb’s Park House 1pm – 2pm

Choral Trail in city centre and community locations throughout the day 1pm – 5pm

National Sacred Music Competition St. Columb’s Hall

1pm – 2pm

National Vocal Ensemble Competition St. Columb’s Hall

2pm – 2.30pm

National Youth Choir Competition St. Columb’s Hall

2.30pm – 4pm

Bluebottle with Ulster Orchestra St. Columb’s Hall

7.30pm – 8.30pm

Festival Club Cinema Bar 8.30pm

7.30pm – 10pm

Festival Club Cinema Bar 10pm

Big Sing Workshop (open to all) and adjudication of Mixed Voice and Gospel Music Competitions St. Columb’s Hall

4pm – 5pm

International Competition St. Columb’s Hall

7.30pm – 10.30pm

Festival Club Cinema Bar 10.30pm

Adjudication of Sacred, Vocal Ensemble and Youth Competitions St. Columb’s Hall

4pm – 4.30pm

Closing Gala Concert and Awards St. Columb’s Hall

7.30pm – 10pm

Festival Club City Hotel 10pm

www.codichoral.com