City of Derry International Choir Festival 2018

City of Derry International Choir Festival 2018

Wednesday, 24 October 2018, 7.30pm

The City of Derry International Choir Festival will take place from 24th to 28th October in Derry~Londonderry, hosting over 70 school, national and international choirs as well as performances from guest artists including the Ulster Orchestra, VOCES8 and the Marian Consort.

The city will welcome singers travelling from Colombia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Iceland and throughout Ireland and the UK to take part in the jam-packed schedule of events. The highlight of the festival will see the eight international competitors battle it out to win the Oak Tree of Derry trophy and a cash prize of £2,000.

The festival opens with an evening gala concert with the 140-strong Festival Chorus, representing more than 20 different choirs from the city and surrounding areas, performing the Mozart Requiem with the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by renowned Norwegian conductor Ragnar Rasmussen.

On Thursday 25th October the festival will feature VOCES8 for an evening of a cappella music, ranging from Renaissance to jazz and pop favourites. This will be followed on the Friday by early music vocal ensemble The Marian Consort performing Renaissance and 21st-century sacred works in Christ Church, including the Irish première of Gabriel Jackson’s Stabat Mater alongside Derry’s Codetta Youth Choir. 

Friday will also see a late-night concert in the Ballroom of St Columb’s Hall, featuring choirs from Derry, Dublin and Iceland, and a performance by the Paul McIntyre Jazz Trio.

In association with Ulster University, the festival will this year host a symposium on Singing, Health & Wellbeing with a panel of experts in the field. The popular conducting workshop also returns to the Great Hall, Magee.

An exciting new development is the establishment of the Every Voice Fringe Festival, in partnership with local choir Allegri. The Fringe Festival will kick off with Gala Concerts in Strabane and Derry on 28th and 29th September, and the city and region will be immersed in singing in the run-up to, and during, the festival week, with pop-up performances, community concerts and Sunday church services.

Audiences will also have the chance to join in at the Jazz Big Sing in St Columb’s Hall on Saturday 28th October. This fun workshop will explore singing through special choral arrangements of jazz favourites. Led by the Paul McIntyre Jazz Trio, this session is open to everyone and free of charge.

Tickets are on sale for all events and can be purchased at the Millennium Forum. For further details see belowor visit www.derrychoirfest.com.

Festival Programme – City of Derry International Choir Festival 2018

Ulster Orchestra and Festival Chorus
Wednesday 24 October, Guildhall, 7.30pm

The 2018 festival opens with the Ulster Orchestra, Festival Chorus, Codetta and soloists, conducted by Ragnar Rasmussen, in two of Mozart’s best-loved and most dramatic works, the Requiem and Symphony No. 40 in G minor.  

VOCES8
Thursday 25 October, St Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm 

Join chart-topping vocal ensemble VOCES8 for an evening of a cappella music ranging from Renaissance to jazz and pop, including favourites from Nat King Cole, Simon and Garfunkel, and Van Morrison.  

The Marian Consort
Friday 26 October, Christ Church, 7.30pm

Grammy Award-nominated vocal ensemble The Marian Consort is celebrated for its engaging performances and imaginative programming.‘In Sorrow’s Footsteps’ features both Renaissance and 21st-century sacred works, including Allegri’s transcendent ‘Miserere’ and the Irish premiere of a new work by Gabriel Jackson, performed with Derry’s own Codetta Youth Choir.

Late-Night Sing
Friday 26 October, The Ballroom (St Columb’s Hall), 10.30pm

Join Derry’s Encore Contemporary Choir, Dublin-based ensemble Ardú A Cappella Chorus and Kirkjukór Hruna- og Hrepphólasókna from Iceland for a Festival Club with a difference. The evening will end with a special performance by the Paul McIntyre Jazz Trio.

International Competition
Saturday 27 October, St Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

The highlight event of the festival sees eight top-quality international choirs from Colombia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Norway and Wales compete to be crowned winner of the prestigious 2018 International Competition.

Closing Gala Concert and Awards
Sunday 28 October, St Columb’s Hall, 7.30pm

This celebratory concert brings the sixth festival to a close with entertaining performances from each of the international competitors and the announcement of the top prize of the festival, the winner of the International Competition.

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2018 Festival Promo Video #derrychoirfest

Published by Anna on 24 September 2018

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