A concert of Scandinavian choral music, evoking the beauty of the region as night begins to fall.

Sofi Jeannin joins Chamber Choir Ireland as Guest Director for Northern Lights, celebrating all that is beautiful about the meadows, hills, and forests of the Scandinavian countryside, and the hush that falls over it all as darkness draws close.

From the pastoral picture of dusk in the mountains painted by Hugo Alfvén in 'Aftonen' (Evening); to the sense of space and peace created by close dissonances, as night descends on a snowy scene in Karin Rehnqvist's Natt över Jorden (Night on our Earth); followed by 'Till Österland', a serenade to the medieval Österland region of Finland, and the deep valleys, crystal rivers, and evergreen trees of this near-mythological place.

Programme

'Aftonen' (Evening)

'Uti vår hage' (Out in our Meadow)

'O jungfrun hon går i ringen' (And the Maiden Joins the Ring)

- Hugo Alfvén (Sweden, 1872-1960)

Tre körvisor (Three choral ballads) - Wilhelm Stenhammar (Sweden, 1871-1927)

Natt över Jorden (Night on our Earth) - Karin Rehnqvist (Sweden, b. 1957)

Excerpts from Partsongs op 18 - Jean Sibelius (Finland, 1865-1957)

Lorca Suite - Einojuhani Rautavaara (Finland, 1928-2016)

Four Shakespeare Songs - Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Finland, b.1963)

'Till Österland' (To the East) - Traditional Arr. by Håkan Parkman (Sweden, 1955-1988)