Deirdre Moynihan and students in Ballincollig.
New Resource of Irish Songs for Choirs
Choirs Can, an online resource of Irish songs arranged for choir, is aimed at secondary school and non-professional choirs. ‘This website will not only provide a valuable resource for choirs in Ireland,’ says Moynihan. ‘It will have huge appeal for international choirs who are constantly seeking new Irish choral arrangements.’
The website currently includes eight ‘songpacks’, including arrangements of the songs ‘Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’ and ‘Bríd Óg Ní Mháille’. Each pack includes printable sheet music, a recording of the piece by the vocal ensemble Moving Voices, a spoken recording of the Irish words and additional recordings with prominent individual vocal lines. The songs were arranged for choir by Moynihan as well as Mark Armstrong and Andrew Synnott.
All of the materials on the Choirs Can website is available for free and can be performed without royalty payments to the publisher. However, permission must be granted to produce a recording of the works. Choirs Can is also offering choral and vocal workshops.
The arrangement of ‘Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’ will be performed as part of Cork Choral Festival in the Big Sing Event, held at Cork City Hall on Saturday, 4 May.
