education
The Big Sing Saturday 5 May 12pm, Cork city hall Admission: Free of charge With the ambition of ensuring everybody gets the opportunity to sing in the Festival, we invite you to come and take part in The Big Sing 2012. The first ever Big Sing in 2011 was a huge success with over 300 people turning out to learn Verdi’s classic Va, pensiero, making it one of the largest choirs ever to have sung at the Choral Festival! This year we hope to make The Big Sing even bigger and better, and invite you to join us in the City Hall and be part of the experience. You don’t need to be able to sing, it’s simply about lending your voice and experiencing first-hand the enjoyment and sense of community that lies at the heart of choral singing. In just 45 minutes, accomplished composer and conductor John O’Brien will teach the Hallelujah Chorus from Georg Friedrich Handel’s Messiah to the attending crowd, supported by some of our national choirs. This famed choral work is performed regularly around the world, and features frequently in movies, television programs and commercials. The Big Sing is open to everyone and admission is free. Music and lyrics will be handed out on the day, and there’s no preparation necessary – just sing from, and for, the heart!
John O’Brien Conductor John O’Brien is a conductor, director and composer based in Cork. Recent work includes directing and designing the set for the acclaimed production of Dido & Aeneas at Cork Opera House, which will tour Ireland this summer; directing the dance film Inner Landscapes; musical direction for the premieres of two modern operas ‘Thamyrus’ and ‘Time for Earthenware’ at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; creating The Voice Effect (Choir-inResidence at Cork Opera House); and writing the music for the feature film ‘Tree Keeper’. John has worked on over forty different productions of opera and musical theatre in Ireland, Northern Ireland, London, Edinburgh, Montreal and Regina; and has toured with choirs across Europe, Japan and China. He is the former Music Director of Opera Works and the Cork Children's Chorus, and has conducted a recording with the National Chamber Choir, and the TV programme Carols from Cork 2005, both for RTE. He is also the conductor of the Wexford Gateway Orchestra, and premiered his first symphony in May. John’s string quartet, ‘towards a new enlightenment...’ is available for free download at www.enlightenmentquartet.com
Photo: Joya Kuin
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