Choral society freshers booklet

179t h session

Univer sity of Dublin Chor al Society

179th Session

About Chor al Founded in 1837, Chor al Society is Tr inity?s oldest and lar gest choir.

We ar e a four par t m ixed voice choir, consisting of under gr aduates, postgr aduates and staff. Chor al specialises in per for m ing lar ge scale chor al w or ks w ith full or chestr al accom panim ent both w ithin and outside the w alls of Tr inity. We per for m tw o concer ts per year, w ith one in M ichaelm as Ter m and one in Hilar y Ter m . We r ehear se once a w eek on Wednesdays, and ar e led at all tim es by our pr ofessional conductor, David Leigh, of St Patr ick?s Cathedr al.

M em ber ship W ho can join?

A ll voices and ages ar e w elcom e.

Som e exper ience in another choir (yes, that school choir counts) and the ability to r ead m usic is r ecom m ended. If you have this exper ience, no for m al audition is r equir ed. The m ost im por tant r equir em ents ar e a love of singing, a taste for fun, and w illingness to put in a bit of har d w or k!

How can I join?

To join just dr op by our stand in Fr ont Squar e dur ing Fr esher s' w eek , or com e along to our fir st r ehear sal at 6.30pm on 30th Septem ber in Regent House.

Rehear sals Rehear sals take place ever y Wednesday fr om 7 - 9pm in Regent House.

Ther e w ill also be appr oxim ately tw o Satur day m or ning r ehear sals per ter m .

To get to Regent House you go into Fr ont Ar ch, thr ough the door on the r ight and str aight up the stair s.

Fr esher s' Week Concer t Som e of our dedicated m em ber s continue singing thr oughout the sum m er, and this gr oup, the Sum m er Singer s, w ill be per for m ing a Fr esher s' Week concer t in the beautiful College Chapel in Fr ont Squar e at 8pm on Wednesday 23 Septem ber.

Keep r eading for m or e details about the concer t, and new s of our other upcom ing events!

Last year saw us per for m tw o successful and enjoyable concer ts, one in M ichaelm as ter m , and the other dur ing Hilar y ter m . We per for m ed Bach's M agnificat in the Tr inity chapel, and had the esteem ed honour of per for m ing Ver di's m uch loved M essa da Requiem fr om the choir balcony in the National Concer t Hall, m ir r or ing the Society's pr em ier e of this chor al w or k in Ir eland all the w ay back in 1876!

Copy and paste the below link to find our pr om o video for the Ver di Requiem : https://w w w.youtube.com /w atch?v=UsT-K4e8w p8

The 2015/16 pr ogr am m e includes a m uch anticipated per for m ance of Handel's M essiah in the beautiful Public Theatr e in Fr ont Squar e.

M essiah fr om Scr atch This Novem ber m em ber s of Chor al w ill be m aking our annual pilgr im age to London to per for m M essiah once again, this tim e in the Royal Alber t Hall w ith over 3,000 singer s!

The concer t, M essiah from Scratch, is in aid of the Br itish Hear t Foundation this year, and w e hope you w ill join us for w hat pr om ises to be an unfor gettable exper ience.

Richar d Cher r y Cup

The 1943/ 44 committee. Richard Cherry is on the far left in the back row.

In Hilar y ter m w e w ill once again be hosting the Richar d Cher r y Cup com petition for vocal quar tets.

This com petition has been par t of Chor al's histor y since 1949, and com m em or ates Richar d Cher r y, w ho w as a m em ber of the com m ittee for an im pr essive 27 year s.

Histor y of the Society The Univer sity of Dublin Chor al Society is believed to be the oldest Chor al Society am ong the univer sities of Gr eat Br itain and Ir eland. It is cer tainly the oldest one in this countr y as a w hole, having been founded in 1837. Its m em ber ship w as lim ited at fir st to eighteen and its objective w as ?The cultivation of Chor al M usic in Gener al?.

W hen our Society w as for m ed in 1837, it w as know n sim ply as ?The Univer sity Chor al Society?, because neither Oxfor d nor Cam br idge, the only other ?Univer sities? in the UK at the tim e, had a chor al society. W hen Oxfor d for m ed their s in 1869, w e becam e the ?Univer sity of Dublin Chor al Society?.

The m usical dir ection of the Chor al Society has been under taken by nine conductor s, all of w hom ser ved the Society w ith gr eat enthusiasm and loyalty. Am ong these for m er conductor s ar e Sir Rober t Pr escott-Stew ar t, Dr. Geor ge Hew son, Dr. Joseph Gr oocock and M r. David M ilne. The pr esent conductor is M r David Leigh.

The society now per for m s tw o concer ts each year, one at the end of each ter m . The tr adition that m em ber s w ear the for m al academ ic gow n for per for m ances is upheld and concer ts take place in the beautiful sur r oundings of the Exam ination Hall, Tr inity College Dublin.

The 2015/16 Com m ittee: Conductor :

David Leigh

Secr etar y:

Em ily Br eslin

Tr easur er :

Tim Balfour

PRO:

Br onw yn Hogan

Registr ar :

Andr ew Neill

Libr ar ian:

Ailbhe M cGur r in

Fr iends Secr etar y: Helen Sim on M inutes Secr etar y: Edw ar d Kevin Social Secr etar y:

CONTACT US!

Rober t Antcliff

R贸is铆n Pow er

FACEBOOK: w w w.facebook .com /tr initychor al

Der m ot Fr ost

TW ITTER: @udcs

Gener al Officer s: Ross Cullinane

Gar y W ilkinson

EM AIL: chor al@csc.tcd.ie W EBSITE: w w w.udcs.or g