Ulster Consort Season 2025

MUSIC DIRECTOR MATTHEW OWENS

Season 2025

Far across yonder blue lies a true fairy land...

A warm welcome to the Ulster Consort’s 2025 season

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Patron Bob Chilcott

It is a huge pleasure to welcome you to the Ulster Consort’s Season 2025.

In this, our third full season, we have programmed an abundance of fabulous music, ranging from the ethereal sounds of the Renaissance, through to cutting edge contemporary music, and to our renowned period instrument performances of Handel’s Messiah.

We celebrate some significant anniversaries and birthdays this year: Palestrina at 500, Sir John Rutter CBE at 80, and the 70th birthday of our new Patron, Bob Chilcott. One of the many highlights is the world premiere of a major new work by the renowned composer, Diana Burrell – a concert performance of her latest opera, Apostle to the Apostles, in the glorious surroundings of the Great Hall at Stormont Parliament Buildings on 14 June.

We are delighted to have introduced more of our performances into theatres and concert halls this year and are thrilled to have been invited to the Grand Opera House, Belfast, to make our debut in the Studio Theatre. We are also looking forward to our first performance at the Mill Theatre in Newtownabbey, and to be returning to the Ulster Hall in December.

We have also been excited to launch the Ulster Consort Foundation, a charity dedicated to nurturing the current and next generations of musicians in Northern Ireland through a series of educational courses for both children and adults of all abilities, from all backgrounds, and from all walks of life. The Foundation incorporates our newly created Talent Development Programme, which helps to train skilled young singers considering a career in music and who are aged between 16–25.

Ultimately, the Foundation supports the Ulster Consort itself in preserving, nurturing, sharing, and growing our amazing choral heritage.

If you would like to support the work of Northern Ireland’s newest professional music ensemble by becoming a Friend or Benefactor, or by gifting Friends Membership to someone, then please visit www.ulsterconsort.org at any time to join our growing Ulster Consort Foundation family.

The Ulster Consort and I are greatly looking forward to performing for our audiences in all the various venues throughout this year. We hope that, through these concerts, you will be inspired to journey with us throughout 2025 and beyond.

Matthew Owens, Founder and Music Director of the Ulster Consort Photo by Peter Thompson

I love my love

Friday 31 January, 7.30pm– 8.45pm Saturday 1 February, 7.30pm– 8.45pm Studio Theatre, Grand Opera House, Belfast, BT2 7HR

FOLKSONGS FROM IRELAND, AMERICA, AND BRITAIN Sir John Rutter

The keel row

2’

Holst

I love my love

5’

Matthew Owens

I wish I was in Carrickfergus

3’

Tippett

Early one morning

3’

Britten

The salley gardens

3’

Stanford

The blue bird

Traditional English Blow the wind southerly

4’ 3’

Four Ulster folk songs (world premiere)

14’

Vaughan Williams All through the night

3’

Matthew Owens

Gary Davison

Five American folk songs (world premiere)

THE ULSTER CONSORT TRISTAN RUSSCHER piano MATTHEW OWENS piano and conductor

20’

Tickets: £25 (£22.50 concessions) available in advance via www.goh.co.uk Early booking is advised due to limited availability

The Ulster Consort makes its Grand Opera House debut with a programme of much-loved folk songs from Ireland, North America, and Great Britain. Featuring classics such as The salley gardens, The green glens of Antrim, and Blow the wind southerly, there are well known works

by Irish composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Vaughan Williams, and Sir John Rutter (celebrating his 80th birthday in 2025), as well two new sets – one by American composer Gary Davison, Five American folk songs (world premiere), and the other by the Ulster Consort’s Music Director, Matthew Owens, Four Ulster folk songs (world premiere).

Kenny McKendry RP

On wings of song

Saturday 22 March, 6pm – 7pm Holywood Parish Church, Holywood, BT18 9BX Tickets: £15 available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door

ROMANTIC MUSIC BY SCHUBERT, BRAHMS, AND MENDELSSOHN Mendelssohn

On wings of song

3’

Schubert

Gott ist mein hirt Ave Maria

5‘ 4‘

Brahms

12 Lieder und Romanzen, Op. 44

19’

Schubert

Marche militaire no. 1, Op. 51 no. 1,

6’

Mendelssohn

Four duets: Ich wollt’, meine Lieb Abendlied Herbstlied Ich harrete des Herrn (from Lobgesang)

11’

Mendelssohn

Lift thine eyes (from Elijah)

2’

Schubert

To Music (An die Musik)

3‘

A beautiful, varied concert showcasing the radiant female voices of the Ulster Consort. Solos, duets, 2-part, 3-part, and 4-part choruses combine with piano duet March militaire in D (performed by Tristan Russcher and Matthew Owens) to ensure a delightful early evening concert of 19th century Romantic music to celebrate the coming of spring.

Highlights include the ever-beautiful Ave Maria and An die Musik by Schubert, Mendelssohn’s glorious Lift thine Eyes, and the rarely-performed 12 Lieder und Romanzen by Brahms.

THE ULSTER CONSORT TRISTAN RUSSCHER piano MATTHEW OWENS piano and conductor Photo: istockphoto.com

z z a J n a M h Jona Easter Singing Course 14–16 April, 2025

Michael Hurd

and other songs of the sea including Eric Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby Ages 5–8 Songbirds Course I Ages 9–15 Junior Course Monday 14 – Wednesday 16 April, 9am–4pm daily Concert Finale, Wednesday 16 April, 7pm St Mary's Church, Chapel Lane, Belfast, BT1 1HH This three-day singing course will give children the opportunity to work with some of the country's top professional musicians, with daily expert vocal tuition from directors Matthew Owens and India Chapman Webb. Children will work on general musicianship, gain confidence, make friends, and perform to a live audience.

Cost: £150, which includes a cooked lunch each day, all music, a branded top, music folders and stationery, all snacks, all group tuition, all group activities, and any individual tuition (if required).

To book now, visit eventbrite.co.uk For further information please email hello@ulsterconsort.org Audience Grand Finale tickets: £10 available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door

Contemporary Choral Classics CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF BOB CHILCOTT AND SIR JOHN RUTTER Chilcott

A Little Jazz Mass

12’

Chilcott

Can you hear me?

4’

Chilcott

Be thou my vision

3’

Rutter

A Prayer of St Patrick

2’

Rutter

A Gaelic Blessing

2’

Rutter

The Wind in the Willows

30’

ULSTER CONSORT AND PLAYERS ULSTER CONSORT FOUNDATION CHILDREN’S CHORUS MATTHEW OWENS conductor

Friday 9 May, 7.45pm – 8.45pm Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey, BT36 5QA Tickets: £21.50 available in advance via www.theatreatthemill.com

The Ulster Consort celebrates the significant birthdays of two of the choral world’s most popular composers: Sir John Rutter at 80, and the 70th birthday of the Ulster Consort’s Patron, Bob Chilcott, who is described by The Observer as “a contemporary hero of British Choral Music.”

Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass is a modern-day gem, using swing, blues, and infectious rhythms to shed new light on familiar texts, whilst Rutter’s retelling of the classic The Wind in the Willows is a joy from start to finish, celebrating nature, friendship, loyalty, and adventure.

Saturday 14 June, 6pm –7pm (with a pre-concert talk by the composer at 5pm)

Apostle to the Apostles

The Great Hall, Stormont Parliament Buildings, BT4 3XX Tickets, including admission to the pre-concert talk: £10 (under 18s), £20, £30. All tickets for this event must be booked in advance via eventbrite.co.uk

MAJOR WORLD PREMIERE Diana Burrell

Apostles to the Apostles

50’

CHARLOTTE O’HARE Mary Magdalene THOMAS ELWIN Jesus MALACHY FRAME Peter THE ULSTER CONSORT AND PLAYERS MATTHEW OWENS conductor Following the concert there will be a drinks reception for the Friends and Benefactors of the Ulster Consort. This will take place in the Members’ Dining Room of the Parliament Buildings, affording spectacular views over the mile-long Prince of Wales Avenue to the City of Belfast. To become a Friend or Benefactor of the Ulster Consort please see the end of this Season 2025 brochure or visit www.ulsterconsort.org

Diana Burrell (b. 1948) is one of the UK’s most highly respected composers. Her music has been featured at the BBC Proms, and she has been commissioned by leading orchestras, choirs, ensembles, and soloists. Her new opera in 5 scenes, Apostle to the Apostles receives its world premiere performance (non-staged), in the glorious surroundings of the Great Hall of the Stormont Parliament Buildings. The work’s narrative begins with the crucifixion of Jesus and then focuses on Peter, the Apostle, and Mary Magdalene. It will be presented as a concert performance, with a stellar cast of soloists performing alongside the Ulster Consort and Players.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Glories of the Sistine Chapel THE MUSIC OF ALLEGRI AND PALESTRINA Allegri

Miserere mei, Deus

13’

Palestrina

Sicut cervus

3’

Palestrina

Exultate Deo

3’

Plainsong

Aeterna Christi munera

3’

Palestrina

Missa Aeterna Christi munera

22’

Palestrina

Pater noster

4’

Allegri

Beatus vir

5’

THE ULSTER CONSORT MATTHEW OWENS conductor

Friday 25 July, 6pm – 7pm St Patrick’s Church, Donegall Street, Belfast, BT1 2FL Tickets: £15 available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–94) was one of the foremost composers of the Renaissance, and wrote extensively for the singers of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The Ulster Consort celebrates his 500th anniversary with a performance of one of his best-loved mass settings, appropriate for 25 July, on the day when the church celebrates St James the Apostle. Alongside this features other music from this glorious chapel, including that of Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652), whose best-known work – Miserere mei, Deus, a setting of Psalm 51 – is normally sung in Lent but provides a moment for reflection at any point in the year.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Choral Workshop Day

baroque masterpieces Saturday 26 July, 10am – 5pm I Stranmillis College, Belfast, BT9 5DY Come and join us to sing glorious music by Bach, Handel, and Purcell with the Ulster Consort’s conductor, Matthew Owens, accompanied by Tristan Russcher (piano). This singing day for adults is open to all, irrespective of experience or skill level. Music to be performed will include excerpts from Purcell’s Come, ye sons of Art, choruses from Handel’s Messiah, alongside beautiful works by Bach, such as Sheep may safely graze.

We will have singers from the Ulster Consort and the Ulster Consort Talent Development Programme ready to lend a hand, and there will be an informal concert at the end of the day for family and friends.

Cost: £30, which includes all tuition, music, tea/coffee, and cakes Lunch arrangements: there is a café on campus serving lunches, or attendees may choose to leave and come back, or to bring a picnic and enjoy the beautiful grounds at Stranmillis.

To book now, please visit eventbrite.co.uk or for further information please email hello@ulsterconsort.org Family and friends will be able to join us for the informal performance at 4.30pm and donations to the Ulster Consort Foundation will be gratefully received on the afternoon, at the door.

Children’s Summer Music School

The Reluctant Dragon

by John Rutter Ages 5–8 Songbirds Course I Ages 9–15 Junior Course Monday 11 – Friday 15 August, 9am – 4pm daily Stranmillis College, Belfast, BT9 5DY The Ulster Consort Foundation is very excited to present Stranmillis College as the venue for the Children’s Summer Music School 2025! Children, ages 5–15, will receive expert daily tuition provided by some of Northern Ireland’s leading musicians whilst having great fun preparing music for a grand concert on the final evening. Our featured work this year is Sir John Rutter’s charming and heart-warming musical fable, The Reluctant Dragon.

Stranmillis College provides the perfect location for a week of music-making, great outdoor spaces for break times, and a fantastic theatre for the end of week concert. It also allows for super easy drop off and pick up by parents/guardians.

Cost: £200, which includes all musical tuition, a cooked lunch each day, snacks, group activities, a branded top, music, music folders, and stationery.

To book now, visit eventbrite.co.uk Further information is available by emailing hello@ulsterconsort.org

Audience Grand Finale tickets (£10, free admission for children) are available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door.

Far across yonder blue lies a true fairy land, With the sea rippling over the shingle and sand;

‘Isle of Muck’ by Kenny McKendry RP

Where the gay honeysuckle is luring the bee, And the green glens of Antrim are calling to me.

FROM THE GREEN GLENS OF ANTRIM, WRITTEN IN THE LATE 1940s

BY ARCHIBALD MONTGOMERY (PSEUD. KENNETH NORTH) AND PUBLISHED BY CAROLIN MUSIC, LONDON, 1951

Choral Workshop Day

C L AS S IC H AY D N Saturday 13 September, 10am – 5pm Stranmillis College, Belfast, BT9 5DY Come and join us to sing one of the very finest works of the 18th century, Haydn’s Nelson Mass. Guided by the Ulster Consort’s conductor, Matthew Owens, and accompanied by Tristan Russcher, this singing day for adults is open to all, irrespective of experience or skill level.

There will be singers from the Ulster Consort and the Ulster Consort Talent Development Programme ready to lend a hand, and an informal concert at the end of the day for family and friends.

Cost: £30, which includes all tuition, music, tea/coffee, and cakes Lunch arrangements: there is a café on campus serving lunches, or attendees may choose to leave and come back, or to bring a picnic and enjoy the beautiful grounds at Stranmillis.

To book now, please visit eventbrite.co.uk or for further information please email hello@ulsterconsort.org Family and friends will be able to join us for the informal performance at 4.15pm and donations to the Ulster Consort Foundation will be gratefully received on the afternoon, at the door.

New Sounds THE CRANMER ANTHEM BOOK (II) Valerie Capers

Evermore ready to follow (world premiere)

Bob Chilcott

new work (world premiere)

Edward Cowie

Bright beams of light (world premiere)

Joanna Forbes L’Estrange The gate of everlasting life (world premiere) Cheryl Frances-Hoad

Annunciation (world premiere)

Edward Gregson

The light of the Gospel (world premiere)

Helen Grime

new work (world premiere)

Piers Hellawell

new work (world premiere)

David Matthews

new work (world premiere)

Sir John Rutter

new work (world premiere)

THE ULSTER CONSORT TRISTAN RUSSCHER organ MATTHEW OWENS conductor

Saturday 4 October, 6pm – 7pm St Molua’s Church, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3LR Tickets: £15 available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door

This is the second concert in an annual series to feature new works for an exciting, major commissioning project, The Cranmer Anthem Book.

This project will see new settings of each of the 88 Collects (or prayers) from the Book of Common Prayer, devised by Tudor Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556). These will be composed by some of the world’s leading composers. As with last year’s initial concert, composers will introduce their works by recorded interview, offering a fascinating insight into the world of contemporary composition.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Messiah

Friday 28 November, 7pm – 9.30pm St Patrick’s Church, Ballymena, BT43 7BT Saturday 29 November, 7pm – 9.30pm Holywood Parish Church, Holywood, BT18 9BX

HANDEL’S THRILLING MASTERPIECE Handel

Messiah

Tickets: £10 (under 18s), £20, £30, £40, available in advance via eventbrite.co.uk, and on the evening at the door

120’

THE ULSTER CONSORT AND PLAYERS (on period instruments) CHARLOTTE O’HARE soprano LAURA LAMPH mezzo soprano MICHAEL BELL tenor BEN McATEER bass MATTHEW OWENS conductor

What could be better than starting off your festive season with a joyous burst of Handel’s exhilarating Hallelujah Chorus?

The Ulster Consort returns (by popular demand) with two performances of this great masterpiece in two stunning venues.

Hear this most beloved of works with a soundscape very close to what Handel would have known back in 1742.

Experience the thrill of some of Europe’s finest period instrument specialists, the intimate but powerful vocal forces of the Ulster Consort alongside amazing soloists, and all performed in an historically-informed, dramatic, and breathtaking way. Early booking is advised!

Photo: istockphoto.com

Have yourself a merry little Christmas A FESTIVE CELEBRATION AT THE ULSTER HALL THE ULSTER CONSORT AND PLAYERS THE ULSTER CONSORT FOUNDATION CHILDREN’S CHORUS TRISTAN RUSSCHER organ and piano MATTHEW OWENS organ and conductor

Tuesday 9 December, 7.30pm – 9pm Ulster Hall, Belfast BT2 7FF Tickets: £10-£35 (concessions available) via ulsterhall.co.uk, and on the evening at the door Our traditional and much-loved Christmas celebration is back, and this time in the glorious setting of Belfast’s magnificent Ulster Hall, in support of the charity, Bowel Cancer UK. Join us for an evening of festive favourites from the musicians of the Ulster Consort and Players, joined by the children from the Ulster Consort Foundation Children’s Chorus.

There will be something for everyone – carols for choir and audience, as well as an overflowing stocking-full of the most beautiful and magical music to put you in the Christmas mood. Music includes Silent Night, Good King Wenceslas, Once in Royal David’s City, Ding dong! merrily on high, Carol of the bells, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and Have yourself a merry little Christmas, with music

by John Rutter, Eric Whitacre, Bob Chilcott, and many more.

As an added bonus, Matthew Owens and Tristan Russcher – two of the country’s most celebrated organists – will delight the audience with a Christmas duet featuring four hands and four feet on the mighty Mulholland organ!

Photo: istockphoto.com

The Ulster Consort Foundation is a charity committed to music education and outreach, and in particular to choral singing education. Our aim is to share the joy and benefits of choral music and singing together with as many people as possible, right across Northern Ireland.

The Foundation is dedicated to nurturing the current and next generations of musicians in Northern Ireland. Each year we create a varied series of one-day, three-day, and week-long courses for children and day-long courses for adults. All our courses are for people of all abilities, from all backgrounds, and from all walks of life. We seek to inspire our local communities through music, and lead them to experience the joy, excitement, and benefits of musical teamwork.

Courses for children

“My son has really gained in confidence after attending the summer school”

Our courses cater for children from ages 5–15: we offer Songbirds Courses for children from 5–8 years old, and our Junior Courses for children aged 9–15.

These are open to all, and we have scholarships available to ensure that all children are able to join us, whatever the financial circumstances.

Participating in choral music activities is fun, and our positive-learning environment helps increase confidence in even the most timid of children, and broadens children’s horizons and educational experience.

Courses for adults We also run adult day courses which, again, are open to all, irrespective of experience or skill level. They take the form of day-long choral workshops, often with an informal performance at the end of the day. Performing choral music means being part of a team and participants forge strongly bonded new friendship groups across different generations.

Talent Development Programme In addition to these outreach opportunities, the Ulster Consort Foundation is dedicated to training skilled young singers through our Talent Development Programme. This is an auditioned group for those considering a career in music and who are aged 16–25. It offers young singers professional experiences and mentoring right at the start of their musical careers.

As an organisation, we are passionate about extending opportunities to all with the aim of performing excellent music to the highest standards and inspiring the widest possible audience.

The Ulster Consort and its conductor The Ulster Consort is Northern Ireland’s newest professional music ensemble and one of the very few professional vocal ensembles in the country.

It made its debut with a stellar, critically acclaimed performance of Handel’s Messiah in December 2019.

The large core of the Ulster Consort’s performers consists of Northern Irish singers, and singers based in Northern Ireland. Its energies are focused on concert performances of the finest works of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods – working with period instruments and in an historically informed manner – through to the glorious smaller-scaled works of the Romantic era, the 20th century, and the present day.

The Consort collaborates with some of Europe’s finest contemporary composers in concert and recordings. It is the lead choir for one of the most innovative new music programmes of our time: the Cranmer Anthem Book – a project which will see all 88 Collects from the Book of Common Prayer set to music by some of the world’s finest contemporary composers, including a new work from the recently appointed Master of the King’s Music, Errollyn Wallen CBE. October 2025 sees a further 10 world premieres, including one from Northern Ireland-based composer, Piers Hellawell, alongside figures such as Sir John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, and Joanna Forbes L’Estrange.

In its first five years the Ulster Consort has performed right across Northern Ireland – in 17 different venues in its ‘home’ city of Belfast, as well as in Armagh, Ballymena, Bangor, Downpatrick, Enniskillen, Hillsborough, Holywood, Londonderry/Derry, Newcastle, and Portaferry. It has also been the guest of the Pipeworks Festival in Dublin.

The ensemble is dedicated to nurturing the current and next generations of Northern Ireland’s musicians through its educational and outreach programmes, and through its Talent Development Programme, all of which are overseen by the Ulster Consort Foundation, a registered charity which is committed to music education and outreach, to choral singing education, and to growing the worldwide choral heritage. ulsterconsort.org @ulsterconsort

Matthew Owens is Founder and Music Director of the Ulster Consort; Professor of Vocals at the Royal Marines School of Music; Director of the Cranmer Anthem Book; Music Director and Conductor of the Cumbria Singers; and Associate Director of the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, in Michigan, USA. Previously, he was the director of music at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, and Wells Cathedral.

Under his leadership, Wells Cathedral Choir was named by an international jury for Gramophone as the best choir in the world with children, and the sixth greatest overall. From 2019–2022, he was director of music of Belfast Cathedral, where he re-established the choir as a professional adult ensemble, winning international acclaim for its work: “it could well be the finest all-adult standing choir of its kind anywhere, with near-perfect vowel harmony, blend, enunciation, nuanced awareness of phrase and an exceptional, bright and pure soprano group.” (Gramophone).

He has guest conducted, among others, the London Mozart Players, English Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, Brook Street Band, and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debut with the Ulster Orchestra in May 2023. As a conductor he has made over 30 CDs with major labels, and now records exclusively for the award-winning label, Resonus Classics. He has directed choral workshops and summer schools throughout the UK and abroad – including Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and the USA. As an organist, Matthew has given recitals in Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the USA, and throughout the UK. Matthew has championed new music, particularly of British composers, conducting over 250 world premieres, including works by leading composers ranging from Jools Holland to Sir James MacMillan and Sir John Rutter to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

As a composer himself he has recently been commissioned by NI Opera, Tewkesbury Abbey, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Nashville and The Queen’s College, Oxford. He is published by Oxford University Press, Novello, and the Royal School of Church Music. @MatthewOwensUK

Ulster consort

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Friends

“The better part of one’s life consists of friendships”(Abraham Lincoln) JOIN OUR FRIENDS PROGRAMME Everyone needs friends, and for this new, exciting vocal ensemble to grow and flourish we really need your help. Our Friends Programme will help to build a new community and create opportunities, ensuring that Northern Ireland can experience performances of the highest possible standard.

Becoming a Friend is the best way to hear about the Ulster Consort’s news and events.

In addition to receiving benefits such as advance information about concerts, special invitations, and events, those giving at the higher levels will also have the opportunity to forge a real relationship with the Consort and its members.

CATEGORIES OF GIVING Bronze level (£60 pa or £5 per month) Advanced notice of events, plus acknowledgment in publicity material, and an annual Friends reception

Silver level (£120 pa or £10 per month) All the above benefits of Bronze, plus reserved seating, and a free programme at all concerts

Gold level (£240 pa or £20 per month) All the above benefits of Silver, plus an invitation to meet the conductor and attend a private rehearsal

Platinum level (£360 pa or £30 per month) All the above benefits of Gold, plus unlimited access to private rehearsals and an invitation to an annual Friends Dinner with the conductor

REGISTER TO BECOME A FRIEND BY VISITING

www.ulsterconsort.org

BECOME A BENEFACTOR OR CORPORATE SPONSOR If you would like to support us at a higher level, please get in touch by emailing us via hello@ulsterconsort.org – we have tailor-made packages for Benefactors and Corporatre Sponsors; details are available upon request.

Our Friends, Benefactors, and Corporate Sponsors Corporate Sponsors

Silver Friends

Consello Dentistry@Markethill, Armagh Northwest Restaurants Ltd Wells Kennedy Ltd, Pipe Organ Builders & Restorers

Miss Christine Birchall

Benefactors

Mrs SJ Gailey

Mr A Campbell Elaine and Barrie Colgan Mr Ian Cree Mrs Florence Findlay-White

Dr Paul and Mrs Heather Darragh

Margaret Hardy

Karen Brinkmann and Fred Johnsen

Mr Peter and Mrs Mary Harland

Mr Gary Davison

Mrs Frances Hastie

Mrs Janice Eichner

Rose Henderson

Mr Jonathan Ireland

Mrs Carole Hunter

Mr Kenny McKendry RP

Mr John and Mrs Rosemary Hunter

Mr Cameron Marshall

Tim and Alice Kerr

Mr John Owens

Mr Gerald and Mrs Kathy Lavery

Queen’s University Belfast, Music Department

Platinum Friends Dr Steve and Mrs Beth Aiken Drs Michael and Barbara Callender Mr John and Dr Kerry Cubitt Ian and Louise Stoupe Mr James Walsh

David and Melanie Lawlor Mr and Mrs A Martin Dr Margaret Mathews Miss Jane Matthews Dr Sarah McCleave Mr Robert McNair Dr Robert L Miller Mr Stephen and Mrs Emma Moore

Gold Friends

Mrs Suzanne Neill

Mr Robin Adams

Mrs Norma Nixon

Mrs Maureen Aiken

Cathaoir Ocaiside

Margaret Bridge

Mrs Liz Paton

Mrs Helen Gallagher

Mrs Valerie Prosser

Mrs MC Gibson

Mrs Blaithin Surgeoner

Dr Paul and Mrs Jenny Harron

Mr Rowan White

Susie Hunter Consulting

Mr Harold Wilkin

Mr and Mrs P Lake

Mr FE Woodhouse

Mr Richard and Mrs Róisín Lee Mr Roger Martin Mr Tom Maxwell Mrs K McVeigh Sarah Mulligan The Reverend and Mrs Wilfred Orr Mr Colin Skillen

Bronze Friends

USA Friends

Anonymous

Laurel Bahar

Mrs Briege Arthurs, in memory of Peggy Flyn

Tim and Missy Beall

Miss RE Bell

Paul and Donna Davison

Mr S Dessain

Richard and Susan Davison

Mrs Laura Giblin

Steven and Kim Davison

Jacynth Hamill

Jeff and Norma Young

Miss K A Jones

Margaret Riddle

Mr ADP McDonald

Charles and Lisa Schmitz

Lady McFarland Mrs Nancy McGiveron Mrs Clíona McGuckin Mrs K McKendry Mr Des McKeown Mr P McKeown Mr John Wallace

Top left photo by Jim Corr, others by Peter Thompson

Front and back cover image: ‘Distant Rathlin’ by Kenny McKendry RP