Vienna
(Reproduction of article written for Waterford News & Star)
A 44-strong group of choristers from the Waterford Male Voice Choir secured a prestigious Silver Status award at the 30th annual Franz Schubert International Choral Competition in Vienna at the weekend.
Performing with choirs from 11 other countries at the annual Sing‘n Joy Choral Festival in the European music capital, which is home to the world-famous Strauss family and the Vienna Boys Choir, the Waterford choir won the praise of the adjudicators as well as the hearts and minds of their fellow competitors for a series of performances described as ‘best ever’ by their Musical Director, Cian O’Carroll.
In a hectic programme of Friday performances, they featured in the morning at an international Friendship Concert at the city’s Minoriten Church, during the afternoon at the Franz Schubert Choral Competition in the famous “Wiener Konzerthaus” (Vienna Concert Hall), and later that evening, were one of four international choirs invited to perform at a Gala Concert in the city’s landmark Schubert Church where they were delighted to have as their special VIP guest Ireland’s Ambassador to Austria, Her Excellency Mary Whelan.
Commenting on the success of the trip, the Chairman of WMVC, Pat O’Reilly, paid tribute to his fellow chorister whom he said had further pushed out the boundaries of Waterford’s unique musical heritage.
‘Our programme was heavily flavoured with Waterford musical content in that our repertoire featured three compositions uniquely associated with our city. These were ‘Come the Sails, originally commissioned by the Waterford Choirs Association to commemorate the arrival of the Tall Ships fleet in 2011; this piece was adapted specially for the choir by Waterford composer Sue Furlong; and two compositions in our native Irish language, ‘Ar Eirinn ni neosfainn ce hi; arranged for the choir by De La Salle’s Brother Ben O’Hanlon; and ‘Mo Ghile Mear’, set to four-part harmony by one of our well known and ultra-musical members, Declan Foley.’
He added that the choir’s founding ethos was to bring men together who had a love of music and singing for a bit of fun and enjoyment and to raise some much needed funds for local charities along the way. He hoped for a record attendance at the choir’s forthcoming season-ending concert ‘Sounds of Summer’ in the Tower Hotel, on Wednesday May 25th, at 8pm. [Admission €10].
‘We are hoping for a big turn out on the night to help us celebrate our first international success’ he said. ‘Having already sung on previous European trips in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and in Kraków, Poland, I believe the choir reached a new height with last week’s competitive performance in Vienna where we shared the stage with some of the most talented singing groups from Europe, South Africa and the Philippines.
He paid special tribute to the choir’s Musical Director, Cian O’Carroll, and accompanist Cecilia Kehoe. ‘We owe much of our success to Cian’s extraordinary musical leadership and I thank him and Cecilia on behalf of all our members for their commitment to the choir over the last two years”.
Pat also mentioned the special support extended to the choir by local menswear retailer Tony Fitzgerald, who had helped outfit the choir in new performance attire for their international competitive debut.
- Words, Joe Palmer
We almost had too much craic! In Vienna Airport, ready for the homeward journey.