World renowned ensemble The Sixteen who will open this year’s CIty of Derry International Choral Festival.
One of the world’s top vocal ensembles is to open International Choral Festival being held later this year in Derry.
The City of Derry International Choral Festival, which will take place from 22 – 26 October, has announced The Sixteen will visit the city to open the second edition of the annual choral festival.
The Sixteen are a British-based choir, founded by Harry Christophers in 1977 and hailed as one of the world’s greatest ensembles and have toured throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the Americas, performing at major concert halls and festivals for more than 30 years.
Dónal Doherty, Choral Festival director, said he was “absolutely delighted” to have secured The Sixteen.
He said the festival was an “outstanding success” as part of the City of Culture programme, with more than 2,000 participants over the four days, and it was always going to be a challenge to match the excitement and the impact of the inaugural festival.
He added: “But the participation of The Sixteen guarantees that Wednesday 22 October will be one of the musical highlights of 2014, not just in Derry, but throughout Northern Ireland.
“We have one of the most outstanding choral groups in the world, performing an exquisite programme in a beautiful venue – this is a winning combination that should not be missed.”
Meanwhile, choral directors, trainers and facilitators are invited to attend a series of seminars, panel discussions and educational workshops presented by Harry Christophers (The Sixteen), Ragnar Rasmussen (Professor of Conducting in Tromsø University, Norway) and other internationally-renowned choral educators the opening day of the fesrtival, Wednesday, 22 October.
Tickets will go on sale for the opening gala concert with The Sixteen and the International Choral Symposium in July.
Details will be posted at www.codichoral.com, on Facebook (City of Derry International Choral Festival) and via Twitter (@codichoral).
Entries are still open for participation in the choral festival’s many competitions and non-competitive Choral and Sacred Trails and more details of the line-up of guest artists are to be announced in the coming weeks.
The provisional timetable for the 2014 festival is as follows:
Wednesday, 22 October:
International Choral Symposium
Opening Gala Concert with The Sixteen and Harry Christophers
Thursday, 23 October
Primary school competitions and workshops
Evening Concert
Friday, 24 October
Post-primary school competitions and workshops
Evening concert
Saturday, 25 October
National competitions for female voice, male voice, mixed voice, gospel and barbershop music (morning and afternoon)
International Competition (evening)
Sunday, 26 October
Sacred Trail (morning)
National competitions for youth choirs and sacred music (afternoon)
Closing Gala Concert with awards ceremony (evening)
The Choral Trail will run throughout the weekend in city centre and wider community locations.
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