If Carlsberg organised concerts, they would probably be like the Waterford Male Voice Choir’s 25th anniversary concert at SETU on Manor Hill.
I’ve often remarked that the greatest challenge with any arts group is simply keeping it going. Members depart for a variety of reasons and life intervenes, like the economic crash and, of course, Covid when members had to rehearse online and adapt to line tapes on their own.
Tonight’s concert, that begins at 7.30pm sharp and finishes at 9.30pm, is a sell out and the programme is well co-ordinated. Despite the large numbers in the choir, entries on and off are sharp and snappy with plenty of information from host John Keane to fill in the gaps and introduce the next performance.
Raffle tickets are included in the concert ticket and there are 11 prizes at the end of the night – all of which are won by ladies.
Local theatre legend Denny Corcoran’s powerful ‘My City of Music’ is the choir’s powerful opening. It’s conducted by current Musical Director Stephanie Ní Fhoghlú with Úna Connery accompanying.
Members of Denny’s family in the audience make it even more special.
A new hymn tune for Charles Wesley’s timeless text forms the basis of Dan Forrest’s choral anthem ‘And Can it be?’, which includes subtle quotes of the original Wesley hymn, and swells to a symphonic faith-endorsing ending. The return to the opening phrase after that dramatic coda brings a touch of drama to the hymn.
The choir’s original Musical Director, Niall Crowley, is here to celebrate the silver anniversary of the choir, with Sinéad Crowley accompanying on ‘The Impossible Dream’ from the Man of La Mancha. Don Quixote’s glorious quest for what lies beyond ordinary is well told in this blockbuster ballad of the anti-hero.
And, if it’s blockbuster you want, then the choir’s full-throttled version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic is just the ticket to get any audience going. The song was written by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War and its biblical quotations give it surges of powerful energy. The iconic anthem was sold to The Atlantic Monthly for a mere $4.
Accompanied by the Barrack St. Band, the choir’s performance is triumphant, powerful and convincing and a finale of thumping timps, crashing cymbals and blaring brass and reeds brings cheers from the Bunker’s Hill audience. The band continued with a Gilbert O’Sullivan medley and a tuneful ‘This is the Moment’ from Jekyll and Hyde.
A presentation of a bouquet by WMVC Chairman Pat Delahunty to Sadie Duffin to mark her 101st birthday is a very special interlude during the performance. Sadie’s tip for a long life – moderate walking, never overdo it – and she’s got her ticket booked for next year’s concert.
De La Salle Leaving Cert Max Philpott conducts the De La Salle choir with a superb three-item programme. An bhfaca tú mo ghrá gheal…Bui Doi…and finishes out the set to audience cheers with a clickity-click, up tempo gospel piece that has a madrigal feel to it.
WMVC MD Stephanie Ní Fhoghlú is also a fine soprano as she shows in Mozart’s ‘Voi Che Sapete’. Former MD Cian O’Carroll, accompanied by Celia Kehoe, conducts the choir in a spirited ‘When the saints go marching in’ and a tuneful father-son farewell in a very tender ‘Danny Boy’.
Tonight’s concert is in aid of the Little Sisters of the Poor and a handsome cheque of €7,365 is presented to Sr Veronica at the end of the concert. Over the last 25 years, the choir has raised in excess of €100,000 for local charities. Quite an achievement.
Congratulations to Waterford Male Voice Choir on making music for the last quarter of a century.