The Cork International Choral Festival is held annually in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and features

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

s from all over the world. About 5,000 choristers take part every year; they come from all over Ireland, from Britain, from the European continent, and sometimes from as far away as Africa, America, and Asia. Since its foundation in 1954, there have been about 3,500 choir entries. The festival will take place April 18th to April 22nd 2018.

History

The festival was founded in 1954. It was part of An Tóstal, a national festival begun by

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

in 1952, as an attempt to set lift the country from a period of economic depression and high emigration. This initiative was supported by senior Army officers and Bórd Fáilte, the Irish Tourist Board; which played a leading role in its implementation. The first Tóstal began in Cork in 1953 with a pageant in which a large section of the business community took part; there were sporting events,

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

activities, and an arts programme which included a performance of Handel's ''Messiah'' performed by the English Hallé Orchestra under

Sir John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

, with

Our Lady's Choral Society Our Lady's Choral Society is an Irish choir founded in 1945, composed of members of Catholic church choirs in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. It was founded by Vincent O'Brien (composer), Vincent O'Brien, the composer and director of musi ...

of Dublin – in all 300 performers. The following year the Choral Festival was established in its own right, and two years later the

Cork Film Festival The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal An Tóstal (, meaning "The Gathering") was the name for a serie ...

. The Choral Festival set out to * encourage music-making at local level, to provide a forum for rural and small town choirs * bring outstanding foreign choirs to Ireland and thus set standards against which the national choirs could measure themselves * safeguard standards by having panels of Irish and foreign adjudicators * provide entertainment for a large audience by combining competitive with non-competitive performances interspersed with Irish and foreign folk dancing * establish contact between the two parts of Ireland: a choir from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

attended the first Festival and that bridge-building continued to be successful Festival policy despite the Troubles * establish links with foreign choirs and dance teams and encourage Irish choirs to visit their counterparts abroad * create incentives for the production of new choral music by Irish composers and to encourage Irish choirs to perform this music: since the beginning competitors have been required to sing one work by a living composer from their own country. From 1958-1961 there were two competitions for Irish composers: one for a new work, and one for a folk song arrangement; in 1962 the Seminar on Contemporary Choral Music was set up which commissioned up to four Irish and foreign composers every year to produce new works for performance at the university Seminar and at the Festival. (To date 118 new works have been commissioned from 98 different composers). 1972 brought a further initiative with the

Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...

Trophy competition for young Irish composers commissioned by Irish choirs. * encourage choral music in schools – a schools competition was introduced in 1966 * bring the Festival to the city through outreach or fringe activities which have been organised since 1959. Visiting choirs sing for church services and give church recitals; choirs and dance teams perform in various venues outside the City Hall; foreign choirs give joint recitals with Irish partner choirs in their home towns in County Cork. Each year amateur international choirs are selected to compete for the Fleischmann International Trophy. The selected choirs also perform non-competitively in a range of Festival activities over the weekend, including Fringe concerts, church and informal performances. As well as foreign choirs, the Festival annually features up to 100 Adult, Youth and School choirs who participate in National Competitions. In 2011, 16 foreign ensembles came to Cork to participate in the Festival.John Fitzpatrick: ''Cork International Choral Festival Programme 27 April - 1 May 2011'', p 5.

Literature

* Ruth Fleischmann (ed.): ''Cork International Choral Festival 1954-2004: A Celebration'' (Herford: Glen House Press, 2004), .

References

External links

Festival website

Festival programs 1954−2014 on the Cork City Libraries website
{{Choral festivals Music festivals in Ireland Classical music festivals in Ireland Music in Cork (city) Choral festivals 1954 establishments in Ireland Tourist attractions in Cork (city) Music festivals established in 1954