With Northern Ireland still in lock-down, choirs and choral music have been totally curtailed. But that is only as far as public rehearsals and performances are concerned. All of our choirs are totally determined to keep the ‘spark’ alive. They are demonstrating great ingenuity with methods that might be via live Zoom performances, virtual choirs, on-line rehearsals – whatever the medium, the choirs want to maintain their enthusiasm and standard. Using new interview material and pre-lockdown recordings, Sing Out will give an entertaining and comprehensive overview of choral life in the Province. This is the first in a brand new series celebrating the very high standard of choral music in Northern Ireland and what steps the choirs are taking to cope with the lockdown.
For such a small place, Northern Ireland ‘punches way above its weight’ when it comes to singing and choirs.
Sing Out celebrates these choirs and asks - who are all these people and why do they do it? It’s an opportunity to enjoy the choirs singing and talking about their passion and get an insight into this wonderful world of music where absolutely anyone can be a participant, where musical expertise can range from beginners to highly sophisticated. For example, meet the members of School Choirs and hear the challenges that they have faced, and what motivates such a large group of young people to sing and produce such a wonderful sound. There are Community Choirs who experience many different challenges and locations, ‘workplace’ choirs whose members all work together, there are people who meet because they perhaps all face the same debilitating illness, from churches to cathedrals, from concerts and stage shows to International Choral Festivals – what makes all these people sing? And who are they?