Last Saturday night, the wonderful Lismore Choir kicked off a mini-tour of East Cork and West Waterford, in a triumphant return to Saint George’s Theatre and Arts Centre in Mitchelstown.
The choir of over 35 performers are renowned for their renditions of major works from the classical tradition, such as Faure’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, as well as their annual Christmas Carol concerts in Lismore Castle.
On Saturday night, to celebrate their first spring concerts since Covid, their program, instead of the staples of Handel and Faure, included the works of Lennon & McCartney and Rodgers & Hammerstein. This change in tempo and style demonstrated a reinvigorated choir under the encouragement of musical director John Casey, who joined Lismore Choir last September.
This concert marked the fourth anniversary of the opening of the Arts and Heritage Centre in the former church in 2019. Lismore Choir also performed at this memorable event, it was only fitting that they should return on this anniversary to commence their Spring/Summer tour.
As well as the ebullient choir in full voice, special guests for the night were Waterford soloists Sarah O’Mahony and tenor Frank Ryan, whose offerings included ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ and ‘Finiculi Finucula’ led the enthusiastic audience through many popular numbers. Throughout this varied and bubbly concert, the audience were encouraged to participate and sang well known songs with gusto.
Musical director John Casey and his group of musicians, most notably pianist Anna O’Sullivan, led the choir, which included some new members on their first outing, through a wide variety of favourites from the charts of yesterday, culminating with their performance of a medley from Les Miserables. The air surrounding the Centre reverberated to the air of the La, La, La’s from The Beetles – Hey Jude as a sated audience emerged into the beautiful Mitchelstown night air.
For those who missed this fantastic concert, Lismore Choir can be heard on their tour next Sunday, May 28th in Saint Mary’s Church, Dungarvan at 3pm or in Lismore Cathedral on Sunday, June 10th. As a local music promoter says, “be there or be square.”