Write a commentThe University of Ulster Choir is performing in Newry Cathedral this Thursday the 1st of May at 8.30pm. Admission is Free!
The Choir has gained considerable popular and critical acclaim for its distinctive and dramatic performances presented in beautiful ecclesiastical settings. Shaun Ryan, Lecturer in Music and Choral Director, has been instrumental in developing the reputation of the Choir over the last ten years. He explains “At our public concerts we like to present a programme of music that will be attractive to audiences but may also introduce them to something a little more unusual, ideally, something unknown to them. Hence, we will often perform a well-loved ‘classic’ such as Vivaldi’s Gloria or Fauré’s Requiem, but present it alongside a contemporary work that will be new to the audience. We also feel it is important to perform in a range of settings and to reach out to a wider audience. In recent years the Choir has performed in Londonderry, Belfast, Enniskillen, Coleraine, Dublin and London, and we look forward to expanding both our repertoire and our geographical reach even further over the coming years.”
For this season’s series of concerts the choir is delighted to be joined by its resident repetiteur, Gail Evans (piano), and Shonagh Lyons (soprano) in performances of Poulenc’s wonderful setting of the Gloria text. Also included in the programme is Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, which features American Violist Julia Beebe.
Gail Evans (repetiteur) from Mid-Ulster, studied piano under both Elizabeth Bicker and Stephanie Hughes, and organ with Desmond Hunter. Having completed her undergraduate degree and PGCE in Music at the University of Ulster, Gail embarked on a teaching career which led to the post of Head of Music in Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt, where Gail particularly enjoyed training the Junior, Senior and Chamber Choirs. In her final year at the school, Gail organised and directed a highly successful school concert in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. Playing piano and accompanying others has been Gail's lifelong passion and having moved out of the education sector, she is now developing her skills as an active accompanist and répétiteur throughout the province.
Gail is in her third year as accompanist for Belfast Philharmonic Choir, Phil Kids, Phil Youth Choir and Chamber Choir; all of which she does alongside her ongoing work for the University of Ulster Choir, Tosini, the Ulster Youth Choir, and NI Opera, in addition to performing in masterclasses and workshops with various internationally renowned musicians such as Mary King, Iain Burnside, Paul Farrington and Jonathan Lemalu. Gail also regularly plays for recitals and examinations, accompanies at Music Festivals, and acts as musical co-ordinator for annual events such as Newtownabbey Council's Shoreline Festival concert 'Classics in the Park'.
Shaun Ryan (conductor) is a lecturer at the University of Ulster Music Division, Magee College in Derry. In 1996, as a member of the Dalriada Piano Trio, Shaun won the coveted ‘Overall Exceptional Performance Prize’ at the Belfast Festival. As a result of this win, the trio was selected by the British Federation of Festivals to represent Belfast at the ‘Champion of Champions Festival’ held in Warwick, England later that year. There, the trio won a gold medal and was subsequently invited to perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank.
In 1999, studying as a postgraduate, Shaun became the first student to take directorship of the University of Ulster’s Music Division Choir, a position he has since held. In addition to directing the University’s Choir and Chamber Choir, Shaun was Conductor of Larne Choral Society from 2002 to 2005, has worked with the Chapel Choir of Trinity College Dublin and The Dublin Gospel Choir, and has acted as bass-section coach and rehearsal conductor with the Ulster Youth Choir. In 2006, Shaun was Musical Director for UTV’s opening ceremony of The Special Olympic Games, broadcast from the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, a venue he has returned to annually as Musical Director with Flash Harry, the University of Ulster Choir and the Ulster Orchestra in the show ‘The Music of Queen: Rocked Up and Classical’.
In 2011 Shaun was Musical Director for the show ‘Rumours of Fleetwood Mac’ with Liverpool band, RFM, and the Ulster Orchestra. His work in musical theatre has included conducting Schoenberg and Boublil’s Les Misérables and the Vivian Ellis Prize-winning opera, Ulysses – a Musical Odyssey, which toured Ireland and was subsequently featured on London’s Southbank. Earlier this year, as part of Derry/Londonderry’s UK City of Culture celebrations, Shaun conducted the combined chamber choirs of the Universities of Ulster and Aberdeen together with the London Southbank Sinfonia in performances of Laurence Roman’s new oratorio, Columba Canticles; the work was commissioned by St Columb’s Cathedral, Londonderry to mark the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the cathedral.
Programme
Jerusalem M McGlynn
Quiquis eris M McGlynn
Five Hebrew Love Songs E Whitacre
The Beatitudes P Mealor
I Am Not Yours Z Randall Stroope
The Seal Lullaby E Whitacre
Interval (10 minutes)
Gloria F Poulenc
i. Gloria
ii. Laudamus te
iii. Domine Deus
iv. Domine fili unigenite
v. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
vi. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
soprano soloist: Shonagh Lyons
