Christ Church Baroque - Concert - Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th December 1999
Richard Griffiths
Dublin
===========================================================
Christ Church Baroque
Director Mark Duley, Leader Thérèse Timoney
present
HANDEL
MESSIAH
In a performance using period instruments
Louise Walsh Soprano
William Purefoy Countertenor
James Gilchrist Tenor
Philip O'Reilly Bass
Christ Church Cathedral Choir
Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th December 1999 8 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral
Tickets at door or from OPUS II (671 8571 / 677 8872) £12 (£10 conc.) / £8
(£6 conc.)
kindly sponsored by A&L Goodbody, The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaion
---------------------
Christ Church Baroque
---------------------
Christ Church Baroque came into being in 1996 to perform music from the
baroque period in an historically aware manner and to the highest standard,
and with the intention of becoming a permanent Irish-based ensemble using
the finest professional players available. It was founded by Mark Duley and
Thérèse Timoney in the knowledge that Dublin is the only major European
capital to be without its own professional period instrument orchestra
dedicated to the performance of baroque music.
The Cathedral Choir
-------------------
The present cathedral choir traces its origins to the Choir School founded
in 1493. The choir took part in the first performance of Handel's Messiah in
1742. Uniquely in the British Isles, the cathedral's principal choir of
today is constituted as a semi-professional ensemble of twenty-five adult
singers. This choir is complemented by the cathedral girls' choir, set up in
1995 to offer the girls of Dublin the special experience that is the
privilege of a cathedral chorister. Within the main choir are the
cathedral's ten lay vicars choral (including, unusually, four sopranos) and
five choral scholars.
The choir's repertoire is the largest of any cathedral in the country,
covering more than five centuries and including many works written
especially for the cathedral (amongst them three recent commissions). In
addition to the full part it plays in the worship of the cathedral the choir
enjoys an enviable national reputation, enhanced by concerts, tours of
Ireland and England and regular broadcasts on both the RTÉ and BBC networks
(including BBC Radio 3 Evensong).
---------------------
The latest additions to the cathedral website are at: