Goethe Choir set for world premiere of special composition at Mayo concert

THE Goethe Choir will perform a world premiere cantata, Greenwich Parley - An Elegy For Two Queens, in Holy Trinity Church, Westport, on Sunday, June 13, at 3 p.m.

It tells the story of the meeting between Queen Elizabeth I and Grace O’Malley, the famed Pirate Queen of Ireland, who were the most powerful women in the British Isles in the year 1593. The concert also includes a professionally narrated description of both women’s lives and about their meeting.

The Goethe Choir was founded in 1965 as the Goethe-Institute Choir at the request of the then director of the German Cultural Institute to enable choral music by both singers and audiences around Dublin. Since the appointment of the well known and highly rated conductor John Dexter in 1998 (who now lives outside Westport), the choir has grown considerably in size with a range of ages and nationalities.

The piece to be performed in Holy Trinity will combine classical Elizabethan choral music with traditional Irish pieces as well as some choral music by Shaun Davey, with John Dexter conducting. It will also feature instrumental accompaniment on uilleann pipes, whistle and harp.

Another highlight will be new works by contemporary Irish composers Ciara McElholm, Jean AC Finch, Mary Kelly and Brian McIvor. Special guests for the concert series (which includes dates in Galway and Dublin) are Éamonn Galldubh on whistle and uilleann pipes, as well as actors Niamh McAllister and Ashleigh Dorrell.

For the concert in Holy Trinity, entrance is free of charge but donations will be accepted towards the church restoration fund.