FCJ orchestra forced to cancel America trip

THE school choir in FCJ Bunclody has been forced to abandon a planned trip to America as a result of the threat posed by the coronavirus, COVID-19.

Speaking to this newspaper about the trip Principal, Brendan Daly, said 159 students and 13 chaperones were due to travel to Rhode Island in April to perform for and alongside students from the prestigious Mount Saint Charles Academy.

‘It’s a school we are twinned with, music wise,’ said Mr Daly.

‘We have been working really hard preparing for the trip and the musicians and singers have been practising really hard so it’s really unfortunate,’ he added.

The concert would have seen the two schools joining up again following a sell out performance in the National Opera House last February which was organised to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the FCJ (Faithful Companions of Jesus’ Sisters) order in Europe.

Among the special guests that night were international performers, Des Willoughby, Anthony Kearns, Claire Kavanagh and Ann-Marie Sheridan.

The FCJ Bunclody has been twinned with the Mount Saint Charles Academy school, through music, for over 29 years and the American school’s choral group featured in the National Opera House concert along with FCJ’s junior, intermediate and senior orchestras, the school’s junior trad group and its senior trad group.

While everyone was looking forward to travelling to America next month events in recent days and weeks have changed things in a way that nobody could have foreseen.

Mr Daly said that while everyone is disappointed the trip has been cancelled he also pointed out that the health and safety of everyone in the FCJ is of paramount importance.