EntertainingSligo
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT
A chance encounter at a music festival in Italy between members of the Moy Singers and the Mayo Youth Orchestra has set audiences in Ballina up for a musical treat this Christmas.
Now in its 32 year, The Moy Singer’s annual Carols by Candlelight Christmas Concert is taking place on Saturday the 1st of December in the Great National Hotel Ballina. Audiences can expect an amazing evening of music and song as the choir are joined by special guests, The Mayo Youth Orchestra and Sligo based soloist Katelyn Ressler.
The Mayo Youth Orchestra was founded in 1997 and has over 40 members of young people from all over County Mayo. Some of their recent highlights include having playing at the National Concert Hall and Áras an Uachtaráin, an award-winning film project, and tours to Vienna, Lisbon and Italy.
It was during their summer tour to Italy that members of the Mayo Youth Orchestra met with members of the Moy Singers. Speaking ahead of the concert, Mary Ruane Brogan, chairperson of the Moy Singers said,
“We are very excited to welcome the Mayo Youth Orchestra under the direction of Anne Moriarty to join us for our Christmas Concert. I know that our audience are in for a special treat as the orchestra perform some of their favourite pieces. They will also accompany us for festive ballads from the movies including Believe (Polar Express), The Frogs Chorus (Rupert and the Frog Song), Somewhere in my Memory (Home Alone) as well as traditional favourites including O Holy Night and Jingle Bells”!
Katelyn Ressler, a Canadian Soprano based in Sligo will also perform at the concert. Ressler holds an advanced diploma in Music Theatre Performance and has performance theatre and TV productions both in Canada and the US.
Brogan said: “Along with performing some popular Christmas songs, we look forward to performing, “O Holy Night”, with Ressler. The combination of a full orchestra and 50 voices singing in four part harmony backing this talented soloists will be incredible”.
Brogan concluded by saying: “We continue to grow as a group under the direction of Jonathan Carter, who has brought a unique energy to the choir. We not only love to sing and perform together, we have fun and support each other through thick and thin!.
Tickets are €15 and are available from choir members, the Ballina Tourist Office (Pearse Street) and the Great National Hotel.
SWANSONG
Conor McDermottroe’s ‘Swansong’ has been getting rave reviews in the United States after a run in LA and an extended run in New York. Further bookings in Australia and the UK have followed on the back of the success in the US. Written by Sligo man Conor McDermottroe, ‘Swansong’ is a haunting picture of heartbreak and yearning on the edge of a cruel and unforgiving world. It tells the story of Austin ‘Occi’ Byrne, the illegitimate child of a single mother in Sligo in the 1960s. Shunned by church, state and family, Occi must fight his way to adulthood in a dog eat dog world.
THE EMPTY FIELD
The Model welcomes the work of Chris Doris, a unique and personally intimate gallery experience which draws on the artist’s distinctive synthesis of practices in psychotherapy, art, meditation and other forms of interoception. Expansive ‘Open Paintings’, text paintings and works on steel and paper evoke the empty ground of being, and the conditioned nature of self. Doris’ practical research into the nature of consciousness, being and selfhood also informs what he calls ‘inquiries’ – durational, participatory setups, often in public contexts, which import skilled processes of observation from therapy and meditation into an art context.
A participatory inquiry utilising spontaneous group vocalisation. The work employs skilled modes of observation derived from mindfulness, psychotherapy and interpersonal neurobiology. Members of the public are invited to join the group of singers throughout the event.
FASHION UPCYCLE EVENT
Sligo Social Services will again host their highly successful Up-cycle Fashion Show on Thursday 29 th November at The Clayton Hotel. Senior Cycle Students from 4 schools around Sligo, were given the task of taking second hand clothes and using their imagination and vision to create new fashion collections. Using a theme of their choice, they will showcase their new collections the Upcycle event. They will tell the audience the journey of their collection and what they have learned along the way. Claire Ronan of Ocean FM will MC the event and meet with the teams on the night. The judges will then decide on their winners in various categories, with an overall winner being crowned at the event. Previous winners, ‘Femme Fatale’ from the Ursuline College are pictured. Doors open at 6pm, there will be many stalls on the night including make-up demonstrations from Caroline Wimsey, The perfect headpieces for any event by ‘With Nora Designs and many other crafters. All funds raised will go to the vital work of Sligo Social Services. Tickets are just €10 and be reserved by calling 0716145682 or pay on the door.