St Peter’s choir now gearing up for another big year ahead
ST. Peter’s Male Voice Choir returned to rehearsal with Musical Director Edward Holly last week in preparation for its forthcoming St. Patrick’s weekend concerts in the Droichead Arts Centre on the 16th and 18th March next, riding high on an amazing 2017 and its abundance of inimitable musical memories.
In March, the members performed two hugely entertaining Irish concerts in the Droichead Arts Centre and in May sang with international soprano Celine Byrne at her sold out “Gala Concert” in Drogheda. Before breaking up for the summer the choir had some amazing recording sessions in Windmill Lane for its third CD, due for release this year.
September saw it perform on its own for the first time in the Barbican Centre, with an incredibly enthusiastic audience clapping and dancing the night away to many of their favourite songs. That concert, the aptly-named ‘Songbook’, was a long-awaited and eagerly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed “Decades” and as always had a wonderful live band. There followed three sold-out Christmas concerts before the choir participated in the Christmas Mass celebrations in its home church of St. Peter’s, West Street.
PRO Anthony Moore said:- “The choir and its Musical Director Edward Holly wish to thank sincerely all our family, friends and supporters for making 2017 such a successful year for us. We had a wonderful 12 months and got a great reception for our St. Patrick’s day concerts in the Droichead Arts Centre, the Gala with Celine Byrne, our “Songbook” show in September and, last but not least, our three sold out Christmas concerts.
“With regard to our Christmas shows we would also like to thank Archdeacon Carroll for hosting our first Christmas concert in St. Peter’s Church, West Street. It was an absolutely magical night with amazing performances from the choir, our guest soloists and musicians, and it set the standard for our subsequent two concerts in the Arts Centre and the Westcourt Hotel, to whom we are also so grateful for all their help. The Westcourt concert was staged due to huge demand and brought the total amount of concert goers to over 1,100 for our three sold-out festive shows!’
On a poignant note, before the third concert there was a moving presentation from Rescue 116 Airman Derek Everitt and Mayor of Drogheda Pio Smith as Edward, Chairman Paul Delaney and members of St. Peter’s Male Voice Choir were given a very special presentation to mark the choir’s singing at the Requiem Mass of Captain Mark Duffy who so sadly lost his life in the Rescue 116 tragedy. Derek told the choir that this was one of only six such presentations in the country. The presentation is inscribed “in recognition of your compassion, professionalism and the most beautiful music performed during the funeral Mass of Captain Mark Duffy, from the rescue crewmen, pilots, engineers and staff of Rescue 116.”
On behalf of the choir, chairman Paul Delaney said that it was “most humbled and grateful” to have received this tribute and that it would occupy pride of place in their rehearsal rooms from now on.