Acclaimed Tullamore choir enjoyed busy, award-winning year

THE acclaimed Offaly choir, the Tullamore Academy Choir, has enjoyed a busy and award-winning year.
The choir is part of the Tullamore Academy of Music and the choirmaster is Ciaran Brady. They've been going since 2008 and have gained an excellent reputation over the years. Their first rehearsal for the 2024 / 2025 season was on Wednesday October 17th in a premises a stone's throw from the Academy; their eyes on two performances, namely the Academy Christmas Concert in the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore on Sunday evening December 1st, and the Carol Concert in St Patrick's Church in Moate on Sunday evening December 8th. Having not been together for three months it was great gathering once again and participating in that lovely thing – group singing. Much of the rehearsing revolved around the forthcoming carols, which are always a joy to sing. There were a couple of new pieces to learn, including a very beautiful contemporary piece called “Lux Aeterna” (“Eternal Light”) which every choir member quickly fell in love with. Lux Aeterna was written by American composer Michael John Trotta.
As always, the weeks flew by and before everyone knew it the December 1st concert was upon them. It proved a great success and was warmly received by the audience. The choir sang two A Cappella (vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment) pieces, “Lux Aeterna” and “Carol of the Bells”. Carol of the Bells is very famous of course. It's a huge favourite with Tullamore Academy and their audiences. Flute, Guitar and String Ensembles from the Academy also performed during the Church of the Assumption concert.
After the concert Ciaran Brady thanked everyone for their efforts. “Congratulations on a lovely performance,” he said. “Some beautiful moments.”
The Carol Concert in St Patrick's Church was, as always, packed to the gills. It featured three choirs from the Academy of Music, the Children's Choir, Youth Choir and Academy Choir, accompanied by the acclaimed organist Professor Gerard Gillen. This special concert received a standing ovation at its end.
When rehearsals recommenced in January all eyes were focussed on three Choral Competitions. The first of these was the Limerick Choral Competition at the beginning of March. Competing against a number of choirs in the beautiful Redemptorist Church on South Circular Road the choir performed Trotta's Lux Aeterna and the show-stopper, the wonderful, traditional Spiritual “My Soul's Been Anchored” by Moses Hogan. My Soul's Been Anchored received a rousing response from the audience. The adjudicators awarded 90 points (out of 100) to the choir and first place. “A good choral sound,” they wrote. “This was well shaped with a good sense of line and style. Spirited and committed singing. Sung with evident enjoyment. Very well done!”
The next Choral Competition was in Bangor County Down. The choir prepared five pieces for this and rehearsed hard. Unfortunately this was a less successful visit than Limerick and they didn't win any awards. However, if there had been an audience award they would have definitely placed first in a number of the various competitions because of the very warm response from audience members!
After Bangor, the final competition of the year was in Navan during the May Bank Holiday weekend. As with Limerick and Bangor, the standard of singing in Navan was high. The Tullamore Academy did very well, singing four technically challenging pieces. They placed third in the Sacred Music Competition and first in the Choir of the Year Competition. “A convincing and committed performance,” wrote one of the adjudicators. “Very well prepared and executed overall.”
Following Navan, there was a very enjoyable concert in Esker Arts Tullamore which highlighted the hard work and talent of instrumentalists and singers in the Tullamore Academy of Music.
The final 'gig' of the season / year was a concert with a visiting American choir, the Bakersfield Master Chorale from California, in the medieval Christ Church Cathedral Galway on Friday evening the 13th of June. The Bakersfield performed for an hour and a half and sang excellently, presenting a very attractive repertoire. The Academy performed six songs. At the end of the concert both choirs surrounded the audience in a giant circle of sound and performed the touching “Blessing” by Katie Moran Bart.
Afterwards it was time for some well deserved R&R and to reflect on what had been another brilliant and rewarding choral year.
The following were the members of the 2024 / 25 choir:
Altos: Martina Burgoyne, Aileen Manning, Ann Nestor, Niamh Coleman, Lucy Nally, Clare Connolly.
Sopranos: Fiona Dunkin, Frances Fallon, Jayne Horan, Kate Cormican, Laura Geraghty, Mart-Mari Wallis, Roisin Ryan, Wendy Matthews.
Tenors: Derek Fanning, Cian Dully, Gavin Murphy, Peter Reynolds.
Basses: Billy Burgoyne, Conor Finn, James Murphy, Ken Poland, Will Fennelly.