Chamber Choir Ireland

Chamber Choir Ireland return this year with a deeply moving programme that explores identity, belonging, and the lives of the marginal and dispossessed.

At the heart of the programme is Forgotten Peoples, a cycle of choral works by the great Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, celebrating (and dedicated to preserving) the musical heritage of six minority groups in the Baltic region. Featuring ancient songs dealing with everything from daily life to history, it’s a poignant tribute to tribes facing extinction.

The programme also features American composer Michael Gordon’s Anonymous Man, inspired by the homeless people he encountered on the streets of Tribeca, a formerly industrial district in New York.

These major works are paired with two recent pieces commissioned by the choir: Emma O’Halloran’s gone draws on the words of people who have experienced homelessness in Ireland over the past decade, while Francisco del Pino’s Index explores the Irish diaspora, paying tribute to the many thousands of emigrants who arrived in Argentina in the nineteenth century.