North Clondalkin Community Choir performing in the Church of the Immaculate Conception
Audience delighted with North Clondalkin Community Choir show
“THE big day was here!” exclaims Ruth Grogan of North Clondalkin Community Choir regarding their performance at last weekend’s Clondalkin Village Festival.
Weeks of intense rehearsals were about to come to fruition as they took their places at the altar of the Church of the Immaculate Conception & St Killian’s.
They were lucky to be inside as the weather had changed.
They looked “very smart” in their black outfits adorned with gold scarves and ties.
They had time for a quick practice, so Noel ran through a few of the more complex areas of their music.
The church was filling up quickly; the choir recognised some of their friends and waved excitedly.
Shane Moynihan, TD, was MC for the day, and he spoke warmly about the background of the choir and their previous performances.
They had a packed programme ahead of them as they started off with ‘Lay all your Love’ by ABBA.
The audience were delighted and shouted words of encouragement.
Next up was one of the male singers, Michael.
He played the harmonica by way of an introduction to the beautiful Raglan Road.
The Beatles Rewind Medley was next.
It was a fast piece, but the choir were able to catch their breaths as one of their Alto soloists, Mary O’Connell, sang ‘Penny Lane’ and then, later, ‘Blackbird’.
“We all had a well-needed sit down as another of our men, singer Dave Fadden, who played a two-foot-tapping selection of pieces on the Uilleann pipes, was accompanied by his wife, Madeleine, on the concertina.”
The choir’s rendition of the well-known ‘Dreams’ by The Cranberries got a huge cheer from the audience.
The chorus was followed by a Soprano soloist Carolyn, as she sang the beautiful ‘I Dreamed A Dream’.
It was time for the choir to stand again and perform ‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow.
Then, two of the choir’s Chinese sopranos, Hong Liu and Jian Liu, sang the “most haunting” version of ‘Me and My Homeland’.
“I don’t think there were many dry eyes.”
They were honoured to have representatives from the Chinese Embassy who had come to support them.
Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ was next on the list.
“It was lovely to hear many participants in the audience joining in.”
The choir sat again as one of their Altos, Eileen, sang the very funny ‘Mr Snow’; this was followed by a Soprano, Kay, singing Christy Hennessy’s ‘Roll Back the Clouds’.
It was time for the younger members of the choir to play their ukuleles as accompaniment for Carolyn, who sang the very happy ‘Pink Pony Club’.
A few youngsters in the audience clearly knew the song and joined in during the chorus.
“It was lovely to see them waving their hands in the air.”
Back on their feet again, for their final song, ‘Viva La Vida’ by Coldplay.
This time the audience responded by waving their phones’ torches in the air.
The performance seemed to be “over in a flash”.
Shane Moynihan warmly invited the Chinese Counsellor to say a few words of thanks and appreciation at the end.
The choir has been invited to the Chinese Embassy.
Congratulations to all involved on a successful performance!
