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The
Fleischmann Choir was founded in November 1992. Initially
called the Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra Chorus,
it sang in public for the first time on 22 April 1993 when
it gave a concert with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
in Cork’s City Hall to mark the opening of the 40th
Cork International Choral Festival. The programme was of
music by Aloys Fleischmann – one of the founders of
the Cork International Choral Festival, and its longest-serving
Director – who had died the previous year. Shortly
after this concert, with the permission of the family, the
choir was renamed in memory of the man who did so much to
further the cause of choral music and choral singing in
Ireland. Rehearsals for this large, mixed-voice choir take
place on Monday nights from 7.45-10.15 p.m.; the founder-conductor
is Dr Geoffrey Spratt, (Director of the CIT Cork School
of Music and Founder-Conductor of the Irish Youth Choir),
and auditions are held if the number of applications exceeds
the number of vacancies for any given section.
The choir specialises in singing large-scale works for choir
and orchestra. In recent years it has performed Berlioz's
Grande messe des morts [Requiem] (in both Wales and Ireland),
Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince
Igor, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem & N³nie, Bruckner’s
Te Deum, Angel Climent’s Missa solemne & Motet:
Caro mea, Fauré’s Requiem, Fleischmann’s
Clare’s Dragoons & Song of the Provinces, Grieg’s
Incidental Music for Peer Gynt, Handel’s Messiah &
Chandos Anthem No. 1, Haydn’s Missa in tempore belle,
The Seasons, & The Creation, Hummel’s Alma virgo,
Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Bryan
Kelly’s Africa, Mathias’s Ave Rex, Mozart Requiem,
Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria, Stainer’s
The Crucifixion, Verdi’s Missa da Requiem (in both
Germany and Ireland) and Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus &
Gloria, as well as music by J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Bernstein,
Britten, Clucas, Donizetti, Elgar, Holst, Mascagni, Mathias,
Mozart, Parry, Purcell, Stanford, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams
and Verdi, carols, folk-song arrangements, gospel arrangements,
Negro spirituals and opera choruses. In addition the choir
has accepted invitations as diverse as Songs of Praise for
the BBC from St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork,
backing Johnny Logan during the Eurovision Song Contest
broadcast by RTÉ from Millstreet, Co. Cork, and singing
with Niamh Kavanagh for her RTÉ Christmas Show from
Cork Opera House.
The Fleischmann Choir is delighted to have been invited
to give the Opening Gala Concerts of the 2004 & 2005
Cork International Choral Festivals – not least because
in April 2004 it provided the opportunity to perform again
the two Fleischmann works the choir sang for its inaugural
concert in 1993. It was particularly pleased that the Cologne
Philharmonic Choir - with which it had already given concerts
in Cologne, Dublin and Cork – was able to join the
combined choral and orchestral forces of the Cork School
of Music to perform Berlioz’s epic Te Deum for the
opening of the Cork International Choral Festival in April
2005. During its 2006-2007) season the choir performed Mozart’s
Requiem with the Cork Symphony Orchestra in Cork’s
City Hall to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of
Mozart. Last season the choir performed a programme of Christmas
music in St Michael’s Church, Blackrock, Cork; and
in March 2008 it gave the first performances in Cork of
Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace to over 2,000
people.
The Fleischmann Choir’s 2008-2009 season included
the first complete performance in Cork of Haydn’s
The Seasons with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and a
team of internationally renowned soloists. Details of the
2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons will be available from the
CIT Cork School of Music’s Public Office on or after
1 September 2009. The former will include a performance
of music by Aloys Fleischmann for the Opening Gala Concert
of the Cork International Choral Festival to mark the centenary
of his birth, and the latter will include concerts in Dachau
(Germany) and performances of Puccini’s Messa di Gloria
with the CSM Symphony Orchestra.
Although the Fleischmann Choir has achieved an enviable
reputation for fulfilling its mission to perform the large-scale
repertory for choir and orchestra, it also has a great reputation
amongst its members for the inclusive social life that goes
hand-in-glove with the singing.
The Fleischmann Choir is the adult, mixed-voice choir of
the CIT Cork School of Music, and anybody who wishes to
join should contact the CIT Cork School of Music Public
Office ([021-]4807301) or e-mail the choir’s conductor,
Dr Geoffrey Spratt (geoffrey.spratt@cit.ie).
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