The popular five-day Cork International Choral Music Festival is set to return to the city by the River Lee this May bank holiday weekend. The festival, which commences on Wednesday the 29th April is set to showcase the best and the finest in amateur Irish and international choirs who will battle it out for honours. People taking a trip to Cork this weekend can enjoy informal pop-up performances throughout the city by the Lee.
The festival is set to commence with an opening Gala concert which will take place in Cork City Hall with Cork’s renowned and popular vocal ensemble Madrigal ’75 presenting Music of The Baroque, accompanied by the Cork Baroque Orchestra.
The Cork International Choral Festival takes place from Wednesday the 29th April until the 3rd May
This year’s festival is set to attract many visitors planning on taking a trip to Ireland to it’s second largest city, Cork. Nearly 5,000 participants are also set to take part in this year’s festival with choirs travelling from a vast array of countries including Finland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Estonia and Canada for the five–day event. Europe’s finest vocal ensembles, Rajaton as well as German ensemble VocaMe are set to perform at the popular festival. Rajaton are an award-winning and popular six-voice cappella ensemble from Finland.
Festival manager Sinéad Dunphy stated: “It is always our aim to drive business into the city and county but to do so while maintaining artistic integrity and ensuring the level of quality we offer remains at the high standard that has been set over the years”.
“As it grows and improves each year we hope our festival can continue to be an important part of the great cultural community that is helping both city and county become a real destination for many to visit and enjoy,” she concluded.
Corks most prominent buildings will provide the atmospheric backdrop to the heavenly sounds of performing choirs. St. Anne’s Church in Shandon, St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral as well as Triskel Christchurch are set to feature during the five-day festival. The main venue of choice for the choirs is Cork City Hall whose capacity for 1,000 people and majestic setting makes it one of the most attractive and acoustically superb venues in Ireland.
With a wide array of Cork hotels to choose from, a trip to Cork and a visit to the Cork International Choral Festival is worth adding to your travel itinerary.