ST NICHOLAS’ Collegiate Church will be the setting for the premiere of Hymn to Gaia by the celebrated Irish contemporary composer, Eric Sweeney, on Saturday March 20.
Hymn to Gaia will be performed by Galway’s Tribal Chamber Choir (directed by Mark Keane ), Dublin’s The Lassus Scholars, and Waterford’s’ Christ Church Cathedral Choir. The choirs will be conducted by Eric Sweeney.
The work is conceived as a musical expression surrounding nature and how we care for it. “The opening movement is almost like a plea for our failure in respecting and cherishing our planet,” says the composer, “and the second movement is a celebration of live and vitality in nature.”
Soloists for the evening include mezzo-soprano Bridget Knowles and baritone Eoin Power. The narrator is Jim Nolan, co-founder of the Red Kettle Theatre Company and former writer-in-residence with the Abbey Theatre.
Nolan will intersperse environmental texts from a variety of religious scriptures and poems by John Latham and environmental activist Gary Snyder.
The concert will also feature each choir performing contemporary music in the first half of the concert. Tribal Chamber Choir will sing music by American composer Eric Whitacre, The Lassus Scholars will perform a new work by Ireland’s Seoirse Bodley, while Christ Church Cathedral choir will sing music by Britain’s John Tavener.
Ticket are €10 and available at the door on the night.
