Acclaimed Irish singer Sean Keane is to be joined by Mayo Concert Orchestra on his upcoming concert tour due to commence in early December.
Welcoming the invitation to provide accompaniment, Mayo Concert Orchestra Musical Director, Kathy Fahey, said orchestra members were very much looking forward to the tour, which will celebrate the singer's latest CD, 'Gratitude' and also include some Christmas pieces.
“Sean Keane is one of Ireland's finest singers who comes from a big family of musicians. He is an amazing artist, it is not enough to just listen to him, you have to see him perform. Every word he sings is full of meaning and he also has such a lovely personality, he's funny and entertaining. He has the whole package and is one of our own, a country artist and very unassuming, down to earth and someone who will have a cup of tea with anyone.
“He recently sold out the national concert hall for one of his performances – it holds 2,000 people - so that speaks volumes. He was also invited to sing at the recent World Meeting of Families for Pope Francis’ visit at the Phoenix Park in Dublin, in front of an audience of more than 100,000 people.
“So he is big and he also has followers from every age. He is a household name, everybody knows him and he is world travelled, with regular shows in the US and Europe and all around the UK. It is wonderful to be invited to accompany him on his concert tour and we are really looking forward to it."
Fahey has complete confidence that Mayo Concert Orchestra will perform at a consistent high standard while on tour, even though it comes directly on top of musical rehearsals for Messiah – the famous and lengthy oratorio by Handel due to be performed as part of the Christmas tradition by local choral group Vocalessence at Castlebar Church of the Holy Rosary on the last Sunday in November.
“While we must be careful not to take on too much at one time, the key to managing these projects is to run a carefully timetabled rehearsal strategy with clear progress plans, which we are already working on. There are opportunities and challenges but at the end of the day I could definitely see us as a working orchestra in the sense that any show coming to town could call on us rather than bring in musicians from outside to provide backing music."
Fahey revealed that a number of additional projects are also waiting in the pipeline for the orchestra so that, while 2018 has been a busy year, 2019 may prove even busier.
Initial dates for Mayo Concert Orchestra to perform with Sean Keane are Thursday December 6 in Ennis, Friday December 7th and Saturday December 8 in Galway and Friday December 28 in Claremorris. The orchestra is scheduled to accompany Vocalessence in their performance of Handel’s Messiah on Sunday November 25 at Castlebar Church of the Holy Rosary.
