Hailing from Holten, a village in the northeast of the Netherlands, Amazing Popkoor will visit Mayo in October upon the invitation of the Mayo International Choral Festival. Their trip will involve a tour of the west of Ireland culminating in a concert in Christchurch, Castlebar, together with the Mayo Male Voice Choir and The Rolling Waves on Friday, October 13.
Formed in 1994, this mixed adult choir has 40 members and their repertoire consists of beautiful renditions of many of the all-time favourite pop-songs, in four-part a cappella arrangements. Directed by Marion Mulders the choir performs regularly at choral festivals and events in the Netherlands and in Europe including Finland and Germany.
The popular Mayo Male Voice Choir, under the direction of Deirdre Lee since its inception, has travelled and performed all over Ireland, the UK, and as a far away as Germany and Prague. The choir performs at many local concerts, and has a busy winter programme including a welcome home to passengers at Ireland West International Airport Knock at Christmas.
The dynamic traditional Irish music youth group The Rolling Waves, guided by John Killkenny, has earned first prize under Grúpaí Cheoil, 12 to 15 age-group, at Fleadh Ceol na h-Eireann 2010 and All Ireland Champions U12s, Cavan 2012.
It is a busy time for the organisers, with details of the 2018 festival just announced, with strong interest to date. Members of the committee will also promote the festival at choral events all over Ireland, including the upcoming Barbershop Convention in Cork, the Derry International Choral Festival and the Sligo International Choral Festival. They hold their annual general meeting on Thursday, October 19, at Lough Lannagh Village, Castlebar, at 6pm, and all are welcome.
That following Saturday sees an exciting event taking place – at 3pm on the Mall in Castlebar on Saturday, October 21, members of the public, all Mayo choir members, their friends, and all community groups are asked to stand together to form a giant musical note. The note will be filmed and photographed from above and will signal the launch of the 2018 festival. All are asked for their support, and all that’s needed is for people to turn up for an hour, wearing something white in order to stand out against the green background.
The committee is also hosting many upcoming events including a concert with the Iowa Concert Band USA, together with the Mayo Concert Orchestra, GMIT Mayo on Tuesday, March 13, and a concert in Ballintubber Abbey with the Cherrycreek High School Choir USA together with St Joseph’s Secondary School Choir and Gospel Choir, Friday March 23.
The deadline for choir entry to the 2018 Mayo International Choral Festival is December 31st for International Choirs and January 31 2018 for choirs from Ireland. The festival is supported by Mayo County Council and Fáilte Ireland and all events are open to a public audience.
Tickets for the Amazing Popkoor’concert, Christchurch, Castlebar at 8.15pm, Friday October 13 - cost €12 (adult ) and €8 (child ), are available from Downtown Records, Castlebar and Westport or online at www.eventbrite.ie
