Author: Eoin McAuley

Unfortunately, we have had to postpone our Spring concert. We want to wish all our members, sponsors, friends, supporters, and audiences the best of health. Stay safe and we are looking forward to a time soon when we will all enjoy wonderful music together again.

The Culwick Choral Society presents a dynamic and varied programme in its spring concert, the first under the baton of David Leigh.  The vocal and compositional virtuosity of Bach’s well-loved Magnificat contrasts perfectly with the pleasing textures and enticing rhythms of Roth’s A Time to Dance, composed as a companion work to the Bach, which receives its Irish première.

Olive Smith – A Musical Visionary, written by the subject’s daughter, Gillian Smith, tells the life story of Olive Smith, founder of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and surveys the history of the development of classical music in Ireland in the second half of the 20th century. Olive became a member of the Culwick Choral Society in about 1930. Olive was involved in 1948 in the foundation of the Music Association of Ireland. Also on its executive committee was Edgar Deale, a long term member of the Culwick Choral Society and a former president. One of the aims of the association was to work for the establishment of a National Concert Hall. Published by Somerville Press this book would make a great Christmas present for the music lover in your life.

For further information and to purchase the book, please go to http://www.somervillepress.com/olive.html

Our Musical Director, Bernie Sherlock, conducted her last concert with the Culwick Choral Society at the National Concert Hall on Thursday 5th December 2019.  The concert was very well received with a standing ovation at the end, a fitting tribute to a great director.   

Bernie has been at the heart of the Culwick Choral Society for the past 12 years and we were honoured to have had her as a Musical Director.   She leaves us with a proud legacy. 

Bernie has a well-deserved reputation in Ireland and, indeed, abroad.  We greatly appreciate her contribution to the Culwick Choral Society and wish her even greater success in the future.

Thursday 16th January 2020

Do you love to sing? The Culwick Choral Society is recruiting new members. For over 120 years the Culwick Choral Society has maintained an unbroken tradition of music-making in Dublin. The choir sings the classical choral works as well as premiering new compositions each year and we perform regularly in the National Concert Hall. We rehearse every Thursday from 7.30pm between September and the end of May in Wesley House, Leeson Park, Dublin 6. Sight-reading is an advantage but is not necessary as practice CDs are available

If you are interested in joining, why not come along to our open night at Wesley House on Thursday 16th January 2020 or any Thursday night. You can simply try out a rehearsal and then complete an audition at a later date. Alternatively you can call our registrar, Donal Ahern at 087 2222473, or email: culwickregistrar@gmail.com with your phone number and we’ll be happy to call you back for a chat.

I joined the Culwick Choral Society last January and I’m really glad I did!

Everyone was so welcoming and helpful and it was obvious that there was a real sense of community in the choir. I felt a bit out of practice musically but the choir members showed me the ropes in a very considerate way. 

I had been a member of the Fleischmann Choir in Cork years before and really enjoyed preforming choral works as part of a large group. It’s fantastic to hear all the other voices and harmonies around you when you’re singing and also for me it’s great to have lots  of backup/other people involved as you would never catch me getting up on a stage by myself!

I was looking for a similar experience in Dublin, a choir that was welcoming, warm and fun but also serious about the presentation and performance level they wanted to get to. I feel I definitely found that with the Culwick.

Last January I saw a post for an open night for the choir. I rang Donal Ahern,  one of the choir’s committee members, who was so helpful. I was able to go along to choir practice that same night which was great. Everyone was lovely and really helped me settle in. As I’m not really able to sight read it was reassuring to know that Donal had prepared practice CDs  and he was also  kind enough to email  me the  music and other tips/supports which was much appreciated. The cost of joining, when broken down weekly, is really good value too, cheaper than most classes one might go to. The secretary of the Choral Society links in with us regularly and it is all very well organised.  After several weeks in the choir I had an audition in order to become a permanent member. I was nervous about it, but Bernie Sherlock the Musical Director of the choir was very supportive throughout it. 

I had a fantastic season with the Culwick Choir which culminated in a performance in the National Concert Hall. An amazing experience made even better by the wonderful professional orchestra that Bernie had brought together for the occasion. It’s brilliant to be part of a choir that performs the big choral works to such a high level. Friends who attended said we sounded like a professional choir! I’m looking forward to our next performance on Culture night and also to our Christmas Concert.

 If you’re looking for a choir that’s serious about the standard they aim for musically but is also friendly and inclusive, the Culwick Choral Society is the one for you. I didn’t realise when joining, but it is also Dublin’s first public choral society, we are now celebrating 121 years and that’s a nice piece of history to be connected with. 

Would you like to join a choir? Culwick Choral Society is looking for new members in each of its sections. We are a large choir that sings big choral works in some of Ireland’s finest venues. We are friendly and welcoming and we work hard at being one of Ireland’s finest large choirs. Our musical director has won countless choral awards and pushes us to new levels. If you want to watch your musicality grow weekly, and enjoy your singing with a friendly bunch of people, then please consider coming to one of our rehearsals.

We think you’ll love it! If you join, you will participate in performances of great music, accompanied by professional symphony orchestras and show- casing Ireland’s very best soloists. Every week, at every rehearsal, you will be alongside the keenest singers, young and old, long-time music-lovers and the newly-converted to classical, all welcoming, all enjoying every minute. So if you’d like to join a choir, join the Culwick Choral Society!

Celebrating 121 years! Ireland’s first public choral society — going from strength to strength!