http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100107-164816 " O Holy Night".

The guest Soprano, Helen Hutchinson from Dublin has a beautiful voice mellow and fluid.

She entertained with arias from Puchini and Verdi, followed by two songs Glendum and Marias Wiegelied. After interval she sang "Rejoice" from Messiah and "Poor Wandering One" from the Pirates of Penzance delighting the audience with her sweet assured handling of the intricate runs.

The Flutes of Mourne were the guest intrumentalists. They opened with a typical flute march, and followed this with " Some Enchanted Evening" and a beautiful rendering of " Silent Night" and " You Raised Me Up" They played a range of flutes from a piccolo to an enormous flute which produced rich base notes. Their rendering of " Nearer My God To Thee" was special, beginning with a solo flute and building the harmonies as the one by one, the other instruments joined in. Their drummer and spokesman was very humorous with the introductions. They finished with an American march medley containing tunes like " John Brown's Body" and " Dixie", featuring some marvellous piccolo playing.

The Choir under their new Musical Director Mary McCague, opened with a lively number " I Got Plenty Of Nothing" by Gershwin, followed by " When A Child Is Born " and " White Christmas" bringing in the Festive spirit. Craig Young (baritone) sang the solo in " The Holy City" ending the First Half. In the second half the Choir sang four livley songs " Amen" a rhythmical spiritual, " The Policemans Song " from the Pirates of Penzance (preformed with Gilbert and Sullivan accents and actions)" My Way" and " Winter Wonderland".

The Finale was " O'Holy Night" sung by Helen Hutchinson, backed by the Choir in the grand chorus. For an Encore, the Choir backed by an ever ready audience sang " The Twelve Days Of Christmas", ending the night with smiles and laughter.
The Choir was accompanied throughout by Patrick Coyle, the soloist was accompanied by our musical director Mary McCague.]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091104-235301 Helen Hutchinson (Soparno)will be the Soloist at our Christmas Wassal

Helene Hutchinson is a soprano from Dublin. She began her vocal studies at age 11 with the late Daniel McNulty...She is currently on the advanced vocal studies programme in the DIT Conservatory of music and drama under the tutelage of Colette McGahon, repetiteur Mary Scarlett,and recently completed with distinction the ATCL/LTCL Trinity London Guildhall performance diploma's. From a young age she has been a multiple 1st prize winner including the Soprano solo cup/Percy Whitehead cup Siemens Feis ceoil, Sligo feis ceoil overall vocal award and lyric fm bursay, Mozart competition DIT, Musician of the future [Glengouldproject] John McCormack bursary with a performance for the Lord Mayor Dublin in The Mansion House.

Recent roles for excerpts in opera DIT include Donna Anna Don Giovanni Mozart,Adelle Die Fledermauss Strauss and cover/role of Pamina in DIT's fully staged production of Mozarts The Magic Flute. In 2009 she performed in the chorus of Puciini's Madama Butterfly for Opera Ireland.Previous guest soloist performances include numerous concerts with St.Peters Male voice choir Drogheda, Setanta Choir Dundalk and The Seafield Singers Clontarf.

Recent engagements include several performances with Jade String's at the the National Gallery, Castletown House and Nighthalks at the Cobalt,guest soloist with the Young Irish Tenors [Dean Power, Peter O'Donohue and Ross Scanlon] and The Bohemian male voice group.
]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090920-112935 Art Centre, Newry
If you are interested please phone John at 02840623412 or E-mail to jstoole@sky.com]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090901-100751 The Cloughmore Male Voice Choir has pleasure in announcing the appointment of Mary McCague B.A(Hons),LRIAM, H.Dip(Ed), M.Sc, M.Mus(Perf) as Musical Director to the Choir as 1st September 2009

Mary McCague studied piano with Dr. John O Conor, harpsichord with Gillian Smith and violin with Rev. Brendan McNally. Awarded Scholarship of Trinity College, Mary went on to graduate with a First Class Honours degree in Music and Irish. She also holds a Higher Diploma in Education and a Masters in Multimedia, all from TCD, as well as a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Irish Academy of Music/DCU.

A multiple first prize winner at the Dublin Feis Ceoil, Mary is in great demand as a soloist, accompanist, chamber and orchestral musician and has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and America, including Carnegie Hall. She has also performed as soloist throughout Ireland in concert platforms which include the National Concert Hall, the National Gallery, the Helix and the RDS. Mary regularly works with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. She is a founder member of the Alpha Quartet and Celtic Rose and regularly on tv shows such as the Late Late Show with acts as diverse as Kanye West, Katherine Jenkins, Westlife and Il Divo.

In addition to performing, Mary is a music lecturer at the Dundalk Institute of Technology and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in conducting in St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.
]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090618-211315 to bid farewell to Colette Hart Lavery our musical director, who retires after 25 Years of dedicated service to the Choir.
The Guest Soloist for the evening was David Martin (Tenor)who performed a beautiful programme well suited to his voice. From Light Opera he sang "You Are My Heart's Desire"and "Vienna City Of My Dreams"and the more modern song "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables. In the second half of the evening he treated the audience to two romantic Neopolitan songs "Come Back To Sorrento" and " O Solo Mio" which he rendered in Italian. For the final number he sang " Nessan Dorma"with the Choir backing him and the audience erupted Cheers and foot stamping.

Patrick Coyle the accompanist for the Choir, had the piano moved out on to the stage and gave a recital of subdued gentle music. Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in G flat" was very delicate and pensive. The piece by Liszt was subtitled "Forest Murmurs" followed by his own compositions "Sunrise On Annamakerrig Lake"ending with Chopin's "Polonaise in A". Patrick brilliance and shy manner has endeared him to the Cloughmore audience.

Collette in her choice for the Choir ranged back through the repertoire for songs that had special significance for her, and as compare she talked about her reasons for choosing them, making little jokes and teasing the choir. You can imagine how the titles "Drinking Song", "Stouthearted Men" and "Glory And Love To The Men Of Old" gave her lots of scope. The Choir sang these songs very well and with great vigor, followed by beautiful renderings of "The Lord's Prayer" and "Gwahoddiad" a lovely Welsh Hymm. In the modern section "Bridge Over Troubled Water","My Heart Will Go On","Softly As I Leave You", and "Speed Your Journey" all were sung with great feeling, the Choir the finished with a powerful rendering of " The American Trilogy" and got a standing ovation and calls for more. For an encore they sang the rhythmic spiritual " Amen". this ended a wonderful evening and a fitting tribute to Collette for her dedicated service which brought joy and pleasure to the Choir and the Newry audiences. We wish her well for the future.]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090508-131833
The Cloughmore Male Voice Choir is celebrating another milestone in its remarkable history. Colette Hart-Lavery has completed twenty five years as musical director, a wonderful example of voluntary service. She was at the beginning of her teaching career when one of her pupils told her that her father sang in a male voice choir and that they needed a new musical director. Colette agreed to fill the vacancy and found herself with a choir somewhat depleted in numbers.

She built up the membership and still in keeping with the traditions of the choir introduced new music to the repertoire. Her expert choral teaching and her thoroughness paid off bringing renewed life to the choir. Under her direction there were two concerts a year, a CD called “Reflections”, performances with top class soloists and with other choirs. There were engagements to sing at many different venues, the most prestigious being at Aras An Uachtarain official residence of President Mary McAleese in Dublin.

Colette is leaving the choir to pursue her studies and we wish her well. She will be greatly missed by the choir and her audience of faithful fans who looked forward to the concerts at Christmas and in the Summer.

The “Gala Concert” on Wednesday 10th June will be a celebration of her accomplishment over twenty five years with the Choir.
]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090501-081531

Musical Director Colette Hart-Lavery with members of the Choir]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry090223-095454 Newry City Hall on the 10th June 2009
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Our Musical Director Colette Hart-Laverty has indicated that She will retire after 25 years of loyal service to the Cloughmore Male Voice Choir, (See Above Item)
Colette has chosen the programe for this concert from all the songs that she has enjoyed teaching the Choir over all those years.

The accompanist Patrick Coyle from Newry will acompany the soloist as well as the choir, and will also present a piano recital.

Our Soloist for this concert will be The Irish Lyric Tenor David Martin
Known as Ireland's Golden Voice hails from the border town of Dundalk in County Louth. He is known to perform with incredible stamina, agility, and flexibility. He is described as having "a beautiful Italian quality in his voice, a remarkable sound, and a fantastic vocal range". David began his vocal training studying with Geraldine McGee in Dundalk before being accepted to study with Dr Veronica Dunne and Ms Jeannie Reddin in the Leinster College of Music and Drama. Winner of The Denis O Sullivan Medal (Sligo), The Tenor Solo and the Joseph O' Mara Memorial Cup in Dublin, among other prestigious awards and achievements, David successfully completed Il Corso Di Canto E Perfezionamento Lirico in Montalto Ligure, Northern Italy. He has performed the lead tenor roles in the several full stage productions including, "The Lilly of Killarney", "The Gypsy Baron", "Pink Champagne", and the first ever performance of Goethe’s Singspiel “Claudine von Villa Bella”. His repertoire in Oratorio, in addition to many sacred Songs and Aria's, includes Mozart’s Requiem K626, and Handel’s Messiah. In his career to date, David has gained a wealth of experience in concert and stage performance, singing tenor roles in excerpts from opera such as La Fille du Regiment, La Boheme, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, Lucia Di Lammermoor, La Traviata, and many more. His repertoire is extensive, performing on TV and Radio on many occasions, in the National Concert Hall, and in many theatrical venues around Ireland and UK. His latest appearances in 2009 were Friday 10 April in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, in aid of the Carmichael Centre for voluntary groups, where he performed Handel's Messiah Parts 2 & 3, with soloists Virginia Kerr (Soprano), Philip O'Reilly (Bass), Cora Newman- Riley (Contralto), the Goethe-Institute Choir and The Dublin Orchestral Players, Conducted by John Dexter, and The Monsignor Peter Shields Memorial Concert, Darver Castle, Co Louth, He is currently on tour with The 3 Tenors (Le Voci) in venues around Ireland. For further information on his scheduled performances please visit www.davidmartin.ie or www.threetenorsireland.com]]> http://www.cloughmoremvc.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080612-174341 The Cloughmore Male Voice Choir Held its annual Summer Concert in the Newry City Hall on Wednesday 11th June 2008.

This year the guest singer was Christer Nerfont (Tenor) from Sweden, accompanied by Patrick Coyle on the piano, who presented a very light and melodic programme, including favourites such as,”Younger Than Springtime”,New York,New York”,”On The Night Of a Thousand Stars”and” Bring Him Home “from Les Miserables, all of which were well received by the audience.

The other guest artist was flautist Darren Canmore with a delightful programme.
Christer Nerfont

Patrick Coyle,Christer Nerfont,Collette Hart-Lavery,Darren Canmore, with some members of the Choir

The Choir brought its own unique male voice sound with a programme of modern, traditional, Irish, Spiritual and romantic pieces, including “Danny Boy “arranged by Brother Ben Hanlon of Waterford and “Sanctus” from Requiem by Luigi Cherubin, “Somewhere My Love”,”You Raised Me Up”and “Bridge Over Water”, to name but a few. The evening ended with Christer singing “Anthem” accompanied by the Choir.
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It was unique in the History of the Cloughmore Male Voice Choir- a Standing Ovation and a shout for an encore for “O Holy Night”. Dean Power a young Lyrical Tenor from Co. Clare was the Soloist and the backing and chorus from the Choir were very moving. Dean had the audience enthralled from the beginning with pure unforced singing and his sincerity. He sang, “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes” from Gilbert and Sullivan, “She is Far from the Land”, ”Maria” from West Side Story and La Donna E Mobile in the first half. It was his rendering in the second half of the old favourite “My Lagan Love” and the modern pieces “Gabriel’s Oboe” and “Time to Say Goodbye” that really thrilled the audience and set them up for “O Holy Night”.

The instrumental of the evening was provided by members of the Brass section of the South Ulster Youth Orchestra, a delightful group of young accomplished musicians, their rich sound gave that warm Christmassy feeling. Their Trumpet duet of “O Come Emanuel”, and the “Trumpet Voluntary” were excellent. Will McLean conducted the group.

The Choir was in great voice, they sang two, not well known but beautiful carols “Holy Child” and “Italian Pipers Carol”. They gave terrific performances of the rhythmic spiritual “Gonna Rise Up Singing” and the surging theme from Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On”.

Pavarotti was remembered in this the year of his death with a rendering of his famous “Nessun Dorma” aria. Patrick Coyle (accompanist) on the piano was magnificent in bringing this piece to its thundering climax. Patrick’s accompaniment all through for the choir and the soloist was beautiful in its own right. The moderns weren’t left out of the choir’s repertoire, they sang “Perhaps Love” by John Denver, “Love Me Tender” as sung by Elvis Presley and “She” from the film Notting Hill.

Collette Hart-Lavery the musical director was responsible for the choir and arranged the pieces very cleverly with each group of songs varied in theme in pace and emotion. Ending with “O Holy Night” was a master stroke.

The young soloist was mobbed on his way out by the enthusiastic audience and almost missed his bus back to Dublin. The Winter Wassail was wonderful.
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