This ensemble with Paul Hillier conducting appeared at St. Mary's Catholic Church as part of our 2011-12 season. Our audience sent in these notes in response to our asking what they thought:
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I imagine the National Chamber Choir of Ireland might have come as a shock to anyone who was expecting, say, Irish songs. But I loved the imaginative program and I was stunned by the choir's precision and blend. I'm so glad I went!
Anne Tanner
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Singing in German with a Gaelic accent? I was afraid that they were going to do an encore!
Sherwood
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I really loved the concert, with a couple suggestions. It would have been nice if they would have sung some Irish songs. The piece after intermission was perhaps too long, and given that the audience is sitting in church pews.
Sincerely,
Maurita Mead
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Please don't invite the National Chamber Choir of Ireland back to Iowa City. Though each member of the choir is obviously very talented, this program was toooo much! Admittedly, their Bach renditions brought me joy which was only increased when I heard them singing Brahms. The Cleary number, while clever, was hard to follow and the ponderous work of O'Regan was, I suspect, taxing on many members of the audience. In addition to being very lengthy, it was hard to connect what was sung with what was written in the program. It's rare for me to complain about a Hancher event, but I can't help myself this time.
Ken
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OUTSTANDING- ESPECIALLY THE BRAHMS AND THE SECOND ACT- VERY MOVING- IN FACT THAT LAST PIECE, THE NAME ESCAPES ME- BY TARIK O-REGAN JUST KEPT BUILDING UNTIL THE FINALE SO THAT WHEN THE ANCIENT FIAN WARRIOR WENT TO TARA TO RECORD THE EXPLOITS IT TOUCHED ME LIKE WHEN YOU SEE ANY REALLY GREAT WORK OF ART- AND I WAS TALKING TO MY WIFE ON THE WAY HOME AND WE BOTH AGREED THAT THAT WAS THE KIND OF PERFORMANCE THAT WILL ‘GROW’ ON YOU IN THE FUTURE AS THE LAYERS RESONATE IN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS- IT CERTAINLY MAKES ME WANT TO READ THE BOOK ON WHICH IT WAS BASED AND ALSO GOOGLE THE CHARACTERS AND GUARDIAN ANGEL REFERENCES- JUST A FIRST CLASS PERFORMANCE- BUT I KIND OF WISH THAT THEY WOULD HAVE CHOSEN A MORE BEAUTIFUL THIRD PIECE- LIKE THE BRAHMS- SINCE BY THEN THEY HAD ALREADY ESTABLISHED THEIR ARTISTIC EXPERTISE AND THE DIFFICULTY OF THE ARRANGEMENT , WHILE IMPRESSIVE, COULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY ONE WITH MORE EMOTIVE RESONANCE- I MEAN WE ONLY GET TO HEAR THEM THAT ONE NIGHT! BUT THAT LAST SONG WAS REALLY, REALLY MOVING- I THINK BY THE END, THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE WAS STIRRED-
Patrick J. Knobbe
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We very much enjoyed the Irish Chamber Choir and its mixed repertoire concert. The tongue twister number was especially unusual and captivating. I felt that the last composition (with composer present) was a bit far out for a diverse audience mixture. It was too lengthy and too sophisticated to digest sitting on hard pews without being able to understand lyrics. I would have preferred a program with many short numbers, especially since this was an inaugural tour of this group. No questioning the excellence of voices or complete musicianship.
Sincerely, Ruth Baldwin and Dick Javes