Cork will welcome almost 3,500 world class singers and 35,000 visitors from across Ireland, Europe and beyond this April for the sixty-fourth annual Cork International Choral Festival, a joyful celebration of music and song from classical to sacred, pop and rock.
The festival, which runs from April 18 – 22, is the oldest in Cork and one of Europe’s most prestigious choral festivals and will bring Cork to life with events taking place across over 60 venues in the city and county.
There is an extensive calendar of events to choose from, including a series of gala concerts, national and international competitions, schools’ concerts, workshops, seminars and free outdoor recitals.
Exciting performances include a celebration of Irish composers with pieces from Aloys Fleischmann and Bernard Geary, along with a whole host of Irish performers. Audiences will also enjoy eclectic and innovative sounds from internationally renowned Swedish group Solala, who will bring their own inimitable style to Cork for a joint concert with the equally incomparable Ardú Vocal Ensemble.
Cork will be awoken with the ethereal sounds of Chamber Choir Ireland and the Tenebrae Consort following Tenebrae’s recent Grammy nomination, while hundreds of international voices from all over the world will fill City Hall and many more venues across the city and county with their own cultural uniqueness. With a vast array of musical styles and voices, Cork is the destination to keep the soundtrack to your life playing on full volume.
Sinéad Dunphy, Festival Manager, said: “Our 2018 festival programme is yet again another exciting exploration of music – this is a festival for everybody to enjoy with a variety of genres available, including everything from classical, to sacred, to pop, to rock. We are blessed to have such a vibrant place as Cork as our home, which only adds to our powerhouse programme of events. We’re ready to welcome people from all over the world to enjoy everything that Cork and Ireland has to offer, all the while ensuring the sweet sounds of choral are ringing in your ears.”
Festival tickets are available for purchase through an online booking system at corkchoral.ie. Special packages are also available in partnership with the Clayton Hotel Cork City to ensure visitors get the best of their journey to Cork, while enjoying all the festival has to offer.