The Cork International Choral Festival’s commitment to the development of public awareness and appreciation of contemporary choral music is best exemplified by its Seminar on Contemporary Choral Music. The seminar was the brainchild of composer Aloys Fleischmann and from 1962 to the present it has been a central and integral part of the festival’s programme. The seminar has annually commissioned new works by leading national and international composers, resulting in a corpus of material of over 100 new compositions.

As part of the Festival’s 50th Anniversary celebration programme it has invited the National Chamber Choir, one of Ireland’s vocal ensembles, to present a retrospective of works commissioned for the Seminar over that period. Celso Antunes, the choir’s conductor, has selected commissions from 1962-2000, including works by Milhaud, Genzmer, Walton, Shchedrin and Eben as well as Irish composers Fleischmann, Raymond Deane, Ian Wilson and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin.

The concert is of special interest to the general public, of particular interest to composers and choir conductors, and will allow the audience to hear music rarely heard on the concert platform. It takes place on Thursday, 29 April 2004 at 7.30pm in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork (Tickets 15).

Further information: Cork International Choral Festival Office, tel. +353-(0)21-484 7277. Email: chorfest@iol.ie