Chamber Choir Ireland: Forgotten Peoples featuring world premiere by Emma O'Halloran

Led by Gabriel Crouch, Chamber Choir Ireland examines issues of homelessness, migration, and belonging.

In the title work, Forgotten Peoples, Veljo Tormis attempted to preserve the musical heritage of the minority groups that live along the shores of the Gulf of Finland, whose languages and ways of life are in danger of disappearing. Michael Gordon's Anonymous Man follows the composer's changing New York, from industrial warehouse district to residential area, and the impact on his unhoused neighbours. Erasure poetry is created by blacking out portions of a pre-existing text to create a new work. Melissa Dunphy's N-400 Erasure Songs uses and reshapes text from the United States naturalisation forms, illustrating both the alienating process of migration and the relief of a warm welcome.

The programme will feature world premieres of new commissions by Emma O'Halloran (Ireland) and Francisco del Piño (Argentina).

The performance at Cork International Choral Festival will also feature the world premiere of the winning entry in this year's Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition.

Programme

Veljo Tormis (Estonia, 1930-2017)—Selections from ‘Forgotten Peoples’
Michael Gordon (USA, b.1956)—Selections from ‘Anonymous Man’
Melissa Dunphy (b.1980)—Selections from ’N-400 Erasure Songs’
Emma O’Halloran (Ireland,—New Commission World Premiere
Francisco del Piño (Argentina,—New Commission World Premiere
Winning Entry in Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition 2025—To be announced World Premiere

Dates, Venues and Ticket Links

Thursday 1 May | Pepper Canister Church, Mount Street, Dublin 2 | Booking here.

Friday 2 May | St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork | Booking here.