Ormond Octaves all set to stage Christmas concert
A MEMORABLE night of festive song and music is in store at the eagerly anticipated Ormond Octaves Christmas Concert in Saint Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh on Friday night, December 6.
Tickets, available from any choir member or the Nenagh Parish Office on Church Road, are selling fast for this highlight of Yuletide season, featuring special guest and multi-award winning baritone, Dylan Rooney, performing with the 80-member choir for the first time.
Dylan’s beautiful, powerful voice, accompanied by the sound of the four-part choir of altos, sopranos, tenors and basses is set to raise the roof of the huge venue, which has played hosts to the Octaves’ sold-out annual festive charity concerts for the past 16 years.
Also joining the choir will be another very special guest, alto, Mary Meagher, whose exquisite voice has thrilled packed audiences at the annual concert over many years.
Putting the icing on top of this glorious recipe of sound will be father-and-son tenors, Willie and Billy O' Brien, the latter's performance set to be one of the highlights when he joins the choir to sing ‘Silent Night’ and his own inimitable and moving rendition of Christmas 1915.
The choir, comprising the best voices drawn from Nenagh and all the surrounding parishes, has been rehearsing for several months under the Octaves founder and musical director, Niamh Ryan, who has put together a splendorous programme featuring songs and favourite carols of the generations.
Sit back and enjoy the unique and distinctive blended voices of the four-part choir performing their unique interpretations of hits from the world’s top artistes - U2, Billy Joel, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
CHRISTMAS FAVOURITES
The Ormond Octaves concert really is the best way to enter into the spirit of Christmas as the programme features a whole dedicated section featuring favourite carols and other songs of the season.
Among the numbers to which Dylan Rooney will treat audiences will be The Holy City, and he will join with the choir for a crescendo climax in Oh Holy Night.
Maria McElgunn will sing The Wexford Carol, while the many fans of the Octaves have once again requested that Mary Meagher and the choir combine to perform Breath of Heaven, that beautiful song portraying the Mother of Jesus as a frightened girl as she prepares for the birth of the Son of God.
Dylan Rooney will sing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire; Niamh Slattery and Willie O' Brien will perform The Prayer, while Catherine O' Keeffe and the choir will perform Nowell Nowell, that festive favourite composed by Liam Lawton.
The choir will sing their own unique and beautiful interpretation of In The Bleak Mid Winter and a melody of other old Christmas carols that are sure to get you in the mood for the Yuletide.
TOP SOLOISTS
Other highlights of the programme include Liam Brennan performing the Anne Murray hit, You Needed Me; the beautifully sweet voice of Eithne Kennedy singing Rusalka's Song to the Moon; Emily Morrissey performing the popular Adele number, Make You Feel My Love; Dylan Rooney's version of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and the lovely voice of Mary Meagher with her interpretation of REO Speedwagon's hit, Can't Fight This Feeling.
Choir member Robbie Powell’s deep, rich and sonorous voice is just perfect for his rendition of This is the Moment, while a poignant episode will be marked when Willie O' Brien steps up to sing the Sinatra hit, My Way, the favourite song of Teddy Morgan, a veteran member and dearly loved member of the Octaves who sadly passed away in December last year.
ALL FOR A WORTHY CAUSE
Don't miss this annual spectacular Ormond Octaves Christmas Charity Concert, the proceeds of which will be for a very worthy cause in our community - the North Tipperary Branch of the Alzheimer Society. Spokeswoman Jennifer Woods said all members of the branch were delighted that Octaves Director Niamh Ryan had chosen the local branch of the society to be this year’s recipient of the proceeds.
The work of the branch in North Tipperary is crucial as there are 500,000 people nationally whose families are impacted by dementia, many of whom live among us and desperately require funding for vital services.
So why not come along to the concert and enjoy a delightful night of festive singing and song in the knowledge that the cost of your ticket is going to a cause that will help improve the lives of families impacted by Alzheimers and other forms of dementia.
TICKET REMINDER
Please note that tickets will be available to purchase (€20) at the door of the church on the night of the performance, which starts at 8pm.