Hailing from Holten, a village in the north east of the Netherlands, ‘Amazing Popkoor’ will visit Mayo in October upon the invitation of the Mayo International Choral Festival. Their trip will involve a tour of the West of Ireland culminating in a concert in Christchurch, Castlebar, together with the ‘Mayo Male Voice Choir’ and the ‘The Rolling Waves’ on Friday 13th October.
Formed in 1994, this mixed adult choir has 40 members and their repertoire consists of beautiful renditions of many of the all-time favourite pop-songs, in four-part a cappella arrangements. Directed by Marion Mulders the choir performs regularly at choral festivals and events in the Netherlands and in Europe including Finland and Germany.
The ‘Amazing Popkoor’ from the Netherlands will perform together with the Mayo Male Voice Choir and The Rolling Waves at Christchurch, Castlebar, Friday 13th October in association with the Mayo International Choral Festival.
The popular Mayo Male Voice Choir, under the direction of Deirdre Lee since it’s inception, has travelled and performed all over Ireland, the UK, Germany and Prague. The choir performs at many local concerts, and have a busy winter programme including a welcome home to passengers at Ireland West International Airport at Christmas.
The dynamic traditional Irish music youth group ‘The Rolling Waves’, guided by John Killkenny, has earned first prize under Grúpaí Cheoil, 12-15 age-group, at Fleadh Ceol na h-Eireann 2010 and All Ireland Champions U-12’s, Cavan 2012.
It’s a busy time for the organisers of the Mayo International Choral Festival as they deal with many enquiries about the festival taking place at the end of May 2018, and promoting the festival at choral events all over Ireland, including the upcoming Barbershop Convention in Cork, the Derry International Choral Festival and the Sligo International Choral Festival.
They are also hosting many upcoming events including a concert with the Iowa Concert Band USA, together with the Mayo Concert Orchestra, GMIT Mayo on Tuesday 13th March, and a concert in Ballintubber Abbey with the Cherrycreek High School Choir USA together with St. Joseph’s Secondary School Choir March 23rd, and a choir from New York visiting in July with a concert taking place in Ballina, details soon to be announced. The deadline for choir entry to the 2018 Mayo International Choral Festival is December 31st for International Choirs and January 31st for choirs from Ireland. The festival is supported by Mayo County Council and Fáilte Ireland and all events are open to a public audience.
Tickets for the ‘Amazing Popkoor’ concert, Christchurch, Castlebar at 8.15pm, Friday October 13th –
€12 (adult) and €8 (child), are available from Downtown Records, Castlebar and Westport or online at www.eventbrite.ie