It is with great sadness that we learned of the death on Christmas Day of 60 members of the Red Army Choir in an air accident whilst on their way to Syria to perform for the troops.
A Russian military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, killing everyone on board.
A Mass for our departed members was held at St Saviour’s, Castlebar on the evening of 10th November, 2016 and the full choir was in attendance.
The list of deceased members was read by Colin Kneafsey.
Amazingly, it’s the beginning of yet another year of singing and concerts for the Mayo Male Voice Choir. Our choir will begin rehearsals on Thursday September 8th in the Regional Training Centre, Mayo County Council at 7.45 pm but from then on, every Thursday night at 7.45 pm in GMIT, Castlebar.
The secret of success for any sports or social club, social gathering, family outing or suchlike has to be the chemistry between members; how do members get on with each other and enjoy each other’s company. Well, after the two gatherings over the last week, it is certain that the Mayo Male Voice Choir has such chemistry. Unsurprisingly, the members like to sing and don’t need much encouragement to begin a sing-song! The simple joy of singing together ensures that a good night out for the choir is exactly that – a good night out, or in the case of Louisburgh – a very good night out. This will be explained later!
Due to the very sad demise of the Welcome Inn Hotel, the Mayo Male Voice Choir committee members were left scratching their heads (and many don’t have much on top to scratch!) as to where to find a venue at short notice for their Annual Spring Concert. The date had been selected and the ever popular Sean Costello, tenor, and the equally popular Frank Forde, compere, were invited to keep the night free on their diaries. After much deliberation and suggestions the choir have finally settled on a date change in order to avail of the excellent facilities of Breaffy House Hotel, the MMVC annual concert is now to be held on Thursday, April 28th at 8 pm.
By Adrian Keena
It’s hard to believe Michael is gone. He was a man of music, Mr. Music Man, Castlebar. Whether it be Castlebar Town Band, the Youth Orchestra, the Holy Rosary Church Choir or Mayo Male Voice Choir, Michael’s life was dedicated to music. It is important to record that he wasn’t one to delegate from on high, Michael was a worker, a man who had no difficulty being the first to arrive early in order to have instruments or stands set up and ready to go. He was also one to volunteer for committees. He served on the Mayo Male Voice Choir committee every year since the choir was founded.
Our chosen charity this year was the Castlebar outreach group of Chernobyl Children’s International (CCI) for whom the Choir raised €900.