Camphill Choir making public debut in Kilcullen
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| Sarah Gillespie with Camphill Choir members Laura Dunne and Annie Schiffer. |
When the Camphill Choir debuts on Thursday night in Kilcullen Parish Church with the Carols by Candlelight concert, it will pitch a project that began last summer onto the public stage, writes Brian Byrne. The 13-strong group will be performing with the Naas Hospital Choir and tenor headliner Patrick Hyland.
The Camphill Choir is comprised of members from both the Bridge Community and Camphill Grangebeg, and in addition to singing three songs, they will be signing their performances using the Lámh sign language.
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| Choir members in the Parish Centre during rehearsal. Image: Camphill Choir. |
The initiative is facilitated by musical director Lorraine Nolan from Newbridge, who has directed both the Kilcullen Gospel Choir and the Naas Hospital Choir. "We put it together with the help of both KWETB and a Solas grant," says Bridge Camphill's Sarah Gillespie. "We wanted to do something that would develop literacy and musical skills here, and that would link into the wider community. We have been working really hard on musical and singing skills and they have improved every week." Following Thursday's performance, the Camphill Choir will also be performing in the Riverbank Arts Centre on Wednesday 11 December, with the Liffey Singers.
One trigger for the initiative came through a Bridge Camphill service user who also attends St Mark's Special School, which has a choir. "They asked why we couldn't have one here," Sarah says. "And since music is historically a big thing in Camphill tradition, we decided we wanted to be part of that." She acknowledges that the project hasn't been without hitches. "But when you try something new nothing is plain sailing," she laughs. "But you learn from everything." She says the experience from establishing the choir will help when developing other creative projects within the community.
The songs being performed are A Million Dreams, Somewhere Only We Know, and Hallelujah. For choir member Laura Dunne, the Lámh sign language component is an especially interesting one. "In the beginning I found it hard to keep up with the group, but now I've got the hang of it," she told the Diary. Her favourite of the songs is A Million Dreams, from The Greatest Showman.
Annie Schiffer, who lives with the Grangebeg community, is no stranger to being out in public, having regularly helped with Kilcullen Drama Group in the past. "I think it's nice to be getting together with the two communities again," she says. "I think that's important, to be socialising. The singing is very good fun, and Lorraine gets really enthusiastic, very lively, so it's not boring."
Further developments for the choir will be explored in the new year.
