This concert celebrates a great Dublin-born composer – Charles Villiers Stanford and includes short pieces from acclaimed contemporary composers, Judith Ring and Jake Runestad.

For this special performance of the Mass in G, The Guinness Choir and its professional Orchestra will be joined by our wonderful soloists Caroline Behan, Soprano; Sarah Luttrell, Alto; William Pearson, Tenor; and Matthew Mannion, Bass. As well as performing as part of the orchestra, The Weaver and Cello Songs will feature the brilliant cellist Rosalie Curlett and the exciting Scottish pianist Connor Wilcox.

2024 is the centenary of the death of the Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). He was born in Dublin to a very musical family and as a child he quickly became an accomplished young musician. After graduating from University of Cambridge, he undertook further studies in Leipzig and Berlin. Perhaps best known as the teacher of such great English composers as Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Samuel Taylor-Coleridge and Herbert Howells, Stanford is increasingly recognised as a fine composer in his own right. Throughout his career Stanford displayed a keen pride in his Irish nationality, as evidenced in the many Irish referenced compositions. Nonetheless he was a fervent unionist and British patriot.

‘The Weaver’, by Irish composer Judith Ring, on a poem by Diane Tierney, was commissioned by The Guinness Choir who performed its world premiere in May 2022. This is its second ever performance.

The concert concludes with the Irish Premiere of ‘Cello Songs’ by the highly acclaimed US composer Jake Runestad.