A unique concert will take place in Saint Mary’s Pro Cathedral tonight, 19 April, at 8.00pm, featuring two renowned boys’ choirs, the Palestrina, the boys’ choir of the Pro Cathedral, and the Escolanía de Montserrat. The Escolanía choir belongs to the Monastery of Montserrat and is one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe.
Known simply as Escolanía, the boys’ choir consists of sopranos and altos based at the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, near Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. When the repertory requires it, the Montserrat Chapel Choir, composed of former choirboys and the monks of the Ministry Chapel Choir, accompanies them.
The visit of the Escolanía to Ireland this week is fascilitated by the Embassy of Spain, the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Benedictine Abbey of Glenstal in Limerick. In Glenstal earlier this week the Choir enjoyed a cultural exchange with the boarding students of the Abbey and were in concert in the Redemptorist Church in Limerick.
The Escolonía de Monsterrat has performed extensively abroad, having visited the United States, Russia, Poland, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Belgium and Italy. This is their first visit to Ireland.
The joint concert will be led by Blánaid Murphy, Musical Director of Palestrina Choir. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins will be attendance at the joint concert tonight. President Higgins recently met with members of the Palestrina boys’ choir on Saint Patrick’s Day 2018.
All are welcome to attend and admission to the concert is free.
For more information please see www.dublindiocese.ie.
ENDS
