Following a call for applications in July, Chamber Choir Ireland has now announced the thirteen singers who will take part in its new training programme, CCI Studio.

The programme will consist of three training weekends beginning with the first on 17–19 November. This will be followed by two more between January and June 2024. The sessions will include vocal coaching, side-by-side rehearsals, professional development sessions and paid performance opportunities with CCI.

The selected singers are as follows: Thérèse Gaughan, Mary Walsh, Claire Warburton and Lauren McCann (sopranos), Emily Cox, Pierce Cullen and Tania Murphy (altos), Max O’Neill, Jonathan Miller and David Yau (tenors), and Donncha McDonagh, Callum Jeacle and Niall Kelly (basses).

Niall Kelly was, up until recently, a medical student at UCD but will begin music studies next September. Thérèse Gaughan and alto Tania Murphy are already pursuing their Masters at the University of York.

Many of the singers have honed their musicianship skills in youth choirs such as the Irish Youth Choir, Dublin Youth Chamber Choir, Ulster Youth Choir, and the Cross Border Youth Choir. Pierce Cullen started in the Palestrina Choir and now sings as a lay vicar in Christ Church Cathedral.

Several have also been involved in university ensembles: Max O’Neill in the UCD Choral Scholars, Jonathan Miller in the SETU Chamber Choir, and Donncha McDonagh as a conductor of the Trinity Chapel Choir.

A number of the singers have a range of professional and competition experience. Mary Walsh sings with New Dublin Voices, the 2013 Polifonico Arezzo prizewinners; soprano Lauren McCann has sung as a deputy with Sestina; bass Callum Jeacle founded the Wilde Chamber Choir; and David Yau performed with Dublin Youth Chamber Choir in their winning performance of Ireland’s Choir of the Year at Cork International Choral Festival.

The CCI Studio is supported by the Arts Council as well as through Chamber Choir Ireland’s membership support schemes.

For further details on CCI Studio, visit www.chamberchoirireland.com.

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