East Cork Choral Society
East Cork Choral Society is a choir for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, based in the East Cork area of Ireland.
The East Cork Choral Society was founded in 1979, with the idea of starting the first oratorio choir based in the East Cork area, Ireland. Andrew Padmore, who was the residing Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, was the first conductor. The first performance was 'The Creation' by Haydn. In 1984, Andrew moved to Belfast and the next organist from St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, Colin Nicholls, took over as conductor and has been with the choir ever since.
The choir presently has AbOUT 55 members, has given over 100 public performances and raised tens of thousands of euro for charity over the years. They have given a platform to up and coming singers and count Mary Hegarty, Cara O'Sullivan, Finbar Wright and Fiona O'Reilly amongst their soloists. They usually perform with the East Cork Orchestra and give young instrumentalists an opportunity to experience oratorio. The choir has sung every major oratorio over the years from Handel's 'Messiah' to Bach's 'St Matthew Passion', Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' to Elgar's 'Dream of Gerontius'. They've also sung lesser known works, most recently repeating Prof Fleischmann's 'Time's Offspring', first performed in 1985. The choir has sung in all the major halls and churches in the Cork area and have ventured further afield to Dublin, Kilkenny and Cashel and Devon, England. They have joined forces with other choirs who would not be able to sing oratorios with orchestras on their own.