Ballina’s David Lynn will be among four top class soloists who will join St. Muredach’s Cathedral Choir and Cór Mhaigh Eo under the direction of Regina Deacy for the forthcoming presentation of ‘Messiah’, George Frideric Handel’s choral masterpiece.
St. Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina is the delightful setting for the performance of this spectacular oratorio on Saturday next, November 11, with music accompaniment by The Irish Choral Sinfonia Orchestra.
Choral Director Regina Deacy is the organist in St. Muredach’s Cathedral, and Director of Sacred Music there and across the Diocese of Killala.
A graduate of UCC with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music, she also received a Diploma in Church Music and Liturgy from NUI Maynooth and, from there, completed a Research Masters Degree in Sacred Music under famed organist Professor Gerard Gillen.
Regina is an Associate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in piano teaching and a member of the National Advisory Committee on Church Music to the Bishops.
Regina is the very popular full-time music teacher in St. Mary’s Secondary School in Ballina, where she also directs the school choir for school liturgies, concerts, competitions and the annual school musical.
The tenor David Lynn has sung with Scottish Opera, Northern Ireland Opera and the North of England’s Opera North.
David, son of Hugh and Lily Lynn, is now back in his hometown and running the Lynn Academy of Music and Performing Arts alongside his wife Lynsey.
David trained at prestigious institutions like the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama, and the Alexander Gibson Opera School in Glasgow.
This talented singer and musician has taken on key roles in productions like Mozart’s ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ and Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’. In 2018, he became an Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Summer Opera Festival in Oxfordshire and continued to shine in productions like ‘Capriccio’ and ‘Falstaff’. In 2019, David joined Tenorí, a new Irish-based group of three tenors.
David now takes on one of the four soloists parts for ‘Messiah’ in Ballina where he will be joined by another Mayo-born singer, Ann Marie Gibbons, originally from Louisburgh (alto), Galway’s Rory Musgrave (bass) and the soprano Rachel Croash from Dublin.
St. Muredach’s Cathedral Choir has been an institution since the mid 19th century. The SATB choir has a membership of over forty choristers and is a successful blend of experienced and young voices. The repertoire of the choir includes liturgical music by Irish and international composers, plainchant and motets. The choir sings at 11a.m. Mass every Sunday in the cathedral, as well as for the usual liturgical highpoints in the seasons of the church year.
Proceeds from the concert go to the St. Muredach’s Cathedral Stained Glass Windows Conservation Fund.
Tickets for the production of Handel’s ‘Messiah’, priced at €27.50, are available from the Ballina Parish Office, located in the grounds of St. Muredach’s Cathedral (telephone 096-70555), or online at www.ballinaparish.org/newsite/
