Vladimir's Family Chirstmas

Music gives a soul to the universe, 

wings to the mind, 

flight to the imagination, 

and life to everything.

– Plato

 Welcome back to The Art of Caesura!

I continue to send loads of positive vibes your way especially if you need them today!

Today is something a little different!

I used to be in LOADS of choirs. Throughout my school years I was always in the school choir and by high school (secondary school) I was in 3 choirs (Concert, Competition, and Jazz) I was singing almost every night of the week, plus I was also the lead singer in a band ("Good Craic") at the time - more singing!

After high school and the built-in choirs that I had always been part of, I went a bit wayward in the singing department. I joined my university choir but it was more academic than I was used to. My friends and I started up a jazz choir ("Gumbo") but it fizzled out after a few months. I was still playing in the band and I eventually joined a church choir (St. Christopher Singers) which was led by my old high school choir teacher. I stuck with the church choir for a couple of years, but did miss singing other genres of music. So I probably finished up with that a year or so before moving to Ireland (which, itself was over a decade and a half ago). In that whole 16 or 17 years or so since leaving the St. Christopher Singers I haven't really sung much at all. 

Until a few months ago...

In September, I joined a local choir (Kerry Concert Choir) - that my friend was in - after seeing one of their concerts a few months prior. It's a good sized SATB choir with about 50 people total (42 women and 8 men - four tenors and four basses). When I joined, it turned out that we would be rehearsing for quite a high-profile gig in Dublin in December - and that gig has just happened, so I would like to share it with you. 

Myself (on the left) and my 3 fellow Basses. 

Last weekend, we performed with Vladimir Jablokov and family (and 86-piece orchestra) for "Vladimir's Family Christmas". If you aren't familiar with Vlad (as I wasn't) he is like a younger version of Andre Rieu, and in addition to touring and playing throughout the year, each Christmas he puts on a big show (the past 2 years have been in Ireland's largest indoor venue). Apparently he and his family (he has 5 musical siblings and his mum, wife and daughters are also musicians) rent a big house in Kildare and use this as an opportunity to play music together and reconnect as they are all orchestra-leaders in different European countries and don't see much of each other throughout the year. 

So, first thing on Friday morning, the 40 of us from our choir who could make it took the 4.5 hour journey up to Dublin and met the Dublin choir that our Choral Director (Sharon Lyons) also directs. With our powers combined, we almost matched the orchestra in numbers, and it meant there would be >160 people on stage!

We had a big rehearsal on Friday and another on Saturday before our first show on Saturday evening. It was really exciting to get a look behind the scenes at everything that goes in to putting on a huge show like this. It was amazing that even under the immense pressure and with so many moving parts, Vlad always had a smile on his face. 

The actual concerts were fantastic. The choirs, orchestras and Vlad and his family were joined by two soloists: Claudia Boyle (an Irish soprano) and Aled Jones (the Welsh guy who, as a kid, sang "Walking in the Air" 40 years ago). We got to sing all the classics: O Come, O Come Emmanuel; O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Holy Night, Silent Night, The First Noelle, Carol of the Bells, and more besides. We also sang a bunch of modern classics: Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock, White Christmas, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and more. The soloists performed a few of their own songs as well, including a very memorable performance of Vlad's daughter (Anna, aged 8) singing "Walking the Air" with Aled singing harmony. 

Half of our choir and the celebs!

Unfortunately, the only videos that have been posted publicly don't really showcase the choir much, but they do give an idea of the spectacle! I'll fire a few more pics and vids that people in the audience furtively took during the performance. 

Anyway, thank you for joining me on this musical adventure back to choral singing. We'll have to see where it takes me in the next year!

See you next week on The Art of Caesura!

Watching: Pluribus (2025)

Reading: Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi

Next Week:

Readin'...