The Fermoy International Choir was established in January 2019 and the first song we worked on was ‘Africa’ by Toto! Quickly our numbers swelled and we were asked to perform at the local Darkness into Light morning, at the St Patrick’s Day festival and at a Christmas concert in Cork City Hall.
Our group rehearses in a local primary school in Fermoy and afterwards we have tea, coffee and cake with choir members on a rota to help out. And also, we like to let the hair down by having get togethers which go on into the wee hours and include lots of singing, performing and craic! The social side of our group is so important and we believe that sharing laughter and time together is just as important as singing together.
During Covid19 we worked to record works safely and separately and they were then knitted together by a production company.
Our choir conductor Lisa Dunphy carefully selects appropriate songs for the group and works with everyone to ensure we’re sounding as well as we can. Occasionally we learn songs and verses in other languages and some non-Irish members learn songs as gaeilge.
While we are an informal community choir we still strive to maintain a high standard. And we like to celebrate our endeavours so encourage lots of pictures, video clips and colour. Our group consists of singers originally from Ireland, Poland, Antigua, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Italy, Portugal, Belarus, UK, China, France, Germany, French Polynesia, Nigeria, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, Syria and Latvia.