Steal Away | Longford screening of documentary about National Ukrainian Choir’s recording and performance of Phil Coulter’s famous song

The Ukrainian Community in Longford have an event in the Backstage Theatre this Wednesday, December 18 - the documentary screening about the National Ukrainian Choir’s journey to the recording and performance of Phil Coulter’s song ‘Steal Away’ in 2023.

During the event, the local Ukrainian Choir will perform the version of Phil Coulter`s song “Steal Away” translated into Ukrainian, and traditional Ukrainian songs, including the famous Christmas song born in Ukraine – “Carol of the Bells".

Nataliia Marchenko, Nataliia Feshchenko, Alina Chumachenko and Oleksandra Kurova from Longford town, are all members of the National Ukrainian Choir.

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Written by Philip Coulter in 1983, the song ‘Steal Away’ tells the story of a couple fleeing the Troubles and offers many parallels to the situation Ukrainians are experiencing today.

The single was translated into Ukrainian and launched last year at an event where the National Ukrainian Choir performed with Phil Coulter.

The National Ukrainian Choir was established in February 2023 by local development companies across Ireland and consists of 40 Ukrainians who fled the war in Ukraine and now live in different parts of Ireland.

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The four members of this choir - Alexandra Kurova, Alina Chumachenko, Nataliia Feschenko, and Nataliia Marchenko- are living in Longford.

The journey to releasing and performing the song, from the creation of the choir, rehearsals across the country, the launch of the single, and the overall impact of the initiative on choir members, forms the subject of the documentary, which is named after the famous song. The ‘Steal Away’ project emphasizes the importance of music and song in uniting communities.

The documentary is directed by Jessica Lean from Bold Lip Productions.

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Musician, producer, and songwriter Phil Coulter generously provided his expertise and guidance to this initiative, which was set up by Terry Hyland, CEO of Cavan County Local Development, and Adeline O’Brien, CEO of Empower, a local development company situated in Fingal. The choir was centrally coordinated by the Irish Local Development Network.

Also read: Longford members of the National Ukrainian Choir to feature in upcoming Documentary with Phil Coulter

This project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union