Historic meeting between Granuaile and Queen Elizabeth inspires Galway concert
The Dublin-based Goethe Choir will present 'Greenwich Parley – An Elegy of Two Queens' at the city's Town Hall Theatre on Friday next, June 12, at 8pm. Under the baton of John Dexter, the choir will present a cantata about the historic meeting of Ireland's pirate queen, Grace O’Malley, and Elizabeth I – the two most powerful women in the British Isles at the time.
The concert will combine Elizabethan choral music (by William Byrd, Ellis Gibbons and others) with traditional Irish pieces, plus choral works by Shaun Davey. There will be instrumental accompaniment on uilleann pipes, whistle and harp.
The event will include a professionally narrated description of the two women’s vastly different lives and their meeting in 1593, in Greenwich Palace.
The concert will also feature new works by contemporary Irish composers Ciara McElholm, Jean AC Finch, Mary Kelly and Brian McIvor. Ciara is a current member of the Goethe's alto line, whileMary and Brian are former members.
Special guests on the evening will include Éamonn Galldubh on whistle and uilleann pipes, and actors Niamh McAllister and Ashleigh Dorrell.
Founded in 1965, the Goethe Choir is a mixed group which brings a varied programme of great choral music to audiences here in Ireland and abroad.
The choir currently has about 80 members of many different nationalities.
Tickets are €25 from tht.ie, 091-569777 or at the box office.