Ayr Citadel Corps is happy to announce that our next Cafe Church will be held in Holy Trinity Church, Ayr on Sunday 31May 2009 at 7:00PM.
Our guests for the evening will be the Paisley Philharmonic Choir with guest soloist Ms. Marie-Claire Breen (Contralto).
The proceeds of this evening of concert classics will be given in aid of The Ayrshire Hospice.
Tickets are a real bargain at only £5 each and are available now at McKay's Music in Cathcart Street, Ayr.
Plan now to attend, and invite your family and friends!
Ms. Marie-Claire Breen (Contralto)
Marie Claire graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with a BMus Honours in 2007 and Postgraduate Diploma (with Distinction) in 2008, having studied with Margaret Izatt. She is currently on the Master of Music (Opera) course at the Alexander Gibson Opera School, under the tuition of Patricia Hay.
With the RSAMD, Marie Claire has taken part in several competitions, concerts and operas. She was a chorus member for “Eugene Onegin”, “Don Giovanni” and “Falstaff”, understudied the role of Despina in the 2008 production of “Cosi fan Tutte” and played Soeur Anne de la Croix in Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmelites”. She recently played the role of Najade in the Spring production of “Ariadne auf Naxos”.
She was awarded the Norma Greig Prize for French Song and was second prize winner in the A. Ramsay Calder Debussy Prize 2008. In 2004 she was selected to represent the RSAMD at the annual Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition for Young Singers, where she reached the final round.
Marie Claire has taken part in master classes with Mhairi Lawson, Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles and Donald Maxwell. She sings regularly across the country, most recently as soprano soloist in Purcell’s “Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day”, Britten’s “Hymn to St. Cilia”, Hayden’s “Paukenmesse”, Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” and “Messiah”. She recently played the role of Rowan in Britten’s “The Little Sweep” for the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. Recent engagements include Handel’s “Dixit Dominus”, a recital in Paisley Abbey as part of the Paisley Choral Festival and a tour of Washington DC. Performing and recording duets with trumpet virtuoso and RSAMD Principal, John Wallace. Future engagements include two performances at St. Mary’s Collage of Maryland’s annual River Concert series where she will perform once again with John Wallace and other internationally acclaimed trumpeters.
Marie Claire’s studies are generously supported by the RSAMD scholarship fund, Musician’s Benevolent Fund, Sir James Caird’s Travelling Scholarship and The Jim Forson Singing Fund.
In September 1988 Ian Anderson (pictured), then Principal Teacher of Music at Stanely Green High School in Paisley, was asked to form a choir to give a performance of Handel's Messiah as part of Greenlaw Church's centenary. Following the success of that venture, it was decided to constitute the Paisley Philharmonic Choir on a permanent basis.
Since then the Choir has grown to its present strength of approximately 70 members, covering a wide age range and drawing people from the Paisley area and beyond. The Choir presents three concerts each year in Paisley Town Hall in December, March and May.
In addition the Choir has presented many concerts in aid of charity. Over the years they have raised substantial sums of money for Cystic Fibrosis, the Yorkhill Scanner Appeal, Riding for the Disabled, Cancer Research, the British Diabetic Association, Multiple Sclerosis, Christian Aid, the Roy Castle Lung Foundation and others.
In addition, the Choir undertakes several one-off projects. In autumn 2004, for example, they completed the recording of a Christmas CD in association with the Scottish Co-Op Band.
The Choir's repertoire is extensive and includes carols, folk songs, spirituals, motets, madrigals, Scottish songs and choruses from opera, operetta and musicals. Each May they perform a concert of some of the finest oratorios in the choral repertoire.
