Founder Dr. Geoffrey Spratt Music director Conor Palliser Active from 1992 | Members ~170 Affiliation Cork School of Music | |
Founded November 1992 (1992-11) Associated groups Cork Orchestral Society | ||
Fleischmann choir o fortuna
The Fleischmann Choir was founded by Geoffrey Spratt in November 1992. It is the mixed-voice choir of the CIT Cork School of Music. There are usually about 170 members.
Contents
Origins
When it first started it was the Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra Chorus. The first public performance was as part of the Cork International Choral Festival's 40th opening night celebrations on 22 April 1993 with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in the City Hall in Cork. The programme all music by Aloys Fleischmann.
Fleischman was one of the founders of the Festival, and was its longest-serving Director. He died in 1992, a year previous to the 40th festival. As a result of these connections and with the family's blessing, the choir name was changed to honour the man who has been singled out as having done more than any other for choral singing and choral music in Ireland.
The Choir
The choir's speciality is large-scale works as well as carols, folk-song, gospel, spirituals and opera choruses and arrangements. The choir has also appeared on television for such events as on the BBC from St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh, for Johnny Logan during the Eurovision Song Contest and with Niamh Kavanagh for her Christmas Show.
Musical Director
The choir was founded by and led by Dr. Geoffrey Spratt until 2013. He is the director of the CIT School of Music and founder of the Irish Youth Choir and Canticum Novum.
The current director of the choir is Conor Palliser.
Musical choices
The choir has performed a wide selection of music including these listed below, other works by these composers and works by J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Bernstein, Bizet, Donizetti, Elgar, Holst, Mascagni, Massenet, Mathias, Parry, Purcell, Stanford, Tchaikovsky.
Critical Reception
"But the even larger Fleischmann Choir, founded in Cork in 1992 by Geoffrey Spratt, has in my experience always had a youthful freshness and an unforced fullness of tone that no group in Dublin has managed to match." —The Irish Times
"The presence of even one of these internationally-renowned singers would be a coup for a concert in Cork – the presence of all four speaks volumes about the reputation of the Fleischmann Choir and the Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and what they have achieved over the last 20 years." —The Southern Star