Society spreads seasonal musical joy

While many schools and churches throughout Northern Ireland have had to put their annual Christmas Carol services on hold due to current restrictions, the members of the award-winning St Agnes’ Choral Society in Belfast have recorded not one, but two spectacular Christmas concerts to be enjoyed online this December.

Both concerts were recorded in St Peter’s Cathedral, the venue of the company’s last live performance in December 2019. A wonderful live band accompanies the singers of St Agnes’ as they - in solos, duets, trios and quartets- take us through all the Christmas favourites we may be missing this year.

The first of the concerts, The Magic of Christmas, will be released on Sunday, December 13 at 7.30pm. The array of festive music will delight audiences with hits such as Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

The second concert, The Christmas Story, will be released online on Sunday, December 20 at 7.30pm. With a liturgical focus, it will include a host of carols, poems and readings that will remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

While the concerts are free for everyone to view, the company are hoping that people will contribute to their fundraising page so they can raise much-needed funds for the Renal Unit of the Belfast City Hospital.

Gareth McGreevy, Chair of St Agnes’ Committee, said; “We wanted to provide a safe opportunity for our members to make music together again, provide work for those businesses that we normally support and to spread some Christmas cheer to all our families and the wider community in Northern Ireland and beyond. We relish the thought that, in spreading festive cheer with our songs, we can also raise some urgently needed funds for the staff and patients of the Renal Unit.”

The concerts can be accessed via www.facebook.com/stagneschoralsociety or http://tiny.cc/Stagneschristmas.