Sing ALLELUIA at the Everyman Next Month

You will be forgiven for stopping in your tracks on Sunday May 7th if you hear a heavenly chorus of the ordinary people of Cork puck out We Stand for God as you pass the Everyman Theatre. Not your average concert. But, twenty years on from the phenomenon that was Faith of Our Fathers, Alleluia is a concert jam-packed with those hymns we learned in our childhood.

Alleluia: Hymns Celebrating the Faith of Our Fathers taps into the Irish penchant for singing combined with the wealth of nostalgic memories which are churned up when singing these old hymns.

Singing together has always been an integral part of the fabric of the Irish psyche. From wakes to pubs to kitchens to campfires, Irish people simply love to sing. The practice of the singsong is dying out now but the appetite remains as insatiable as ever.

Up to about 20 years ago, congregational singing was a massive draw for those going to mass. 'Singing was crucial' admits Fr Finbarr Crowley PP of Innishannon and Knockavilla parishes. 'When we sang these old hymns, half the time we didn't even know the words, but there was a connection between us all, a shared heritage, a common destiny, and they were in a communal pitch so both the strong and the weak singers could sing it'.

Moreover mass was where you met your friends and neighbours. Hearing those old hymns sung even now 'transports me instantly back down memory lane to our uncomplicated childhood; to the Missions, the Eucharistic Processions singing Sweet Heart of Jesus, Benediction,' says Fr Crowley.

Those divine hymns like O Mother I Could Weep For Mirth, To Jesus Heart All Burning, Hail Queen of Heaven, Sweet Sacrament Divine are hardly ever sung in our churches now.

20 years ago, the CD phenomenon that was Faith of our Fathers tapped into this incredible communal heritage when they recorded all these old hymns. Alleluia will also celebrate this heritage and relive memories of a simpler time when we spend the evening singing all these beautiful old hymns together.

Alleluia: Hymns Celebrating the Faith of Our Fathers written and directed by Cathal MacCabe and produced by Linda Kenny. Starring tenor Ryan Morgan, soprano Linda Kenny, The Carrigaline Singers, Cor Scoil Eoin (MD Carol Lehane), and the Alleluia band (MD Alan Carney), is in the Everyman Theatre on Sunday May 7th. 7.30pm start time. Tickets €25 from 0214501673 or www.everymancork.com.

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