High hopes for strong support at Clonakilty choir date

A CORK choir whose members are made up of people affected by homelessness are hoping the people of Clonakilty will come out to support them when they play a free concert in the town on Sunday, September 10th. 

Following their recent sell-out show at Griffins Garden Centre in Dripsey and a concert outside the Electric bar in the city, the choir is heading west with a repertoire of inspiring songs.

‘Everyone is really excited about this concert as we haven’t been down to sing in West Cork yet so we are rehearsing really hard for it,’ said Catriona Twomey of Penny Dinners Cork and co-ordinator of the choir.

‘We have a lot of talented singers here and they put their hearts and souls into  the choir, which is pivotal to their performance and brings out their best.’

Assisting Catriona with the choir are Olive Morris and musical directors Fabrice Fortune and his assistant Hannah Healy.

Members of High Hopes Choir Cork appeared with  other Irish choirs at the European Parliament in March to highlight the rise in homelessness in Ireland, with two choir members, Rosie and Miriam giving powerful testimonials about depression, despair and homelessness.

The story of the High Hopes Choir, which was documented on a RTÉ series featuring world renowned conductor David Brophy, has been a remarkable success since High Hopes Dublin was born in 2014. Since then the group has gone on to perform at the Electric Picnic, as well as recording a charity single with Kodaline. 

The success of the Dublin choir led to the set-up of the Cork choir, and as well as one in Waterford.

‘They sing from the heart to raise awareness through the words of the songs they sing. They also show that there is life after homelessness and that everyone at some point in their lives can have issues going on, but they don’t have to define you, they simply prove that they are all only human after all.’

The concert in Clonakilty will be held in or around The Venue at O’Donovan’s Hotel at 3pm and the choir hopes that people will donate generously at the event.