Triskel welcomes two international choirs as part of this year’s Cork International Choral Festival.

Mixed Chamber Choir of Vilnius University Hospital “Santara” – Lithuania

The choir was organised due to the initiative of several active neurologists in October 2018. The participants of the choir are doctors, nurses and other employees of the hospital, in whose lives music plays an important part.

The first concert took place in December 2018.

The choir, led by Gabrielė Rastenytė-Mališauskienė, performs traditional and contemporary settings of Lithuanian folk songs, as well as songs of Lithuanian composers, introducing both secular and ecclesiastical vocal music to Lithuanian society.

The group represented Lithuania in the following international festivals:

• June 2019 – International choir competition „Auksinė Šalčios juosta 2019“, 3rd place.
• July 2021 – XV International Festival of Arts „MUZITE“ („The Muses“), Sozopol, Bulgaria, 1st place.
• November 2021 – Lithuanian Juozas Gudavičius choir competition „Kur giria žaliuoja“, 3rd place.
• June 2022 – International choir festival „Kaunas Cantat“.

Conductor: Gabrielė Rastenytė-Mališauskienė

The Academic Female Choir of Technical University of Tallinn – Estonia

The Academic Female Choir of Tallinn University of Technology was founded in 1951 and is one of the most successful and oldest female choirs in Estonia. There are nearly 60 members full of positivity and perseverance. On 2019 Edmar Tuul and Karin Tuul, two young and ambitious conductors, started working with the choir.

Our repertoire has been very diverse over the years – from folk to jazz, including classical choir music, and modern compositions. The choir has released several CDs. For the choir’s 70th anniversary, a CD with mostly new choir music by young Estonian composers was published.

The choir has always been very open-minded about co-operation with other choirs, musicians and composers. In May 2022 the choir collaborated with a Swedish composer and musician Maria W Horn and performed her piece “Dies Irae” in a showcase of Tallinn Music Week.

The choir takes part in song festivals, various competitions and holds several concerts each year. Recent achievements include a gold I medal from Budapest International Choir Festival (2019), II place in International pop/jazz competition “Lauluragin” in Valga, Estonia (2019), a golden diploma from Pärnu International Choir Festival (2016) and a golden and a silver medal from Festival Coral de Verão in Lisbon (2015).

The Academic Female Choir of TUT highly values and works on popularizing Estonian women’s song and choir traditions. Estonian Women’s Song Society named the Academic Female Choir of Tallinn University of Technology “Female Choir of the Year 2016”.

Conductor: Edmar Tuul

Founded in 1954 to be a dynamic force in developing choral music in Ireland, the Cork International Choral Festival is held annually over the five days preceding the first Monday in May in venues across the city. One of Europe’s premier international choral festivals, Cork is noted for its high standards, eclectic and wide-ranging programme, and the friendliness of its welcome. Learn more about the festival. https://www.corkchoral.ie/