On 16 October 2010, Waltons World Masters and RTÉ lyric fm launched a nationwide Gospel Competition, the winning choir/group to perform at the National Concert Hall as support act for the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama on 31 January 2011.

The response to this competition was overwhelming, and Gospel choirs and groups from all over the country submitted entries by the November 12th deadline. Clearly, Gospel is thriving in Ireland; the standard was extraordinarily high and the choice difficult. After much deliberation, our judging panel chose three finalists, whose entries were sent on to The Blind Boys of Alabama themselves to make the final decision. The finalists were:

Ballymun Gospel Choir
Discovery Gospel Choir
Gardiner Street Gospel Choir

Announced by Liz Nolan on RTÉ lyric fm’s Lunchtime Classics programme on Friday, 7 January 2011, the competition winner, Discovery Gospel Choir opened the concert on January 31st with an extraodinary 40-minute set and returned for a final encore with the Blind Boys.

To all the Gospel choirs and groups who participated in this competition - Thank you!

- John Mardirosian, Director, Waltons New School of Music, Waltons World Masters Series

I would like to thank Waltons for offering me the opportunity to hear so many vibrant and exciting Gospel choirs from all around the country. The recordings were delivered with great soul, passion and spirit. It is wonderful to know that there is such an array of singers in towns all around Ireland committed to making and sharing their music in the community, for the community.  Each and every choir brought something unique to their music making and I hope that competitions such as this will highlight the wealth of musical talent around the country. Thank you for sharing your music!

- Gail Henry, Producer, RTÉ lyric fm, and member of our judging panel

RTÉ lyric fm was delighted to team up with Waltons New School of Music to run a competition to give an Irish Gospel group the rare opportunity to support The Blind Boys of Alabama at the National Concert Hall in January. We were delighted with the response to our call for entries, and we look forward to recording the winners on the night for future broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm.

- Julie Knight, Press Officer, Assistant to Head, RTÉ lyric fm

Ballymun Gospel Choir

Cathy McEvoy, Musical Director | website

The Ballymun Gospel Choir and band are made up of teachers, cinema workers, mothers, musicians, and everybody in between. It’s a group of people joined by location and a love of the music that can be made when enthusiasm and talent meet. The Ballymun Gospel Choir has grown in sound and number since its formation in 2004. The original six members wanted to see if they could entice a community to come together through music. It turns out they could, and, despite the bumps along the road, the Ballymun Gospel Choir community is still going strong. They don’t all sing, most of them can’t dance, but the members and followers of Ballymun Gospel Choir share a musical, emotional experience that keeps them coming to the services and concerts and working hard to make sure those services and concerts keep going. The recordings submitted were part of concerts held in St. Ann’s Church on 19 and 20 March 2010 and showcase the Ballymun mix of traditional gospel with modern soul. You can hear the music, the songs, the claps and the cheers. These tracks sum up the mission of the Ballymun Gospel Choir – give it socks, give it soul, and keep laughing through it all.

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Seteng Sediba' (Windows Media Player)

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Seteng Sediba' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Shine On' (Windows Media Player)

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Shine On' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Solid Rock' (Windows Media Player)

Ballymun Gospel Choir - 'Solid Rock' (Real or QuickTime Player)

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Discovery Gospel Choir

Róisín Dexter, Musical Director | website

Formed in 2004, Discovery Gospel Choir is based in Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin but performs across the country, challenging its audiences to ‘discovery beauty in everyone’ and to work towards an integrated society. In promoting its ethos of integration and unity, Discovery has performed in Mountjoy Prison, for the then Northern Ireland First Minister Rev Dr Ian Paisley in Stormont, in Mosney Accommodation Centre for asylum seekers, for the MAMA Awards, at Africa Day and for Archbishop Desmond Tutu on his visit to Dublin in 2005. The choir has appeared on numerous national radio and television programmes and has led the National Anthem at international matches in Croke Park and Lansdowne Road. It has also made appearances at the Meteor Music Awards, the RCCG’s Festival of Life in the Point Theatre, Electric Picnic and the Festival of World Cultures. Discovery enjoys working with other musicians who share its ethos, and it has previously performed with Stevie Wonder, Sinéad O’Connor, Nizlopi, Foy Vance, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Celtic Woman. The choir has also worked closely with Irish fusion band, Kíla. In our new, multicultural Ireland, this group of singers and musicians from around the world has successfully maintained a dynamic internal community, a rich ethos of social justice, a deep Christian faith and an ability to entertain people from every walk of life with its popular and accessible music.

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'Every Time' (Windows Media Player)

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'Every Time' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'He Will Be There' (Windows Media Player)

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'He Will Be There' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'Malibongue' (Windows Media Player)

Discovery Gospel Choir - 'Malibongue' (Real or QuickTime Player)

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Gardiner Street Gospel Choir

Aidan Greene, Musical Director | website

The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, having performed its first Gospel Choir Mass on 7 May 2000. It is still spreading the good news as far and as wide as possible. Over the last two years, the choir and band have played in various venues and for a wide range of audiences, including schools for disabled children, prisons, charity events and large scale concerts as well as the weekly mass in Gardiner Street. Every Sunday over forty people take time out of their own lives to worship, sing and rejoice as part of the choir and band, a group of truly inspirational people whose love of music and each other helps to make the Gardiner Street gospel choir mass what it is For anyone who walks in off the street, one thing will be self-evident: this is a celebration. The Choir and the music play a vital role, but everyone agrees that there is something more. The tone is set each Sunday before mass, when their 'Gospel Gazette' is handed out. At the Gardiner Street Gospel Choir Mass people gather to celebrate their faith, and they do so with an energy that inspires those who do not share that faith – and those who doubt – to come and join in. The keystone of the Gospel Choir Mass is contented faith in Christ. The emphasis of the mass is to gather people together and let them discuss, contemplate and rejoice and to be able to ask questions about their lives, faith and love. Without the people there would be nobody truly at home, nobody to listen and, ultimately, no welcome and no happy gathering.

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Faith' (Windows Media Player)

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Faith' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Keep Your Hand on the Plough' (Windows Media Player)

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Keep Your Hand on the Plough' (Real or QuickTime Player)

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Joyful Joyful' (Windows Media Player)

Gardiner Street Gospel Choir - 'Joyful Joyful' (Real or QuickTime Player)

For more information please contact

John Mardirosian, Director
Waltons New School of Music | Waltons World Masters Series
69 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2
T 01 478 1884 | E jmardirosian@newschool.ie

Julie Knight, Press Officer, Assistant to Head
RTÉ lyric fm
Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Cornmarket Square, Limerick
T 061 207359 / 087 666 8680 | E julie.knight@rte.ie 

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