CORK INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL 1954–2004 – A CELEBRATION EDITED BY RUTH FLEISCHMANN CONTENTS Chapters: 1 Looking back: The Tóstal 2 Irish and Northern Irish Adult Choirs - Pioneers - Choirs of the 1960's-1990's - Currently Participating Choirs 3 Choral Music in Schools - School Choirs - Composers-in-the-Classroom 4 Foreign Choirs 5 Artists and Dancers 6 Festival Adjudicators 7 Guests, Media, Public 8 Patrons and Sponsors 9 Seminar on Contemporary Choral Music 10 Organisers 11 Administrators and Directors Appendices: All Choirs 1954-2003 Irish and NI Adult Choirs 1954-2003 School and Youth Choirs 1966-2003 Foreign Choirs 1954-2003 Competitions 1954-2003 Prizewinners 1954-2003 Adjudicators 1954-2003 Commissioned Composers 1962-2003 Dance Teams 1954-2003 Ceremonies 1954-2003 Festival Organisers 1954-2003 Over the past 50 years the Cork International Choral Festival has won international standing and a special place in the esteem and affection of the hundreds of Irish choirs, big and small, that have regularly taken part in it. From the beginning it has been supported by the City and County Councils, by Cork companies, media, institutions, and by the public. In this book, over 200 people write about their involvement in the Festival: directors, administrators, adjudicators, composers commissioned to write new works, choristers from our islands and many parts of continental Europe, critics, patrons, sponsors, the voluntary organisers and members of the public. The appendices record the names and achievements of participants. All 3,321 choir visits are documented, including the choir conductors and competitions entered. Irish choirs (adult and school) as well as foreign choirs are listed alphabetically. First and second prizewinners of all competitions are recorded; so are the set pieces, and the competition rules as they have evolved down the decades. The 144 dance teams and the 145 adjudicators are named, as are the commissioned composers and their 119 works; the opening and closing ceremonies are chronicled. The Festival directors, administrators and the 680 voluntary workers are listed, some of whom have given up to 50 years of unbroken service to this unique Festival. GLEN HOUSE PRESS CORK • SUPPORTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY VERITAS DUBLIN