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Songs of Praise…Soprano Sharon Lyons (right) joins members of Kerry Scotia Ensemble, Stephen O’Halloran, Dovile Baltoniene and Lucy White for one night performance ‘Songs of Praise and Love’, on Sunday November 6th, 2022 at 7.30pm in St John the Evangelist Church, Ashe Street, Tralee. Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan
KERRY Scotia Ensemble and internationally acclaimed soprano Sharon Lyons will perform “Songs of Praise & Love” in Saint John the Evangelist Church, Ashe Street, Tralee on this Sunday, November 6.
The concert, which starts at 7.30pm, is a celebration of spiritual music and love songs arranged for soprano and orchestra and features favourites like Panis Angelicus, Be Still My Soul, Amazing Grace, Time to Say Goodbye, Pie Jesu and many more.
This concert will be the first time that the orchestra has delved into the catalogue of beloved spiritual music and they have commissioned renowned composer and arranger Richard Rudkins to create unique and beautiful arrangements of classics from the religious repertoire.
Sharon Lyons is an award winning soprano who is currently director of music in St Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, and director of the Dublin Lourdes Choir.
She holds an A.R.I.A.M for Singing Teaching, a Bachelor of Music Education Honours Degree from Trinity College and R.I.A.M, and a First Class Honours in a Master of Arts in Chant and Ritual Song as well as a PhD from University of Limerick.
Sharon has performed on national and international stages as both a soloist and ensemble member. She has received many scholarships and awards over the years including a Fulbright Scholarship to study music in the US, which led to performing at a UN conference.
Performances also include appearances at the NCH, on national television, on many RTÉ religious affairs programmes, singing for Pope Francis, for state events such as the annual 1916 Remembrance Service and funeral of former President Patrick Hillery.
One of Sharon’s most exciting ventures to date was her appearance in a singing and acting capacity on the hit television series ‘The Viking’s’ in 2013 (produced by the History Channel, United States) in which she sings a self-composed piece called Sacrifice written specifically for the series.
This has received viral status on YouTube, and continues to collect new fans on a regular basis to this day.
Kerry Scotia Ensemble is Kerry’s only professional string orchestra and was set up in 2016 with the assistance of an Arts Act Grant from Kerry County Council.
Since then the orchestra has performed in venues around the county in its missions to promote high quality performances of classical music.
The orchestra has received multiple awards of grants from Kerry County Council and the Arts Council and was most recently awarded a Local Live Performance Scheme grant from the Department of Arts and Culture for its Sounds of Cinema concert in August.
The orchestra has played multiple genres of music over the years and partnered with many local musicians, singers, composers and choirs.
This is the first of hopefully many concerts with Sharon, with another Christmas concert planned in Killarney Cathedral with her choir on Sunday 4th December.
Tickets for the November concert are available on the door or from Eventbrite for €15 with special family discounts available for group purchases. Click here to go to the eventbrite page.
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