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