Latest song and video to be released at 8.00 this evening
Members of the wonderful Voices of the Boyne Community Choir have been spotted in their various ‘pods’ in heritage locations around the Drogheda area in recent weeks.
Nothing untoward was going on we can assure you, they were simply shooting their latest video with other talented groups and tonight the results of their efforts are to be revealed when the video goes live on their Facebook page .
“We have chosen a song about diversity and inclusion that I really loved both the sound and the message; that all people have so much in common with each other, and I felt it was something that would represent our town of Drogheda really well’ said choir director Claire Grogan.
Some of the town’s most familiar and well-loved locations were chosen for the video, including Mellifont, Old Abbey Lane and Beaulieu House, and children from local dance schools will also feature alongside the choir.
Having already done two very successful standard virtual choir projects, Claire wanted to give the ladies a new challenge. So, the 80 members set about learning the song over Zoom and began making plans for how the video would come together visually.
“When you hear the song you’ll understand why I wanted to represent some of the different people who live in our wonderful town of Drogheda” Claire said.
“We reached out to people of the area who have a native language that is not English and asked them to say the phrase ‘We Are One’ in their own language.
“These were then filmed on location throughout Drogheda’, explains Claire, who founded the choir in September 2018 with Louise Mahony of the Red Door Project.
“I also wanted to include a dance element to the song, so we contacted Suzanne in Coastal Ballet School who was delighted to collaborate with us. The senior contemporary dance class, under their teacher Claire, set about learning a beautiful dance routine choreographed especially for the project, which was recorded on Mornington Beach.”
As current restrictions still don’t allow the ladies to sing together, the members all recorded their own voice part in their homes, which was then mixed by Sean Rowland who has worked on all the other virtual projects.
Local videographer Conor McGuinness did all the filming and editing while local percussionist Niall Gregory played djembe for the track and Susan Healy of SuPa Gifts made the beautiful t-shirts.
“We are immensely proud of all the work that we have achieved despite the restrictions and stresses the past year has thrown our way. We are also so proud of our town and its beautiful and diverse population. We hope all our listeners enjoy our latest labour of love.”
The song will be released at 8.00 this evening, Friday July 23 and can be heard on their Facebook page ‘Voices of the Boyne’.
