Press Release – Monday February 29th 2016
Young Voices rise up in the Helix
An extraordinary event, which sees over 2,000 teenagers enthusiastically singing religious music live on stage, gets underway in Dublin’s Helix tonight.
Students from all over Dublin will raise their voices in a concert series which runs for the next four nights as part of the “Emmanuel ” project run by the Archdiocese of Dublin in collaboration with 60 different secondary schools.
The concerts are unique in Ireland with students between the ages of 12 and 17 singing music, live in front of a full orchestra. Before getting on stage the students will participate in workshops rehearsing hymns and playing music.
There is also a competition for the much coveted positions of soloists each night. 300 boys and girls compete for a chance to sing live in front of a packed theatre, many for the first time in their lives. And, in a manner not unlike the Voice which is broadcast from the same stage, their peers get to give the participants their vote of confidence.
Each morning of workshops is followed by full rehearsals and then a live concert every eventing where parents, family members, teachers and the public get to enjoy the fruits of the musical and spiritual perpetrations.
Since the Emmanuel project began, demand for participation from teachers and students has grown so much that for the first time this year, an extra concert night has been added, extending the series to four nights.
The students take the music and prayer they learn during the Emmanuel workshops and concerts and return and use and adapt them in their own prayer services and liturgies in their school communities.
60 schools from across the Archdiocese are taking part beginning tonight (Monday 29th) A limited number of tickets is available for the remaining nights from the Helix www.thehelix.ie or call 01 700 7000.
