Ayr Choral Union

Our 2024-25 Town Hall concert season ended on a real high on 30th March with ‘Hope’ the final concert of the year’s programme, a wonderful selection of music from across four centuries by Handel, Schubert, Britten and Philip Cooke – music written to celebrate peace or as a tonic to the realities of war. With four super soloists from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the ever-excellent Caledonian Consort this was a hugely enjoyable evening for all of us involved and a fitting end to our official season. A real highlight was performing the first orchestrated version of Philip Cooke’s Gloria with our very own Andy McTaggart as the soloist, Andy having performed the premiere of the work with 2 pianos and 2 percussion at the Cumnock Tryst in 2023.

We are extremely lucky to have a a loyal audience so if you’ve enjoyed one of our concerts this year then thank you so much for joining us and please tell your friends!

We’ll be back later in the year with ‘Eternal Light’ but if you can’t wait until then, you can catch a smaller group of us in Glasgow Cathedral at 3pm on 24th May singing some of our favourite shorter works.

We look forward to seeing you in the autumn – until then, have a great summer!

We are delighted to welcome Jenna Martin as our Assistant Conductor for 2025. A recent graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Jenna studied for her Masters’ degree in Choral Conducting under Andrea Brown and Greg Hallam. Having completed her studies, Jenna has moved to Glasgow and is looking forward to working with us this year. We already know we’re lucky to have her and are very excited to see what the year will bring. For Jenna’s full biography, head to the ‘Conductor and Accompanist’ page.

Good Luck Jenna!

Weekly rehearsals restart following the Christmas break on Tuesday 7th January 2025. If your New Year’s resolution has been to join a choir then why not come and give us a try?

We’re also holding a Come and Sing of Benjamin Britten’s cantata Rejoice in the Lamb on Saturday 11th January 2025 and we’d love you to join us!

The day will start with registration at 10am and we’ll start singing at 10.30 before giving a performance at 3pm. We’ll also be looking at Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum. There will be a tea break and you’ll need to bring your own lunch. We’ll be based in the Main Hall at Castlehill Church, Ayr and the cost for the day will be £15.

It’s a great opportunity to sing some wonderful music, give Ayr Choral a try and meet its friendly members!

If you have any questions or are interested in joining us for the day, then please do email us – ayrchoral@outlook.com

We look forward to seeing you!

We are absolutely thrilled to hear that our Assistant Conductor, Eden Devaney, has been announced as the Sir Alexander Gibson Memorial Conducting Fellow of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RNSO) Chorus! This year-long training opportunity for choral conductors will see Eden working alongside RNSO Chorus Director, Stephen Doughty. Eden will be working on performances including Mahler’s Second Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Home Alone in Concert and a brand-new concert-staged opera by Jonathan Dove entitled Uprising.

Huge congratulations to Eden! Read on below for our recent interview with him…

Nine months in to his post, we caught up with Eden Devaney to find out more about what it’s like to be the Assistant Conductor with Ayr Choral…

Ayr Choral – Eden Devaney, Assistant Conductor with Ayr Choral – how did that come about?

Eden Devaney – I first started my choral conducting journey a year before I came up to Glasgow for university. At the time, I was taking a year out to get my voice in a place to go to conservatoire, as I had only been singing classically for a year at that point. My then singing teacher was the director of the college chamber choir, however, he was just about to take a sabbatical, so being in the right place at the right time, I started taking the choir and fell in love choral directing! 

When I then arrived at RCS [Royal Conservatoire of Scotland] I hadn’t had the opportunity to be in front of a choir. I then met the wonderful Andy McTaggart when I was working for the Cumnock Tryst festival 2023, and in one of the many drives over to Cumnock Andy mentioned in passing that his choir in Ayr was going to be looking for an assistant conductor, I pounced at the opportunity and I haven’t looked back. 

AC – You had to audition in front of the whole choir – what was that like?

ED – The choir at the time were rehearsing for their Christmas concert, and I was given Ola Gjeilo’s arrangement of the Holly and the Ivy. The audition was to work for 45 minutes, including warm up and working on the music and I was a bag of nerves. I don’t remember too much of the audition but I remember seeing the sea of faces as I was fumbling my words to describe what I wanted from the choir, I realised in that moment that taking a chamber choir rehearsal and a large choir rehearsal is a completely different kettle of fish. 

AC – What are some of the key things you’ve learned so far?

ED – During my time so far I have learned that the less you physically do with your arms is most of the time actually better and clearer for a choir to read. As well as this learning how to relate warm up to the needs of the music, whether that is obvious or not, is monumental for a smooth running of rehearsal. 

AC – And has anything surprised you?

ED – Having been with the choir for nine months now, just learning about all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes and then the amount of work that goes into a smooth running of a choir is huge. Whether that is from committee meetings, music preparation, score hire, budgets, fund raising, to even tea, coffee and baked goods. It was probably me being naive, but the choir couldn’t function without it. 

AC – How important is it for amateur groups, like choirs and orchestras, to be able to offer opportunities like this?

ED – I think opportunities like this for a young conductor like myself are crucial. It is extremely rare to have an opportunity to work with a real functioning choir in a zero-pressure environment, where you can make mistakes and that is okay. 

It isn’t just an opportunity to work with a choir, it is also a mentorship. Having sessions with the choir isn’t just you and choir. Andy is always sat at the side ready to work and coach you. Whether that is a quiet word in your ear or publicly so the choir is involved. 

AC – You’re with us until the end of the year, what are you looking forward to most in that time?

ED – I am looking forward to the October concert “When it is Peace”, where we perform Karl Jenkins’ ‘The Armed Man’ and James MacMillan’s ‘All the Hills and Vales Along’. Both pieces are both beautifully programmed – exploring themes of the impact of war, which is extremely poignant at this moment in time. However, I am extremely excited to take to the podium at my final concert as Assistant Conductor which is the Christmas concert with the Newmilns and Galston Brass Band, with some cracking Christmas tunes and maybe an audience carol or two!

AC – And after that, what’s next for you?

ED – In the very near future there is some extremely exciting news in my choral conducting journey (announcement very soon). However, this isn’t the last time I will grace the doors of Ayr Choral. I will be joining the choir in their March 2025 concert – singing some Schubert, Handel and Britten. 

AC – What would you say to anyone considering trying for this role in future?

ED – Do it! No matter what your experience in conducting is, having an opportunity like this is priceless, plus everyone is just delightful!  

Following our Open Rehearsal on 20th August, our regular Tuesday night rehearsals are now underway for our 2024-25 season which is set to be filled with wonderful music and some very special accompanists and soloists.

If you’re thinking of starting or getting back in to singing – do get in touch, we’re always delighted to welcome new members. Read more about us in the ‘Join the Choir’ section of the website, email us on ayrchoral@outlook.com or get in touch via our Facebook page.

Ayr Choral Rehearsals for our 2024-25 Season start on Tuesday 20th August 2024 and everyone is invited!

We’re holding an Open Rehearsal for anyone who would like to come and give us a try.

Starting at 7.30pm we’ll begin with a warm up – for both our voices and our brains (!) – before starting work on both of the pieces we’ll be performing at out October Concert – Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man and James MacMillan’s All the Hills and Vales Along.

If you’re considering starting or getting back in to singing, do come along on 20th August and give us a try – we’d love to see you.

P.S. It’s a tea-break night so bring a mug too!

Our Ayr Town Hall Season arrived at a glorious finale on Sunday 17th March with Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. The incredible sound from the choir was beautifully supported by The Caledonian Consort and we were lucky to have two wonderful soloists in Catriona Hewitson and Ross Cumming.

When Brahms premiered the Requiem in 1888, he broke the performance after the 4th movement and included works by other composers in the concert so we followed suit! Triptych by Tarik O’Regan was both a challenge and a joy to sing for the choir and captivating for the audience to hear. As one audience member said ‘it sounded amazing and was really emotional…had a wee tear!’

Although our official season is now over, you can still catch us on Saturday 27th April in Glasgow, at St Mungo’s Cathedral at 2.30pm (free entry) and we’ll be at Belleisle Conservatory in Ayr for an informal performance as part of Make Music Day on 21st June.

Look out for the launch of our 2024-25 Season – When it is Peace-Joy!-Hope – later on in the summer.

See you next Season!

We started the year with an Open Rehearsal on 9th January and got stuck straight in to some hard work on Saturday 13th January with a one-off workshop studying O’Regan’s Triptych in preparation for our March concert. It was great to welcome a number of guests and new members to both of these events!

As the new year gets underway we’re absolutely delighted to be joined by some more new faces – Accompanist, JiaNing Ng and Assistant Conductor, Eden Devaney.