Joseph Noonan
The word “hype” sums up the excitement surrounding the days and weeks prior to the queue that filled the staircase of the GMB on Thursday morning, as students borrowed Hist membership cards, arriving half an hour early to ensure good seats.
An expected blanket of silence fell upon the audience in the Chapel on Thursday evening, as a small projector was raised in the main aisle and a video began. Auditor of the Hist Liam O’Néill stood up to say a few words about the importance of the efforts made by Concern Ireland and reminded those present that all proceeds from ticket sales are going towards supporting Concern who are currently raising awareness of the famine that has devastated Somalia, a country currently wracked with drought. By the time the projector was switched off and the conductor Peter Joyce took to the stage, the silence was impenetrable.
While we should perhaps not draw too many comparisons between this Freshers’ Week performance and those of the two nights in February when Rob Farhat’s arrangement of Discovery by Daft Punk amazed crowds, it is interesting to follow Trinity Orchestra as it moves from strength to strength.
There are performances which inspire an audience to feel in a way that can not easily be described in words, and this was one of them. Amid the whirlwind of rising and falling violins and cellos, the grandeur of the chapel organ, the flawless percussion and the ethereal sounds coming from the mouths of the singers, there was a serenity and awe that came in waves with every rise and fall of the music and with every haunting blast of the chapel’s organ that echoed around the auditorium.
Any and all remarks made about the vocalists who were on stage in February may now be buried and forgotten. The performances from the six members of Trinity Singers reverberated around the Chapel beautifully. Joe Carroll, of Dublin band Heroes in Hiding, deserves distinct praise for his interpretations of songs such as “Wake Up”.
The only word that can be used to describe the reaction of the audience in the Chapel is awe. To say that you would be hard-pressed to find a similar example of dedication, talent and (perhaps above all) confidence in any group of student musicians in the rest of the country is an understatement. Trinity ought to be proud of its orchestra, and especially proud of Rob Kearns, the music student who composed the entire arrangement. The style and tempo of songs like “Ocean Of Noise” and “My Body Is A Cage” gave this performance a very stripped down and raw feel, and in contrast to the electronic elements like the vocoders and sythesizers which feature heavily in Daft Punk’s music, the emphasis here was put on strings and vocals.
was lucky to get a seat close to one of the main speakers, a mere handful of rows away the raised altar where conductor Peter Joyce stood ready to lead his team.
In essence, where Daft Punk was energetic and upbeat, the Arcade Fire performance was soulful and atmospheric, and this could not have been better received anywhere than in the high-ceilinged and historical auditorium of the Chapel. Bravo.
