Ninety years of Dominican music celebrated in two magical nights at The Riverside Theatre

From the opening drumbeats of “Briseadh An Bhainseo” to the dying notes of “An Irish Blessing”, the recent 90th Anniversary Dominican concerts proved to be resounding successes. The two “Past and Present” concerts, compered by Sarah Travers, played to enthralled audiences at a packed Riverside Theatre for two nights.

The concerts were designed to celebrate the rich musical traditions of the college and to give thanks for 90 years of Dominican Education in Portstewart. It was particularly pleasing that 10 of the past 11 Principals and Vice-Principals, along with many Dominican Sisters who had travelled from near and far were able to attend.
 

Both the opening Choral piece, Mendelssohn’s “Lift Thine Eyes” from the 55 voices of the Senior Choir and the Junior Choral Group’s “Oh Happy Day” reminded the audience of the spiritual dimension of the College whilst the introductory piece with its fusion of African drumming, bagpipes and Irish dancing reflected that the music department strives to bring together music from many cultural backgrounds in a way which mirrors the distinctively inclusive nature if the school itself.

Many of those who performed focused on the positive, harmonious relationships which have been at the heart of the Dominican ethos throughout its 90 year history. This aspect of the school was further reflected within the friendship theme of the 40 strong Junior Choir led by Mrs Rosemary O’Connor and accompanied on guitar by Sian Farrell and Stephen Ramsay. No doubt many of the emerging talents would fully concur with the sentiments expressed that, like their predecessors in the previous 90 years, they too will continue to be “changed for good” as a result of their Dominican musical experiences.

Two past pupils’ lives who were certainly inspired as a result of music in the school were Damien O’Kane and Christina McDonald. Damien, fresh from his Radio Two Folk Award nomination regaled the audience with tales of putting Mr Cloughley “through hell”; this was hard to believe, based on the virtuoso performance he gave with Shona Kipling of a selection of music from his recently released “Box On” CD.

Accomplished flautist Christina Mc Donald, a previous member of the NEELB Youth Orchestra, who now plays with the Kew Wind Orchestra, in London, treated the audience to her beautiful rendition of Doppler’s Hungarian Fantasy. In a word, her performance was simply fantastic.

Catherine Hickey and Chris Mc Ateer, 2 highly talented present Dominican sixth form students demonstrated their mastery of the piano and saxophone respectively. Catherine’s gorgeous performance of Michael O’Suilleabheann’s “Ah! Sweet Dancer” typified the rich vein of Irish music within the school. Chris, who has just been offered a scholarship to The Royal Academy of Music, London, performed his own A Level Composition “Ballade for saxophone and piano in C minor”. Sarah Travers, herself a former Dominican A level music student, was clearly blown away by the piece and asked the audience to consider: “If this is what Chris is composing as an A level student what will he be producing in the years to come?”.
Michael Ferguson, a recent First Class Honours graduate of Edinburgh University, returned to treat rapt audiences to 2 pieces he had specially composed for the Anniversary concert. These pieces, the instrumental Piano solo “The Cliff Walk” and The “Prayer to St Dominic”, written for the Chapel Choir, reflected the importance of the natural beauty and ethos of the school in the shaping of his own musical character.

Robin Mc Kay, the current Director of Portrush Music Society, then captivated the audience with his performance of Zez Confery’s “Kitten on the Keys, a 1921 Jazz piece inspired by a trivial domestic event. Robin’s association with Dominican extends beyond his days as a pupil; he now inspires many young Dominicans as their percussion and piano tutor.

 

Towards the end of the first half of the concerts the Junior Ensemble’s striking rendition of “The First Cut”, certainly made one the “deepest” impressions of the evening with a beautiful vocal by Sian Farrell and a powerful interpretation by the Dominican guitar, mandolin, drum and vocal group overseen by their guitar tutor Mr Aiden Moffett.
 

Two returning “special guests” brought the first half of proceedings to a fitting finale. Mr Barry Burgess, a past Head of Music, returned to conduct the Chapel Choir’s rendition of Mozart’s “Laudate Dominium” replete with a beautiful solo from Shonagh Lyons.

 

The first half was brought to a close by the triple all-Ireland winning Traditional Group who clearly enjoyed their reunion performance ably assisted by Mr Convery.
 

Part Two opened in a bluesy style with a brilliant rendition of “Stormy Monday” featuring no less than 4 guitarists, bass drums and a vocal from Craig Donohue, a new arrival to the Dominican musical scene from Scotland.
 

Julie Follis, whose career since leaving Dominican has taken her all over the world, produced a wonderfully sultry version of Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” and a hypnotic rendition of the timeless classic “Moon River” .
 

Dominican is renowned for the quality of its school shows and its present day vocal talents were wonderfully encapsulated in 3 performances from the hugely successful West End show “Wicked”. Hannah Mc Donald performed “I’m not that girl”, Orla McElhone recounted her tale of “The Wizard and I” while Natalia Morelli and Rachel Annett, veterans of the Dominican stage together since Year 8, concluded this section with a reprise of “For Good”.

Another member of the A Level Music class, Sarah Mooney, enchanted the audience with a stirring version of “My Lagan Love“ while the present day Traditional Group followed this with a selection of Irish polkas, jigs and reels arranged and accompanied by Mr Cloughley and Mr Convery.

Two welcome “blasts from the past” came in the form of Colm Mc Clean and Steven Iveson returning to a Dominican stage to demonstrate their mastery of the classical and electric guitar respectively. Colm, who treated the audience to some “Precious Time” left school in the late 1990s has gone on to play with respected local singer Ben Glover. Colm’s current Belfast  based band "The Earls" are currently deep in rehearsals ahead of their forthcoming visit to Nashville to record their debut album this summer.

At another end of the musical spectrum, Steven, currently studying Jazz at Newcastle University, wowed audiences with his arrangement of Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite”.

As the concert moved towards its finale Mike Olatunji, fresh from his first year of Jazz studies at the prestigious Birmingham Conservatoire, put the audience in “A Sentimental Mood” with his interpretation of the Duke Ellington classic and Aaron Loughery treated them to a superb rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “August – The Harvest song” which although he explained was written in one day admitted, “Has only taken me fifteen years to master”.
 

The powerful spiritual dimension of the Domincian ideals, 800 years old this year, was encapsulated in the Chapel Choir’s version of Carl Jenkins’ “Benedictus” accompanied by Gwyneth Mc Bride and Colin Elliott.
 

Both concerts closed with Terry Cloughley’s own arrangement of “An Irish Blessing“ its refrain of “Until we meet again / May God hold you in the hollow of his hand“ both a reflection on absent friends within and beyond the wider school community and an invocation to those about to take their leave of the school to continue to be proud Dominicans.
 

Margaret Sloane (nee Watt) and Mary O’Connor (nee Briggs), two distinguished former pupils, spoke of the challenge for today’s pupils in “taking up the story in telling the next chapter”. On the evidence of the phenomenal talents on display over these two wonderful concerts, the valuable traditions of the past are in secure hands and the musical future of the school is bright.

More than one third of the current school population had been involved in performing within the 2 concerts, paying testimony to the diversity and strength of music within and beyond the school curriculum and the opportunities available to Dominican students. In the words of the present day Ensemble “The Kids are Alright” or in the words of a departing student “Roll on the centenary in 2017 !”.
 

The staff and pupils of the school would like to take this opportunity to pay special thanks to The Riverside Theatre for hosting the concerts, for the continued support of parents and friends within the wider school community and to the past pupils who returned to give so generously of their time and talent.

A special DVD of the concert is available from the school at a cost of £10.00 and can be purchased by contacting the school office on 70832715.

A special thanks to Maeve O'Hara for allowing us to post the pictures on our school website. If you would like to buy a print of one of the photographs taken by Maeve, please contact the school office.