Meitheal - Community Choir

Artistic Vision

Meitheal is an Irish chamber choir built around one idea: exceptional unaccompanied choral music that is rooted in place, community, and imagination.

We draw on the landscapes, mythology, folklore, language, and living traditions of Ireland. Our concerts aim to feel both timeless and deeply connected to contemporary Irish life. The traditional Gaelic festivals and the turning of the Irish year are part of that story, but Meitheal's work reaches further, exploring themes of belonging, memory, nature, pilgrimage, celebration, loss, and renewal through the simple act of singing together.

We bring established masterpieces of the choral repertoire together with newly created works, finding unexpected connections between Irish culture and music from across the world. Ancient traditions sit comfortably alongside contemporary composition. Familiar stories get new perspectives.

A Meitheal concert is not just a performance. It is an experience that invites reflection, participation, and genuine human connection. Whether we are singing in concert halls, churches, forests, historic buildings, village squares, or along the western coastline, we aim to create moments that stay with people long after the final note has faded.

Purpose

To create exceptional choral performances that are artistically ambitious, emotionally generous, and open to everyone.

The choir exists to celebrate the human voice as one of our oldest communal art forms, bringing people together through shared listening and shared singing.

Music should not feel like it belongs to specialists or concert regulars. It should belong equally to experienced audiences, first-time listeners, families, disabled communities, young people, and anyone curious enough to step through the door.

Community

Community is not an outreach project bolted onto the choir. It is part of who we are.

Meitheal looks for opportunities to sing wherever people gather: churches, galleries, libraries, schools, outdoor spaces, heritage sites, festivals, community centres.

Alongside formal concerts, we want to offer free performances, informal pop-up concerts, collaborations with local organisations, and projects that remove the barriers to experiencing live choral music.

Our Mission

Present outstanding performances of a cappella choral music to the highest artistic standard.
Make exceptional choral music accessible through welcoming performances, varied venues, community engagement, and opportunities for audiences who may be new to classical music.
Celebrate and foster Irish culture by drawing inspiration from Ireland’s landscape, mythology, language, history, and living traditions.
Champion living composers through a commitment to presenting at least one newly composed or newly arranged work at every major concert or public event.
Build a distinctive Irish choral repertoire by commissioning, performing, and developing new music alongside the masterpieces of the past.
Create memorable concert experiences that engage the imagination as well as the ear, encouraging audiences to connect with music in meaningful and unexpected ways.
Foster a choir culture built on generosity, curiosity, excellence, and mutual respect, where singers are challenged artistically while forming a supportive and welcoming community.
Collaborate with artists, organisations, schools, and communities across Ireland to ensure that choral music remains a living, evolving part of Irish cultural life.

Our Artistic Values

Everything we do is guided by a small number of core principles.

Excellence: We strive for the highest artistic standards in rehearsal, performance, and musicianship, believing that accessibility and artistic excellence should always go hand in hand.
Community: Music is something to be shared. We value collaboration, generosity, hospitality, and the relationships formed through collective music-making.
Living Tradition: We honour Ireland’s musical and cultural heritage not by preserving it unchanged, but by allowing it to inspire new ideas, new music, and new ways of gathering.
Curiosity: We seek repertoire that crosses borders and centuries, discovering conversations between Irish traditions and music from across the world.
Creativity: New music is central to our identity. Every major project contributes something new to the evolving choral repertoire.
Belonging: Whether performing in a cathedral, a village hall, a woodland, or a public square, we want audiences and singers alike to feel that this music belongs to them.
Wonder: We believe concerts should leave people with a sense of beauty, reflection, and possibility. Not simply admiration for a performance, but a feeling of having shared something meaningful together.

We are currently looking for singers. Open to everyone. Rehearsals and concert dates will be announced soon. Sign up below to be the first to hear.

What We Do

All voices welcome: soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and everything between. No audition required.
Champion Irish music and history: from traditional ballads and sean-nós to contemporary Irish compositions.
Multiple musical styles: choral, folk, classical, contemporary, and original arrangements.
Unique concert settings: themed performances in unexpected spaces across Galway.
Community first: every concert supports a cause, every season gives back.
Regular rehearsals: weekly sessions in Galway city. Details to be confirmed.

Who Can Join

Meitheal is open to everyone, regardless of experience, background, or ability.

No formal training required. Just bring a willingness to learn, a love of Irish music and culture, and a desire to be part of something that gives back.

About Meitheal