Irish Examiner 2003
Irish Examiner (06.05.03)
White Raven
Cork International Choral Festival
The International Choral Festival continues to astonish. Just when I think I have heard everything beautiful that can be done by the human voice, a new group adds yet another dimension.
So it was that I found myself in the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne (the North Chapel) at 10.30pm on Friday, listening in awe to the remarkably lovely music made by two very different vocal groups – Banchieri Singers from Hungary and White Raven from Switzerland – wondering whether there is any thing that singers cannot do.
……Kathleen Dineen (Macroom), David Munderloh (Wisconsin) and Raitis Grigalis (Riga, Latvia), collectively known as White Raven, brought yet another dimension to part-singing that was as unexpectedly beautiful as it was delightful. Singing in block harmony, very sweetly and simply, with impeccable diction, their approach suits the music remarkably.
Their performances of Sean O’Casey’s Down where the bees are humming and the ballad, The Parting Glass, in particular, were superb examples of wonderfully restrained showmanship.
Declan Townsend