Clonmel's Uproar Rock Chorus to host pub choir night for people interested in joining up

If singing great rock and pop anthems in the communal embrace of a choir appeals to you then Baker’s Bar in Clonmel is the place to be on Thursday night, August 25.

The Uproar Rock Chorus is hosting a pub choir night at the Parnell Street bar and music venue as part of its drive to attract new members.

The choir’s musical director and founder Eamon O’Malley says the event is essentially an introduction to the choir for anyone interested in getting involved.

He stresses that singers of all musical abilities are welcome to come along to the event and they are under no obligation to join the choir.

Eamon will get people who turn up to the pub choir night singing with the goal that they perform a popular song together at the end of the night. Current members of Uproar Rock Chorus will be in attendance and will also perform a song or two to show prospective members what they do.

He stressed that people who attend the pub choir night will not be “thrown into the deep end”.

It will be a very social event with the emphasis on having fun and enjoying singing. While sheets of song lyrics will be given out to people, they won’t be given sheet music.

“There will be a bit of playing and singing back and forth. The emphasis will be on getting people to sing. Hopefully having sung, you will enjoy it,” he explains.

Eamon founded Uproar Rock Chorus in 2017. From working with other choirs and musical societies, he saw a gap in the market for a choir performing pop, rock and contemporary songs as many great hits from these genres are very suited to the expansive sound of a choir.

He is also musical director of Clonmel’s Belle Voci Choir and choral director of Carrick-on-Suir Musical Society. The Clonmel-based musician, composer and teacher says one of the big inhibitions people have about joining a choir is they are not familiar with the type of songs they perform.

The instant familiarity of the songs Uproar Rock Chorus performs make it more accessible to choir novices.

As the choir’s musical director, he tries to strip away any musical jargon and formality associated with choral singing to nurture members’ enthusiasm.

The choir currently has 26 male and female memberS of all ages from their 20s upwards. The choir’s members come from Clonmel, Cahir, Cashel and some travel from as far as Kilkenny and Waterford.

Uproar Rock Chorus’ members are on a summer break. When they resume in September, their weekly singing sessions will be on Tuesday evenings and last for one and a half to two hours.

Before the pandemic, the choir performed at many local events and spread its wings performing at the Forever Young Festival in Kildare and the 2019 Budapest Music Festival.

A planned trip to Barcelona to perform at the 2020 World Choral Games was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But throughout the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, the Uproar Rock Chorus’ members kept singing. Eamon recalls that when restrictions allowed, the choir’s weekly rehearsals became socially distanced outdoor sessions at Clonmel Racecourse and they wore special singing masks.

Uproar Rock Chorus has now moved its rehearsals indoors at Clonmel Racecourse and has clocked up a number of public performances in Clonmel since the pandemic restrictions lifted earlier this year.

Most recently, Uproar Rock Chorus’ members sang at the Clonmel Junction Festival’s opening event and the festival’s family fun day.

It became the first choir to sing in Clonmel Town Hall when it performed in the council chamber on the final day of Cllr Michael Murphy’s mayoralty in June.

In April, the choir sang at the Under The Arches concert at Clonmel’s Main Guard in aid of the Clonmel Mayor’s Ukraine Appeal and also sang at a strictly dancing fundraiser in the Clonmel Park Hotel. Its next gig is the Clonmel Pride Festival on Saturday, August 27.

When the choir resumes rehearsals in September, one of its key goals for the year ahead will be preparing to perform at the Hull International Choral Festival in Yorkshire in England next April.

Uproar Rock Chorus’ pub choir night at Baker’s Bar starts at 8pm on August 25. Entry costs €5.