Dublin Youth Choir

Based in the heart of Dublin’s city centre, Dublin Youth Choir was founded by Lynsey in 2017 with the aim of providing a structure of incremental choral music education for the young singers of Dublin and the surrounding areas.

DYC strives to provide the opportunity to develop musicianship, ensemble-singing skills, and a healthy vocal technique for every young singer. Under Lynsey’s artistic direction, accomplished musicians and teachers work with some of the most enthusiastic and committed young singers in Dublin. DYC consists of eight choirs: two Junior Choirs (for primary school children from Second Class), Training Choir (ages 10-14), Youth Choir (ages 14-18), Chamber Choir (24 singers, ages 14-20), DYC Singers (ages 18-28), and the Cross Border Youth Choir (with the Belfast Philharmonic Youth and Chamber Choirs). The future of Dublin Youth Choir is bright as it continues to grow and develop.

Dublin Youth Choir began in January 2017 with the launch of the Chamber Choir. 24 young singers between the ages of 14 and 18 were chosen to perform challenging repertoire and to develop their musicianship under the mentorship of DYC's Artistic Director, Lynsey Callaghan. They perform a wide variety of repertoire, from medieval and renaissance music to compositions by living composers. In their first year together, the young singers of Dublin Youth Chamber Choir won Best Youth Choir in the RTÉ Lyric FM Choirs for Christmas competition 2018. In 2019, they won the Youth Choir competition at the Cork International Choral Festival. Chamber Choir has performed on multiple occasions in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and the National Gallery of Ireland for Culture Night, 2018.

Dublin Youth Chamber Choir represented Ireland at the European Choir Games in Gothenburg, Sweden, in August 2019. They were named Champions of the European Choir Games in the Youth Choir category and were awarded two gold medals, including one for the international Grand Prix, and a gold diploma for their performances. Dublin Youth Choir was honoured to be the only choir representing Ireland out of the 171 choirs and 6300 participants from 47 nations who took part in the European Choir Games. In October 2019, they were invited to perform for President Michael D. Higgins, Mrs Sabina Higgins and their invited guests at Áras an Uachtaráin.

The larger SATB Youth Choir began rehearsing in September 2017 and has grown to include 60 singers. The young singers are offered the opportunity to develop their performance experience, vocal technique, and their musicianship skills through weekly musicianship classes. In July 2018, Youth Choir performed Carmina Burana in the National Concert Hall with Tallaght Choral Society and the Belfast Philharmonic Society. In 2019, Youth Choir was awarded first place in Feis Ceoil’s Youth Choir Competition and also won the Oliver O’Brien Award, the overall prize for choirs at Feis Ceoil.

One of Dublin Youth Choir’s newest choirs is Dublin Youth Training Choir. In September 2019, 30 singers aged 10-14 were chosen from all over Dublin to take part in DYC’s new initiative. In addition to singing in Training Choir, the young singers receive musicianship training through a programme inspired by the philosophy and teaching tools of the renowned Hungarian music educator, Zoltán Kodály.

DYC announced the launch of the Junior Choirs in 2018. Over the next few years, DYC is working to create a fully incremental structure of choral music education in Dublin. Singers in Junior Choir begin their DYC experience as they enter Second Class. It is a four-year programme, after which singers are invited to audition for Training Choir. The development of musicianship is integrated into every weekly rehearsal as singers develop an awareness and understanding the fundamental concepts of music, including beat, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, and timbre.

In addition to the Training Choir, DYC launched DYC Singers for singers aged 18-28 in September 2019. Over the next few years, this choir will develop as singers advance from Youth Choir once turning 18 and leaving secondary school. This choir is comparable in age with Ireland’s national youth choir, Irish Youth Choir, in an attempt to build connections between what is happening on a local level (school and community choirs), on a regional level (Dublin Youth Choir), and on a national level (Irish Youth Choir).