Chamber Choir Ireland will join forces with the RNLI later this month for The Irresistible Call, a three-concert tour exploring the sea’s allure and dangers while raising funds for the volunteers who save lives at sea.
The tour opens at St Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh, Co Cork, on Friday November 27th, in the harbour town that was Titanic’s last port of call. It then travels to the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dún Laoghaire on Saturday 28 November, before closing in Belfast on Sunday 29 November at Drawing Office One in Titanic Hotel Belfast, part of the former Harland & Wolff headquarters where Titanic and other great ocean liners were designed.
Audience members can donate to the RNLI when booking tickets online, and donation stations will be set up at each concert.
The programme includes the world premiere of The Sound of the Sea, a new commission by award-winning Irish composer Áine Mallon. Speaking ahead of the tour, Chamber Choir Ireland’s Artistic Director Gabriel Crouch said,“I’m scared of water, yet I’m endlessly bewitched by its beautiful rhythm, and by the physical and emotional synergy between water and music. This programme captures the singular seduction of the unexplored vastness, of a destination utterly different from where we are now, and of the perilous challenges we might experience in getting there, and in getting home again. As the sea draws so many people to its danger, it is those everyday heroes of the sea, the RNLI, who stand ready to face the worst of its rage in order to keep the rest of us safe. We’re honoured to present these concerts in partnership with the RNLI, in three places which are emblematic of Irish sea life.”
The programme moves between the longing of those left ashore and the dangers faced by those who go to sea. Veljo Tormis’s Laevas lauldakse is a lament of village women watching their young men sail to war, while Michael McGlynn’s Hinbarra draws on traditional songs from the West of Ireland that reflect the lives of fishermen. Works by Richard Rodney Bennett, Elizabeth Maconchy and Mason Bates explore the sea’s mythology and allure through texts associated with Shakespeare and Homer’s Odyssey.
The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations across Ireland and the UK and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Commenting on the tour, Killian O’Kelly, RNLI Fundraising Partnership Lead, said, “Our lifeboat crews are largely made up of volunteers from local communities, and our lifesaving service relies on the generosity of the public. Every donation matters. Just as important is the chance to reach people who may never have thought about what it takes to launch a lifeboat: the training, the commitment and the dedication. An evening of music about the sea is a good place to start that conversation.”
Also on the programme is Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, dedicated to those who died when the MS Estonia sank in 1994, a work that will carry particular resonance when it is performed in the building where Titanic was designed.
The Irresistible Call takes place on Saturday November 28th 2026, 6.30pm | National Maritime Museum of Ireland, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin (supported by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council)
Chamber Choir Ireland is funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, with support from Dublin City Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland through its National Lottery Fund.
For further information and to book tickets, see chamberchoirireland.com
Full Programme
Richard Rodney Bennett (UK, 1936-2012)—Sea Change, i. The isle is full of noises
Mason Bates (USA, b. 1977)—Sirens, ii. Die Lorelei
Elizabeth Maconchy (UK, 1907-1994)—Sirens’ Song
Veljo Tormis (Estonia, 1930-2017)—Laevas lauldakse
Richard Rodney Bennett—Sea Change, ii. The Bermudas
Áine Mallon (Ireland, b. 1994)—The Sound of the Sea NEW COMMISSION, WORLD PREMIERE
Mason Bates—Sirens, vi. From the Odyssey
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Finland, b. 1963)—Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae
Michael McGlynn (Ireland, b. 1964)—Hinbarra
Richard Rodney Bennett—Sea Change, iv. Full fathom five
Feature Image: Eilís Dexter from Chamber Choir Ireland and Killian O’Kelly (RNLI) pictured at the launch of The Irresistible Call, a concert taking place in support of the RNLI. Image Marc O’Sullivan