Concert at St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway

We had our first concert this evening at the Collegiate Church of St. Nicolas.  This is the largest medieval parish church in Ireland still in constant use.  It was built c. 1320 on the site of an earlier chapel.  The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, a 4th century Bishop of Myra in Lycia.  Although he is best known today as the patron saint of children or "Santa Claus", during the middle ages he was more commonly revered as the patron saint of sailors.  This is why churches dedicated to him are commonly found in medieval seaport towns such as Galway.  Christopher Columbus almost certainly worshiped here in 1477, and may well have been inspired by tales of St. Brendan the Navigator, an Irish monk who is believed to have sailed to American in the 6th century.  (Yesterday we learned about Tim Severin, a modern day sailor who, in 1976, reenacted St. Brendan's trip across the Atlantic in a leather boat to prove that it was possible for St. Brendan to have made the voyage to America in such a craft.  Pretty amazing!  I guess that means we have to learn a new poem because that Columbus poem about 1492 and the ocean blue isn't really accurate, huh?)

So, back to the concert.  (I love history!  It is so easy to get caught up in tales of earlier years, especially when you are standing at the site where you know someone like Columbus probably stood!)  It was an evening filled with beautiful music in a spectacular space, rich in history.  The students were awesome ambassadors of NCHS, and of the US.    The large audience was an appreciative lot and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the concert.  Here are a few video clips (cross your fingers and hope that this works!) and photos of the concert:

 

Symphonic Band "Slane"

 Symphonic Band "As Summer was Just Beginning"

 

Symphonic Band "Flourish for Wind Band"

Wind Ensemble "Olympic Fanfare"

 

In the morning we leave Galway to travel to Killarney, and we will be in a new hotel tomorrow evening.  I'm not sure of the internet connection there, but I'm hoping to be able to continue our posts with more updates of our adventures.