Ahead of the return of 'The All-Island School Choir of the Year Competition' to our screens, presenter Anne Cassin chats to Linda McGee about the working on the show and her own choir days.
Linda McGee: Are you excited about the new series hitting screens this weekend Anne?
Anne Cassin: Yeah, I am. I'm really looking forward to it. I've clapped my eye over the music and I think there's a lovely variety of choral music there and I think it's going to be very nice. We've learned a lot from last year so hopefully we can work on and improve on last year. Some of the schools we've met before and it'll be interesting to see how they shape up this time round.
LM: In terms of that variety that you mentioned, what can we expect from the music in the show?
AC: Some of it is traditional, some of it is classic choral music and some is negro-spiritual and I see also that one of the musical directors has composed one of the songs for the choirs. What you're trying to look for is 'Does the music suit the voices?' because at the end of the day it's about how the choirs perform and if the music or song shows off the expertise of the choir.
LM: Do you get a kick out of watching the performances on the show yourself and seeing the excitement levels backstage?
AC: Yeah. At the end of the day there's a winner at the end of all this and there's the inevitable excitement for the winner and the heartbreak for the losers and you can't help but be sucked into that a little bit. I think it's great to see the young people breaking away, I suppose, from 'The X Factor' type stuff and really going for something a little bit more ambitious or maybe a little bit less mainstream, and to see them take a good fist at these songs. Behind all the choirs, of course, you'll find the musical directors and they're very, very committed and incredibly hard-working and they're the ones who are the driving force behind the choirs. So one's eyes are opened to the work that goes into it. The main thing is that it's a team effort from most of the choirs so I think that any joy obviously is shared but also if they get knocked out that's shared amongst the group.
LM: You mentioned the big team element there, which also sets this apart from most other talent shows like 'The X Factor', do you get a real sense of them wanting to do this for their school or community?
AC: Oh yeah. I wouldn't stretch the sporting analogy too much but you do have five schools and they'll be fairly partisan. They'll be up for their own teams, their own choirs, like people would be up for their own team at a camogie match or something like that. So there is very much a team element to it.
LM: On competition night you must see a lot of emotional scenes. Is that hard?
AC: You'd want to be made of stone if you wouldn't be caught up in the mood of the night when a winning choir gets through and then equally if it's very, very tight and a choir is out by only a small margin, that can be hard too. So you'd want to be made of stone if you didn't get touched by that.
LM: Were you ever in a choir yourself?
AC: Yeah, I was. I was in a school choir when I was in Loretto, Balbriggan in Dublin all those years ago and that's given me an appreciation of the work that these choirs are doing. We weren't on a par with any of the choirs that we've come across in this competition but I know what it's like to be in a choir and to try and hold your note. These choirs now are at a different level entirely. They are premier division! And of course the other thing is, when I was at school we did largely religious music and hymns and the musical range for the current choirs is much more eclectic.
LM: Do you think these new twists are influenced by shows like 'Glee'?
AC: I wouldn't disagree with that. 'Glee' is part of the popular culture and I absolutely presume that a lot of our students will be watching it, as they are probably watching 'X Factor'. But they probably find that they're doing classical music as an interest anyway. The repertoire that comes up in the programme does have a mix but there is still a strong choral tradition to what we are doing here.
LM: The live final of the show is set for 14 November in Belfast's Waterfront. Is that a night that you're already looking forward to?
AC: You cannot, just cannot, beat live television. We had a great final last year, I must say. It was very high quality and the programme was exciting so hopefully we're going to have a repetition on 14 November in the Waterfront. Hopefully it'll generate a bit of momentum in the four pre-recorded programmes.
Watch 'The All-Island School Choir of the Year Competition' this Sunday at 5.10pm on RTÉ One.
