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It was a moment of pure magic. A lazy Spring afternoon in 1996, and 10-year-old Peter O’Donohue is hammering his way through Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. The wooden upright piano creeks under his heavy fingers as finally, mercifully, he brings the tune to a finish. It’s fair to say that young Peter is not a natural pianist.
He shifts anxiously on the piano stool in the sitting room of his home in Fanore, waiting uncomfortably for the judgement of his piano teacher. That teacher, Archie Simpson, from over the mountain in Lismorahaun, exhales deeply and turns to the youngster, a kind look in his eye.
“Peter,” he says, “why don’t we try something different”.
Archie gets to his feet and unprompted bursts into a magnificent, full-throated bass. In that moment, live classical music echoes through the valleys of Fanore, possibly for the first time, and hundreds of lives are changed forever.
This magic moment was the first time that Peter O’Donohoe heard the sounds that would define his life, it was the first time that Archie Simpson gave a singing lesson and in reality, it was the first rehearsal of the Lismorahaun Singers, a choir that virtually every family in the Burren has been involved in over the past 25 years.
This week, Peter O’Donohue will close a circle that opened in Fanore 28 years ago when he takes over as musical director of the Lismorahaun Singers. As he prepares to take on the challenge of his life, that fateful day from 1996 is very much in his mind.
“After a year of piano lessons with Archie, I was able to play the Moonlight Sonata on piano, which wasn’t bad. But it took me way too long, I never practiced, I was a terrible student,” said Peter.
“Archie got to the end of the year and he said that this is kind of torture for both of us, is there anything else we could do.
“He told me that he was getting singing lessons himself in Dublin, and would I be interested in that instead. I was ten years old, I didn’t even know what that meant.
“I’ll never forget what happened next, it is one of my core memories. He stood up in my sitting room and he unleashed this classic bass voice. I had never heard anything like it in my whole life. The sheer power that the human voice could produce. Even at the age of ten, I was blown away.
“I didn’t even know what he did but I knew that I wanted to be able to do it. We had our first singing lesson right there in the sitting room and I do believe that that was the first singing lesson that Archie ever gave to anyone.
“We came out, told my mother, and she said that as long as I stayed in music in some way, she was happy. So I gave up the piano immediately and we started singing.
“That continued for me all through school. When I got finished my Leaving Cert, I was probably set to go down the farming or carpentry route, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college.
“But two friends of mine, Naomi O’Connell and Dean Power, who were both students of Archie, told me about their time in music college. Four years of doing nothing but music, sign me up.”
That day in 1996 was also the spiritual birth of the Lismorahaun Singers. Peter’s mother Dympna was involved in the local community choir and, always an ambitious sort, she decided that Archie was the person to take that choir to the next level.
This O’Donohue family project was completed a few years later when Peter’s uncle, the late poet, philosopher and priest, John O’Donohue, gave the choir its now famous name.
“My uncle, John O’Donohue, was doing dawn masses in Corcomroe Abbey and he invited Archie’s choir to sing at one of those masses. Archie brought them and they sang lovely four-part harmonies and out of the blue my uncle introduced them as the Lismorahaun Singers, and that was the first time that they were named,” said Peter.
“He probably said it as a bit of a joke, having a bit of craic with them, but the name stuck and it is still there 25 years later. So the choir is deeply rooted in my history, since I was 10 years old.”
This week Peter took rehearsals as musical director of the Lismorahaun Singers for the first time. It was another magical moment, a mixture of anticipation, joy and not a little fear.
“This is a full circle moment for me in my life. But, in a way that is why it is all so terrifying. The work isn’t terrifying, but for me personally, this is so huge,” said Peter.
“When I think back, Archie basically brought classical music to the Burren. He brought it into people’s homes, he certainly brought it into our home, we had no classical music in it at all. He brought the classical music and that, in turn, developed a love for all sorts of music.
“It was like opening pandora’s box, suddenly it’s not just trad, there are other genres of music. I fell in love with all the different sorts of music.
“Music is there to help you with your moods. It is there to walk beside you and keep you company, depending on what mood you are in. That’s why all of these different genres are so important. I hope to bring all different genres of music to the choir.”
After finishing his Leaving Cert, Peter studied music in the Dublin Institute of Technology for four years before turning professional. He then worked as a professional opera singer for 10 years, included four years with Wexford Opera.
After singing with every major opera company in Ireland, he travelled to Europe to attempt to make his international breakthrough. But the lifestyle and international travel didn’t suit him, and seven years ago he returned home to farm in Fanore and establish the Anam Cara School of Music in Lisdoonvarna.
After successfully launching the school, Peter’s mind returned to his own musical career and he took the helm of a vocal group in Galway.
Now, after a number of successful years under the direction of Kate Daly, Peter’s journey will come full circle as he takes over as musical director of the Lismorahaun Singers.
“Sleep is difficult for me at the moment. When I try to go to sleep at night, my brain starts doing 1,000 things and my brain keeps coming back to the enormity of what this is, for me and the choir. I was nurtured by that choir, that choir introduced me to my career. It gave me the life that I have at the moment,” he said.
“For me to come back is a huge moment for me, it is terrifying really. I know there are a lot of people who are coming back to the choir because of this, and a lot of people who are joining for the first time because of this.
“We want everyone to know that this choir is there, it is a non-audition choir, it is for the community. There are people driving from Ennis and further afield to sing with this choir.
“But along with the trepidation, it is also amazing. When I got the phone call to do it, I turned it down. I think the thoughts of this full-circle moment were a bit terrifying.
“But now I get to be involved in this special group again and I get to lift the choir in more ways than one. I believe the choir will lift me as well. I think they understand this as well. We are in this together.
“But this is a marathon and not a sprint. I am going to build the choir slowly and hopefully next May we will have something special to show for it.”
As the Lismorahaun Singers prepare to enter a new chapter of its history, Peter is planning a new musical direction for the group.
“I have an idea of where we can go musically, and that idea is to hit all genres. It is a complete and utterly selfish thing. When I sat down to look at what music we could do, I asked myself, what music do I like? And the answer was everything,” said Peter.
“I think this will create a lovely working dynamic with the choir. You are never going to please everyone with a certain genre. So we will have something for everyone, the people singing and the audience.
“We will have a section of the classical music that we have been singing throughout the past 25 years. But I also want to bring back more modern stuff, I was looking at some James Bond theme tunes, with Billie Eilish and Adele, things we haven’t done before.
“But I’d also like to look at some of the Irish stuff, there are some lovely four part harmony Irish songs. And musicals as well, just because I am in the classical world doesn’t mean I don’t love musicals. I want to do all of them, but there is going to be a process of trial and error.
“But it’s not just about the performance. The really important thing about the choir is getting people to be part of something every Tuesday night at practice. To enjoy the rehearsals. When I was in my opera career, my favourite time was the rehearsals.
“People need to enjoy the process. Music is there to be loved. It is there to help people’s lives and it should never be a chore. People should be excited to come to rehearsals. I should be excited to take the rehearsals. That is the core of the Lismorahaun Singers.”
The Lismorahaun Singers rehearse every Tuesday evening at St John’s Hall in Ballyvaughan from 7.15pm to 9.15pm. New members are welcome and no experience is required.
Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, writer and podcaster based in the west of Ireland.
