Irish choir sets the mood for audience

The Irish chamber choir Anúna performed Nov. 19 for OCCC students, faculty and staff. The performance was held off-campus at First Presbyterian Church.
Photo courtesy anuna.ie

By Jennifer Uhls, News Writing Student

Candlelight lent a soft glow to the faces of a dozen Irish vocalists as they performed in Oklahoma City on Nov. 19.

Anúna, an Irish chamber choir, drew an audience of more than 700 to the First Presbyterian Church, as part of OCCC’s Cultural Arts Series. The concert was moved off campus for accommodation.

Anúna was formed 20 years ago by John McGlynn and his twin brother Michael McGlynn. Their unique Irish sound mixes many different languages in old world and modern styles, giving strangers to Ireland a vision of what their country is like.

The First Presbyterian Church has a cathedral-style sanctuary which the group prefers because of the natural acoustics in the architecture of the room, John McGlynn said. In this type of setting, the group performs without wearing microphones and the audience gets to experience a richer and natural sound.

The audience was hit by the vocals that went without instrumental accompaniment, for the most part. Anúna began with a piece called “Media Vita,” an old Latin chant with an emotional sound.

Translated into English, the first line says, “In the midst of life, we are dead.” The name Anúna comes from the Irish word An Uaithne, which describes the three ancient types of Celtic music: lullaby, happy song and lament.

The brothers began gaining recognition around the world while working with Michael Flatley, creator of Riverdance. Anúna provided the original vocals for the Riverdance production.            

Anúna is touring the United States in support of their number-one selling world music CD release and their Public Broadcast Television concert special “Anúna — Celtic Origins” which did not air in Oklahoma.

“We cannot be put into one genre,” McGlynn said. “Not even ethnic. We sang in six different languages [during our show]. What you saw … is a realistic version of what Anúna is.”

McGlynn said there are more than one hundred members of Anúna, and each has a job and family back home in Ireland. Only about 30 currently are touring, so others can take their place if they get tired and homesick.            

What makes the performers love music so much they would put their careers on hold and leave their families for months at a time?

Noel Eccles, who plays percussion for the Celtic Origins tour, had a response.

“Why does anyone have a career in music? Because they love it,” he said.

John McGlynn is an architect back home. He said he loves Anúna because he gets so much out of it.

“... You can put 100 percent of yourself into it and know that people like it and appreciate it.”

After the show, the performers allowed a question-and-answer session with audience members. During the session, McGlynn said, what sets Anúna apart from other choirs, is the combination of the trained voices and the untrained voices. He said, even though he has a well-trained voice, he does not read music and his brother Michael is the mastermind of the entire production.

Michael McGlynn writes his own music and helps everyone with pronunciation of the different languages they sing, John McGlynn said. “He’s a genius.”

Michael McGlynn stayed at home with his family.

John McGlynn’s sense of humor ended the night. “I know we’re in a church,” he said, “but if you don’t buy a CD, we can’t eat.”

Anúna’s CD can be found at Borders bookstores. For more information about Anúna, click here, or visit their MySpace for a sample of their music.

Amateur videos of past performances can also be found on YouTube.