While the journey from Donegal to New York is one that’s been well-trodden over the years, very rarely has it seen an outcome like this one
The Danu Young Women’s Choir from Donegal and its Director Douglas Carnes made their way to the Big Apple to compete with some of the best Barbershop choirs around.
They were one of two Irish choirs who made the trip across the Atlantic, being joined by another group of talented singers from St Aloysius College in County Cork at the contest.
On Friday night, the Danu choir became Plateau AAA Champions at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Midwinter Convention in New York, with a performance befitting the “superior” rating given to them by the judges, as well as the hard work and dedication everyone involved had put in.
The Danu choir consists of around 50 girls and young women, aged 14-18 from the county – and only formed last Summer when auditions were held at local schools.
They come together diligently to practice every Sunday at Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny, under the supervision of Choir Director Douglas Cairnes, who is from America.
The Danu Young Women’s Choir on stage, accompanied by Director Douglas Cairnes.
Douglas and his wife moved to Letterkenny three years ago, and his passion for all things music, and for helping bring the very best out of the brilliant talents within the choir is immediately apparent.
“I just saw the empty space that needed to be filled, a chorus for young women. I knew that there was room for a young women’s choir, a safe place for girls to sing and be themselves, and to grow with like-minded individuals.”
The importance in creating a safe space for these young women to express themselves through music is apparent when speaking with Douglas.
“These are exceptionally brilliant women, they’re not your average kids! They’re very very talented.”
“I think most importantly the reason we won – sure, yeah, we scored better than everyone else – but the reason that we won is because they love eachother and they love the music, they love being together, and so when you have that type of compassion for growing together and growing as an individual, the music is secondary – it’ll just happen automatically.”
If you needed any proof of their incredible talents, Douglas said that due to having a raft of other performances to prepare for over the busy Christmas period, they were only able to dedicate an hour per week from September to the songs they performed so successfully in the competition.
“We work very hard, but we only performed two songs here this week in the competition, whereas on our Christmas concert three weeks ago we performed fifteen! So it’s not like we had dedicated all of this extra time to prepare for this, it’s just that the girls are really passionate about taking care of eachother and building eachother up. The art happens on its own when the relationships are there.”
However, Douglas says that this attitude of coming together and supporting eachother doesn’t get in the way of the strive for progress and giving the best performance possible also.
“We one hundred percent strive for perfection, I have very very high and rigorous standards for them, so it’s not to say that doesn’t exist for them as well, we just do that through a different lense. We don’t come in and go ‘you know, you have to get this perfect tonight’, they come in and say ‘What’s this song about? Why are we singing this? Who are we singing this for'”
“We still have high expectations, but it (the teaching) is still done through a much more growth-based lense.”
This approach has clearly shown results – and that’s in no small part due to the immense effort and dedication each of the singers not only puts into their craft, but also supporting eachother as a unit.
“These girls, they come into their audition nervous, and then the very next day, if they get in, they’re all of a sudden met with 48 sisters. (Suddenly) all that nervousness that you had is gone because you have your friends – they have all found their people in this chorus.”
“The happiest people in life are the ones that have people they can count on.”
Not only did they perform superbly in competition, but the Choir also had performances in Central Park and at the office of the Consulate General of Ireland in New York.
Members of the Danu Young Women’s Choir after performing in Central Park, New York this week
The Danu Young Women’s Choir also performed for the Consulate General of Ireland in New York as part of their trip.
However this is only the beginning for the choir group at large – with plans to further expand in the coming months and years.
There is also a choir for middle-aged girls aged between 10 and 13, called Danín, and this March there are also plans for a choir to be formed consisting of girls aged 9 and under also.
When the chorus as a whole is fully formed, Douglas says that kids can start singing as young as 4 years old, and then continue to be a part of the choirs all the way up until they’re 18.
Competing in contests is far from the only thing this incredible group of young musicians does though, with a concert to be held in the Spring called Diaspora involving both the 10-13 and 14-18 choirs.
“The concert is focused around music from the Celtic diaspora, so Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and also where us as Irish people have gone to, so Irish composers in America, Irish composers in Australia, that will also feature a lot of traditional music as well,” according to Douglas.
You can follow their upcoming exploits and concerts via their Facebook page, Danu Young Women’s Choir.