farragutpress

‘Surreal’ performances in Ireland for FHS Choir Tour

July 2, 2025 by Tammy Cheek

Thirty Farragut High School choir students — from freshmen to seniors — had an opportunity of the lifetime when they performed in Ireland as Farragut High School Choir Tour last month.

“We were invited to perform in Galway Choral Festival in Galway,” said Kirstine Buchanan, co-choir director, along with Mitchell Moore. “We have a great relationship with Dr. (Craig) Zamer (professor of music and choral activities) from Tennessee Tech University.

“He was conducting in the Galway Choral Festival and he invited us to come and join Tennessee Tech (chorus) on the trip,” Buchanan added.

“It was so surreal,” rising FHS junior Layla Baker said. “When we first found out, it was not a place I thought I’d be able to go, especially in high school, and it was such a cool opportunity.”

To take the trip, “students had to fundraise on their own,” she added.

They held fundraisers, had jobs or did odd jobs to raise the funds.

Meanwhile, “we used a tour company that organized the trip, called Perform International,” Buchanan said. “They were amazing to work with.”

The group left Knoxville Monday, June 2, arrived in Galway Tuesday, June 3, and performed at Galway Cathedral Friday, June 6. Then, they left Galway on Saturday, June 7, for Dublin, where they stayed for a couple of days before traveling home Monday, June 9.

“The kids were very excited when we announced the trip,” the choir director recalled. “We ended up having about 30 kids sign on to do the trip. Kids, all the way from ninth-graders to seniors who had graduated the week before (attended the trip). We just felt like it was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down, to take them abroad and sing in places people had been singing in for thousands of years.”

“When I got off the plane, I instantly knew that this was going to be my favorite place on earth,” rising sophomore Caden Eaker said. “This was going to be the best week of my life because, I don’t know, it just all felt perfect.”

“Walking into (Galway Cathedral) was insane,” Baker said. “It was not something I expected … it was absolutely gorgeous, one of the best places I have ever been.”

At the Galway Choral Festival, the students sang a work called “Illuminare” by a composer named Elaine Hagenburg.

“The cool thing about this performance was (Hagenburg) was there,” Buchanan said. “She worked with them throughout the week.”

“A group of us actually got to talk to her right before our concert and got some of our music signed by her,” Baker said. “She was very busy … but she was very sweet and personable.”

“It just felt like crazy,” Eaker said about meeting the composer. “We’ve sang music by her before, and she created this piece and we actually got to sing with her.”

“Dr. Zamer conducted the performance, conducted the work, and Elaine Hagenburg was in residence,” Buchanan said. “(Hagenburg) conducted another one of her pieces, ‘You Do Not Walk Alone,’ at the concert. So, the kids getting to talk with her, learn from her about what inspired the work, was amazing, something they’re never going to forget.”

Buchanan explained the piece was a “master work” five movements long, which they performed with a professional orchestra.

“There were 193 singers in total — between Tennessee Tech, Farragut and a handful of other schools throughout the Southeast,” she said. “It’s the biggest choral performance they had ever had in Galway Cathedral.”

A trip such as this “does not come often,” Buchanan said. “I don’t know of very many schools in general who are able to take high schoolers abroad, so we just jumped at the opportunity when we got it.

“Choir tour, in my own life, has changed my outlook, made me even more invested in wanting to become a choral director, and I see the same experiences I had when I was in college that they’re getting to have now,” she added. “All of a sudden, they are doing things very differently after coming back from Ireland.

“They are much more committed to their craft. I have a number of kids who say, ‘I just wish I could go back and relive it.’”

Saturday morning, June 7, “We drove to Dublin, and we had our own performance in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral,” Buchanan said. “It was just Farragut, so they prepared six pieces and they gave us a 25-minute recital … and (the cathedral) was packed” with tourists and local residents.

“It was life-changing for (the FHS students),” she added. “To sing in some of those spaces that people have been singing in for thousands of years just makes you take a second and think about what you are doing as a singer and how the tradition of choral singing has existed around the world for thousands of years.

“We get so tuned in to our own community and doing the things that we get to do here (United States), but the opportunity to go abroad and share in that tradition that has been happening for thousands of years is otherworldly.”

Another thing for students to ponder is British composer George Frederic Handel, who rehearsed the oratorio “Messiah” in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

“I had told the kids that before they got there, ‘Where you are singing is where music greats have been conducting … and you are getting the opportunity to add your voice to that tradition,’” Buchanan said.

Along with their performances, the group also did “a lot of sightseeing,” she added. “A favorite of ours was the Cliffs of Moher … it’s the famous view of Ireland.”

Students also saw Kylemore Abbey, where they had an opportunity to sing in a small chapel at the Kylemore Estates.

“They really loved their visit there,” Buchanan said.

They also tried the local cuisine, such as shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash (sausage and potatoes) and black pudding (blood sausage), which “some of them liked; a lot of them didn’t,” she noted.

“A lot of them bought chocolates, fudge and things,” Buchanan added. “Many of them came home with the Claddagh ring.”

The director said she hopes to have another such experience abroad for choir students.

“It’s just eye-opening when you get outside of your bubble and see what the world has to offer,” Buchanan said. “I’m really glad I got to share that with them.”