State Choir Latvija/Fergus Sheil

St Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway Wed 8pm 20 091-705962; St Ann’s Church, Dublin Thurs 8pm 24; Black Abbey, Kilkenny Fri 15th 8pm 20 056-7761497; Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford Sat 16th 8pm 18 051-858958

Galway’s St Nicholas Collegiate Church is the venue for the opening concert of a tour by the State Choir Latvija under Fergus Sheil. Sheil conducted the Latvian singers in the world premiere of Arvo Pärt’s The Deer’s Cry for Louth Contemporary Music Society two years ago.

Now he’s taking the choir on tour in a programme that juxtaposes favourite works by Pärt (including The Deer’s Cry) with pieces by Irish composers Rhona Clarke (Two Marian Anthems), Deirdre McKay (Plunkett’s Last Words) and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (Maranatha).