A CONCERT FOR PEACE:- ‘Across the Bridge of Hope’ March 29, 2008

Free concert featuring the Warrington Male Voice Choir with Terry Waite, the Garda Band and Shirley Keane. Voluntary donations will benefit reconciliation projects.

Warrington Male Voice Choir is one of the oldest choirs in the United Kingdom, tracing its formation back to 1898. The choir is a vigorous organisation, regularly touring and raising significant funds for charities. Since the IRA terrorist bombing of Warrington town centre in 1993, the choir has been particularly active in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, promoting reconciliation and an end to sectarian violence. Close links have been forged with Irish peace groups and choir events have come to symbolise hope, raising expectations, strengthening faith and reaching across divisions. The choir has encouraged ‘grass roots’ reconciliation activities with young people in the divided interface areas of West Belfast through its Warrington Fund, and is known in Ireland as a ‘Choir for Peace’.

Fellowship within the choir is legendary and is the foundation for choristers’ attempts to build bridges of understanding, respect and tolerance. In 1996, Terry Waite CBE became Patron in recognition of the humanitarian role adopted by the choir and, in turn, has encouraged performances in prisons, in England and in Ireland, to assist rehabilitation programmes. You can hear the choir singing here http://www.warringtonchoir.org.uk/Hear_the_choir.htm

Official Website: http://www.warringtonchoir.org.uk/