Last night (9 May) saw the culmination of the hard work put in by our singers at their Showcase Event in Leixlip. It seems clichéd to say things like how proud we are, how much work the singers put in, how the singers elevated themselves, how much the audience loved them… but it’s all true!
Alex Margalith opened the night with a stunning performance of Black Coffee. You could hear a pin drop in the room. Followed by Aideen Lee who gave her best version to date of Alison Moyets cover, That Ol’ Devil Called Love. Ladies first and all that! Ray Leavy came in with a beautiful rendition of Isle Of Innisfree. With the job of increasing the tempo, Mick Fitzpatrick hit home with Walk The Dog and this was followed by Mick Blake who gave a rousing rendition of Me And Bobby McGee.
Our audience clapped and sang along for what turned into a beautiful celebratory feel to the night. The second half saw all of our singers take to the stage but with some duets, notably Mick Fitzpatrick and Aideen Lee with Honky Tonk Woman, Mick Blake and Mick Fitzpatrick with their rendition of Seven Spanish Angels and Alex got up for an impromptu duet for Aideen’s cover of Blondies, Denis!
Our night ended with the wonderfully apt, Lean On Me sung by Aideen and Alex. Later joined by the lads they brought the house down.
In a 10 week course where our singers faced and overcame many personal challenges, we touched on important issues like vocal technique, stage and performance technique, engaging an audience, Bel Canto and many other aspects of bringing a song to an audience we must admit how utterly satisfying it is when you watch the progress of these wonderfully brave and hard working individuals.
On behalf of The Vocal Academy – Aideen, Alex, Mick B, Mick F, Ray and of course Denise and Maeve – We Salute You!
