Tribal Choir

Tribal Chamber Choir, directed by Mark Keane, is based in Galway City and named after the City of the Tribes. The choir strives for excellence in choral performance both in concert and on the competition platform. In February 2009, the choir won the Sacred Music Competition at the Limerick Festival of Church Music, and then went on to win the Premier Competition for Mixed Voice Choirs at the Cork International Choral Festival in May. As part of this competition, Tribal received the highest mark in the premier competitions were awarded the Victor Leeson Memorial Trophy and designated National Choir of the Festival.

In 2009, the choir performed the Brahms Requiem with the Charnwood Symphony Orchestra from the UK, and toured to London where they sang Mozart’s Spatzen Messe in Westminster Cathedral. Tribal performed the Irish premiere of Anne-Marie O'Farrell's Chalice and Paten Prayer, Palle Mickelborg's A Noone of Night, and Eric Sweeney's Hymn to Gaia in 2010, as well as a concert tour to France where they sang at Mass in Chartres Cathedral. Tribal sang motets by Durufle and Stanford, followed by a short performance of the Mikkelborg’s work for choir and two concert harps.

Future performances include a concert tour to Rome to sing at the Papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, and a concert of Vivaldi's Gloria and Mozart's Regina Coeli in the Irish College in October 2010.

Mark Keane - Director

Mark Keane is the founder and director of Tribal Chamber Choir. A music graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, he studied organ with Peter Sweeney and conducting with Ite O'Donovan. He has since completed a Masters degree in Chant and Ritual Studies at the University of Limerick, and is currently undertaking graduate studies with Professor Harry White at UCD. He also holds diplomas in organ performance and conducting from Trinity College London, the Royal School of Music and London College of Music.

A former organ scholar of the National Cathedral of St. Patrick in Dublin, Mark is now Head of Music at Galway Community College and Organist at the Church of Christ the King, Salthill. He has conducted many orchestras including the ConTempo Festival Orchestra (Ireland), the Charnwood Symphony Orchestra (UK) and the Czech Virtuoso Chamber Orchestra (Austria & Poland). Mark enjoys a solo organ performance career, which has seen him play in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney; King's Chapel and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Boston; and St. James' Cathedral, Toronto. He has received many awards for his contribution to the arts in Galway including the Mayor of Galway's Award for Arts and Culture, and the Junior Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Leadership award. He has recently been elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Irish Choirs.