At Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners · Rathmines Road Lower, Dublin 6
Only the published dates are confirmed for this programme.
Cambiata Chamber Choir and Orchestra bring Handel’s Messiah to the Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, on Rathmines Road Lower this December. It suits anyone who wants a proper choral Messiah in the run-up to Christmas without heading into the city centre, performed in a large church with the kind of acoustics the piece was written for.
The programme is the full Messiah, built around the “Hallelujah Chorus” that closes its second part, performed by chamber choir and orchestra under conductor Niall Kinsella. Cambiata draws on emerging soloists from the TU Dublin Conservatoire for the solo movements, so the evening pairs experienced choral and orchestral players with newer voices coming through the conservatoire system. The group previously staged the work in 2024, and this is a return outing of that programme. Handel’s Messiah premiered in Dublin in 1742, so a December performance in a Dublin church carries a direct link back to the piece’s own history. Seating is unreserved, doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start, and the performance runs to roughly 9:30pm including an interval.
The Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, sits on Rathmines Road Lower, one of the area’s best-known landmarks with its distinctive green dome. Dublin Bus routes along Rathmines Road serve the church directly, and the Luas Green Line stop at Ranelagh is a walkable option for anyone coming from that direction. Paid parking is available at the church’s rear entrance on Richmond Hill, and street parking nearby is free after 7pm, which suits an evening concert start time.
Rathmines Road has cafes, restaurants and pubs within a few minutes’ walk of the church, useful for a bite to eat before an evening concert. There is more to see across Co. Dublin.
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