The University of Ulster Choir will celebrate the advent season with a series of concerts hosted in ecclesiastical settings across the north-west.

‘Winter's Solace’ will see the 70-strong choir deliver performances in Derry, Strabane and Letterkenny.

For this season’s series of concerts they will be joined by resident repetiteur, Gail Evans on piano and Stewart Smith on organ in performances of John Rutter’s ‘Requiem’.

The programme will also include Gabriel Fauré’s ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’.

Under the direction of Music Lecturer Dr Sean Ryan, the University Choir has gained considerable popular and critical acclaim for its distinctive and dramatic performances over the past decade.

Based within the School of Creative Arts at Magee, the Choir is composed primarily of music undergraduates and also includes students from other disciplines, staff and choral singers from the wider community.

Dr Ryan said: “At our public concerts the University of Ulster Choir likes to present a programme of music that will be attractive to audiences but that may also introduce them to something a little more unusual.

“We also feel it is important to perform in a range of settings and to reach out to a wide audience. We are very much looking forward to performing the ‘Winter's Solace’ programme across the north-west in the coming weeks.”

The upcoming University of Ulster Choir performances will take place at:

Sacred Heart Church, Derry Road, Strabane, on Monday 3 December at 8pm

Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba, Letterkenny, on Monday 10 December at 8pm

St Patrick’s Chapel, Pennyburn, Derry, on Tuesday 11 December, 8pm

For further information please contact the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Department on: 028 71675679, email c.mullan@ulster.ac.uk or visit www.ulsterchoir.com