Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/15/2026
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location
St. James Episcopal Church
Category(ies)
Erin Go Braugh Irish Concert (Photo – Donald Breignar Singers)
The Donald Brinegar Singers and the JPL Chorus are tipping their hat to the Irish in a special concert on Sunday, March 15, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm at St. James Episcopal Church, South Pasadena. Entitled Erin go Bragh – Ireland Forever, the concert celebrates the spirit of Ireland in song.
By Guest Author
It’s a perfect way to honor St. Patrick’s Day with choral music spanning centuries of Irish tradition, from ancient Gaelic love songs and the ballads of the diaspora to a rousing contemporary hit by Ed Sheeran.
Dr. Donald Brinegar, Professor Emeritus of Music at Pasadena City College, director of choruses for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS, renowned choral educator, and author of five books on choral music, directs the program.
The repertoire dances through the haunting beauty of She Moved Through the Fair and the timeless poetry of Yeats’s Down by the Salley Gardens to the foot-stomping energy of Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl. A centerpiece of the program is Mark Brymer’s Letters from Ireland.. Come discover why Irish music has moved, stirred, and delighted audiences the world over for centuries.
Free Will Offering
Program Notes
Letters from Ireland — Arr. Mark Brymer
A choral suite built around beloved Celtic folk songs — including Molly Malone, Skibbereen, and Lanigan’s Ball — intertwined with real letters and diary entries from ordinary Irish people of the 1700s and 1800s. Moving deliberately between the comic and the mournful, the suite mirrors the emotional honesty of Irish folk tradition and stands as a moving portrait of one of the great migration stories of the modern world. The Donald Brinegar Singers were honored to be the ensemble chosen to perform on the official CD album recording of Letters from Ireland.
My Own Dear Galway Bay — Arr. Pierce Cullen
Written by the poet Francis Fahy while living in exile in London, this tender ballad expresses a profound longing for his childhood home in Kinvara on the Irish coast.
She Moved Through the Fair — Arr. Joshua Shank
Commissioned and premiered by the Donald Brinegar Singers, Joshua Shank’s arrangement of this hauntingly beautiful traditional Irish song draws on his own family’s County Clare heritage.
Wild Mountain Thyme (Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?) — Arr. Eoin Conway
Rooted in an 18th-century Scottish poem, this beloved folk ballad is a lyrical tribute to summer’s arrival and the longing of romantic pursuit.
A Stór, A Stór, A Ghrá — Arr. Jack Cunnane
A traditional Irish love song sung in Gaelic, the title translates tenderly as “My Treasure, My Treasure, My Love” — an endearment that captures the depth and devotion at the heart of the piece.
Down by the Salley Gardens — Arr. Eoin Conway
W.B. Yeats reconstructed this lyrical gem from fragments of an old folk song, first publishing it in 1889 as An Old Song Re-Sung. Later settings by composers including Benjamin Britten have secured its place as one of the most beloved works in the art song repertoire.
Killeagh — Composed by Eddie Keogh, Eoghan McGrath & Eoin Fitzgibbon, Arr. Eoin Conway
A contemporary tribute to the sporting heritage and natural beauty of County Cork, this piece has quickly achieved anthem status for its deep connection to the local community and the ancient Irish sport of hurling.
Riversong — Roger Emerson An original work subtitled “A Celtic Celebration,” Riversong is high-spirited and dance-driven. Buoyant harmonies and fiddle-like rhythms sweep the audience along in pure Celtic joy.
Galway Girl — Composed by Ed Sheeran et al., Arr. Philip Lawson
A folk-pop collaboration between Ed Sheeran and Northern Irish trad-folk band Beoga, Galway Girl is an irresistible celebration of the spirit, charm, and musical soul of an Irish girl. Alive with infectious foot-stomping energy, it has become one of the most joyful pop embraces of the Irish musical tradition in recent memory.
For more information, see the Donald Brinegar Singers website. Suggested donation is $20 at the door, but all are welcome regardless of donation.
Guests are encouraged to wear their best green in the spirit of the celebration!
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