Over 150 “Rockies” who make up some of the thousands of Rock Choir members in the UK hit the road on Friday 21st June, bringing their unique sounds on a tour across Northern Ireland.
Celebrating World Music Day 2024, three groups of choristers brought their spirit and talent to Belfast, Carrickfergus, Antrim, Ballymena and Portrush as well as visiting Lisburn, Downpatrick, Strangford and Greyabbey.
Rock Choir finished their day at Belfast City Hall where all three groups came together with a belting performance for shoppers and visitors in Belfast city centre.
The tour was supported by SPAR NI and Barista Bar, the community stores and coffee-to-go brand run locally by Henderson Group which nurture their neighbourhoods through a number of community initiatives across Northern Ireland.
Shoppers at SPAR Mallusk in Newtownabbey, EUROSPAR Fortfield in Carrickfergus and the newly opened EUROSPAR Downpatrick on Ardglass Road were treated to special performances at the forecourts by the Rockies as part of the tour.
Other destinations included Belfast Zoo, Ulster Museum, Junction 1 Shopping Centre, Sandelford Special School, Curry’s Amusements in Portrush, Carrickfergus Castle, The Strangford Ferry, Greyabbey Ruins and Castle Ward.
Rock Choir was created in 2005 by award-winning musician, singer and performer, Caroline Redman Lusher and is the largest contemporary choir in the world, with over 30,000 members. In 2022 Rock Choir launched in Northern Ireland and was an instant success.
Today, Rock Choir has three locations operating in Northern Ireland led by Clare Galway, Sophie Giraudeau and Rachel Coulter, with a total of 600 members.
The UK-wide organisation has recently announced additional locations for the region, extending their reach to Counties Derry/Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh.
Bronagh Luke from SPAR NI says community is at the core of all involved and SPAR was delighted to support this initiative; “Rock Choir is a community in itself and has brought so much to its members who brought that joy and excitement to our stores and shoppers during their tour to celebrate World Music Day 2024. Extending the opportunity for more people to get involved and become members will bring even more togetherness in communities everywhere. We are hopeful this is the beginning of a harmonious relationship between our teams and our brands with the Rock Choir in Northern Ireland.”
Jenny Cooke OBE, Cultural Manager (Ireland), Rock Choir added; “We are delighted that SPAR NI and Barista Bar supported us with our exciting bus tour around Northern Ireland. Rock Choir prides itself in spreading joy through the power of singing and positively impacting every community we are located in. Our members taking part had a fantastic day and was even more of a special event for us as the performances took place on World Music Day!”
Barista Bar, the number one retail coffee-to-go brand available in 444 SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores in Northern Ireland charged up the Barista Bar app for the singers on the day, ensuring each singer received a complimentary speciality coffee, tea or hot chocolate at their SPAR or EUROSPAR stop.