Forthcoming Events for 2014
Editor Elizabeth O'Brien (Hon Secretary)

Hon Secretary's News 
Committee Members
Constitution

Hon Secretary's News 

1st May, 2014 Dear Member,

1) COMMITTEE 2014

At the Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 1st February, 2014 the following committee was elected.

Chairman: Tom Faulkner
Vice Chairman: Joe Clarke
Honorary Secretary: Elizabeth O'Brien
Honorary Treasurer: Brian Hargadon
Ita Hackett, Marie Tully, Donal MacNally, Dermot McDevitt, Donal O Sullivan, Patricia Kelly

2) NEW HONORARY TREASURER - BRIAN HARGADON

The committee is delighted to announce that a new member, Brian Hargadon, was elected to the position of Honorary Treasurer at the A.G.M. We would like to welcome Brian to the Society and wish him every success in his new role.

The Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Treasurer, Patricia Kelly for her wonderful work and dedication over many years and to wish her a very well earned rest.

3) FORTHCOMING RECITAL

Date: Saturday 17th May, 2014

Time:11.00a.m.

Venue Buswells Hotel, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.

Presenter Dermot McDevitt

4) AWARD (BURSARY) CONCERT

Date: Saturday, 31st May, 2014.
Time: 8 pm.
Venue: Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

This special evening of song featuring four winners of the 2014 Feis Ceoil is strongly recommended to members. It is important to demonstrate support for the Award recipients with a good presence of Society members and friends. We would appreciate if those intending to be present would complete and return the slip at the end of this newsletter or email: elobrien8@gmail.com or telephone (01) 6762877, as soon as possible. As places are limited it is most important that we know the number intending to come well in advance. HON. PRESIDENT: Jea/w/s ffieams

5) ANNUAL ANNIVERSARY MASS

Date: Sunday 21st September, 2014. Time: 11 am. Venue: Pro Cathedral, Marlborough Street, Dublin.

The anniversary mass will again be a combined one for the late John Count McCormack and the late Oliver O'Brien. Please make a note of the date in your diary

6) ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION - €20 Some subscriptions for the current year are still outstanding. If you have not yet paid please contact our new Treasurer, Brian Hargadon, 107 Lucan Heights, Lucan, Co. Dublin as soon as possible. You will appreciate that subscriptions are the Society's only source of income.

7) ANNUAL LUNCH AND FOUR DAY BREAK A very special 'Thank you' to Ita Hackett for the time and effort she put into making these two events such a wonderful success and so enjoyable for all of us who attended.

8) DEATH OF OUR HONORARY PRESIDENT, SEAMUS KEARNS, R.I.P.

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our Honorary President, Seamus Kearns, on the 28th February, 2014. We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to his dear wife, Betty, and to all the Kearns family. Seamus a keen historian was a founder member of the John McCormack Society. He was a pillar of the Society for many years and was an authority on our great tenor. He also worked closely with the National Museum of Ireland. At his funeral mass in Killester Church it was obvious that he was held in very high esteem by one and all.

9) DEATH OF TIM CARROLL, R.I.P.

It is also with great sadness that we learned of the death last week of Tim Carroll - a lifelong member of the Society. We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to his dear wife, Maeve, and to all the Carroll Family. Tim who was ninety earlier this year was blessed with a wonderful memory and was a great friend of the Society. According to his family Tim derived great pleasure from listening to the Odeon CD set shortly before he died.

10) NEW HONORARY PRESIDENT At a recent committee meeting Donal MacNally, who has been a member of the Society for 50 years, was elected as our new Honorary President. We wish Donal every success in his new role.

11) THE JOHN MCCORMACK ODEON LAUNCH FRIDAY 28™ MARCH, 2014

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations and gratitude to Jeremy Meehan on bringing to completion so successfully this wonderful project of having John's Odeon recordings of 1906-1909 remastered in such an expert way by Ward Marston and his assistant Scott Kessler in the US. What a wonderful evening we had in the Mansion House as we listened to the remastered recordings on CD and heard Ward describe how he went about the painstaking work. We can only marvel at the time and effort put in by Jeremy as he went about fundraising, etc. for this worthy project. The icing on the cake is that he now intends to have the electric recordings remastered in a similar way. Jeremy has sent us the following. Please note his new email address: ieremv.mehan5959(5),gmail.com

PLANS FOR FUTURE MCCORMACK/MARSTON REISSUES Jeremy Meehan writes: "Thanks again to everyone who kindly subscribed to The Odeon Edition and came to the launch events. I hope that, by now, everybody who was due to receive their box by post has done so. If not, please contact me as below. Of the 1,000 sets that were manufactured, fewer than 300 remain in total, with sales continuing. If you are minded to buy some others as presents for Christmas, etc., I advise you not to delay. Members may avail of the special offer price of €49.95 (reduced from €75). "As announced at the launch, we hope to continue with the project in order to release the final part of McCormack's recorded legacy under Ward Marston's imprint in two or three years' time. This will be a 12-15 CD set of all of the electrical recordings, 1925-1942, including all available radio broadcasts, variant takes and unpublished material. As a bonus, Ward hopes to include two discs of remastered versions of the 1904 cylinder and disc recordings. There will also be comprehensive essays and notes and we are delighted that Gordon Ledbetter has kindly agreed to lend his unparalleled McCormack expertise to this. Our aim is to make the set available to early subscribers at a special rate of €99.95. All advance subscribers will be listed in the booklet, as was the case with the Odeons. "I will circulate existing supporters with occasional news of the progress of this project, beginning in the autumn, when we will begin to accept subscriptions. If you'd like to receive this information, please feel free to send on your email details or those of any others you feel might be interested. No obligation will attach, and you can unsubscribe at any time." Contacts for any queries or orders: Jeremy Meehan, Summerville, Ballinora, Waterfall, Near Cork, Ireland. Tel. 00-353 (0)86-360 1624; E-mail: ieremy.meehan5959@gmail.com . Cheques/POs should be made payable to The McCormackMarston Project. Please add €5.00 for p&p. Thank you.

12) ATHLONE PROJECT

Donal McNally is delighted to inform us that Athlone Town Cl6rL? Mr. Pat Keating, has confirmed that the Castle in Athlone will be available to house the John McCormack memorabilia. More later.

13) MCCORMACK/JOYCE FILM 'SHEM THE PENMAN SlNGS AGAIN'

Rossa Mullin, Producer of the above has sent us the following: Shem The Penman Sings Again is a new experimental feature film, funded through the Irish Film Board's micro-budget scheme, which provides a way into James Joyce's creative imagination and the conception of Finnegans Wake. The book was published on May 4th 1939 so it celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The film stars Hugh O'Conor as one of five James Joyces and Louis Lovett as one version of the great tenor John McCormack. Directed by Padraig Trehy and produced by Rossa Mullin, the filmmakers are going to launch a crowd-funding campaign on the popular platform Indiegogo to get the last few steps of the way. They have already been on an extraordinary journey with this project for the past four years and have experienced first-hand the rollercoaster ride of independent filmmaking in Ireland. Many rejections and setbacks have been counter-balanced by the long-term support of the Irish Film Board and a great cast and crew. They need one final show of support to see this extraordinary film over the line and up onto the screen. A further €38,000 is required to see the film realized to its full potential. This is an ambitious target but then this is a very ambitious film. It is stylistically bold, narratively inventive and often funny and moving in its attempts to deal with two giants of Irish culture: James Joyce and John McCormack. The Indiegogo campaign for Shem the Penman Sings Again launched on April 16th on RTE Radio 1's Arena program (7-8pm) and will run until May 18th. More details can be found on the website www.shemthepenman.com which also has the Teaser, or by following this link direct to the campaign https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shem-the-penman/x/6515491

14) SILVER €10 COIN IN TRIBUTE TO JOHN COUNT MCCORMACK

The Central Bank has a limited number of coins left at a cost of €44 each or they can be purchased through the Society at a cost of €40. Please contact me if interested.

15) ODEON CD BOXED SET

Jeremy Meehan has sent a number of these CD sets to have available for members to buy at our recitals. If interested please telephone me to book a set. Price €49.95. 16)

NEWSLETTER BY EMAIL I am delighted to report that some more members have signed up for this option since the last Newsletter. For those who have not yet signed up and who have an email address I will send you the email version as well as the written version on this occasion also. Just click on the attachment to open the newsletter. We would encourage as many as possible to consider the email option. It saves on time and postage. Yours faithfully, to

Elizabeth O'Brien Honorary Secretary 8 Upper Pembroke St. Dublin 2 S01-6762877

Email: elobrien8@gmail.com

BURSARY CONCERT SATURDAY 31ST MAY, 2014 (Please Tick Appropriate Boxes) I will be attending the Bursary Concert D With Guest D NAME:

Interested in knowing more about John McCormack or the aims of the Society!! if so - why not come along and be entertained by good music - knowledgeable McCormack fans - pleasant company - we promise you will not be disappointed.

These excellent recitals are not restricted to members only: all are invited

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