About

About Codetta

Members of the choirs benefit from:

• regular rehearsals featuring the development of musicianship, an understanding of choral technique and an exploration of a wide variety of repertoire
• participation in concerts, festivals, recordings and broadcasts
• the opportunity to work with visiting choral facilitators, conductors and composers 
• the performance of new works  
• participation in concert tours, both nationally and internationally
• the promotion of tolerance and inclusion through participation in the choirs’ activities

Health Benefits

Some of the recognised benefits are: 

• reduced stress levels
• improved immune system
• helping to develop a strong sense of community and social inclusion
• improved mental health, mood, sense of well-being

In addition, singing in a group setting has been shown to:

• enhance memory in people with dementia 
• help increase an individual’s pain threshold, both physical and emotional (e.g. the ability to cope with grief)
• improve the ability to speak for people with autism, Parkinson’s disease, aphasia, various speech impediments 

Musical Director

Dónal’s contributions to music have been significant: he has served as Director of Music in St Eugene’s Cathedral, Head of Music in St Columb’s College, and Head of Music Services for the Western and Southern Education and Library Boards. He was co-founder, along with Timothy Allen in St Columb’s Cathedral, of the Two Cathedrals’ Festival in 1992. He established the City of Derry Civic Choirs in 1997 and was appointed Director of the Music Promise initiative as part of the inaugural UK City of Culture programme in Derry in 2013. In the same year he founded the City of Derry International Choir Festival, now a central fixture in the city and region’s cultural calendar.

In addition to his work with Codetta, Dónal is the Musical Director of the ground-breaking North Belfast Youth Choir, as well as the Codetta Junior Choir and Codetta Youth Choir in Derry, which he launched in 2017. His dedication to the musical community was recognised in 2022 when he was awarded an Honorary MBE for his services to music.

Dónal has worked with world renowned conductors Sakari Oramo, Vasily Petrenko and David Robertson as part of the BBC Proms series in London. In June 2019, he conducted the Coro del Estado de Jalisco, the Coro de la Fundación Beckmann and the Orquesta de Cámara de Zapopan in a performance of Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor.

Codetta Trustees

The Director of Codetta Choirs is Dónal Doherty; the Assistant Director is Margaret Ross.

The rehearsal accompanist is Ben McGonagle

The Board of Codetta Choirs comprises:

Chair – Patricia Brady

Secretary – Mairéad NicBhloscaidh

Treasurer – Colm Rainey

Board members:

• Dónal Doherty
• Fiona Crosbie
• Jenny Huey
• Gráinne McAnaney
• Julia McIvor
• Gráinne Stevenson