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Eimear Quinn Releases A Cappella Version of ‘The Voice’

July 16, 2021

Performed by Eimear Quinn and composed by Brendan Graham, ‘The Voice’ was the last of Ireland’s famous Eurovision winning streak, taking the prize in Oslo in 1996.

25 years later it remains a cult winner carrying a distinctive Irish sound and message that led this month to Prince Charles himself, announcing Eimear’s ‘The Voice’ as one of his all-time favourite songs in a radio programme honouring NHS volunteers.

Eimear’s ‘The Voice’ took its place in the Prince’s pick, alongside such classic songs and singers as ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ – Barbra Streisand; ‘La Vie En Rose’ – Edith Piaf; ‘Upside Down’ – Diana Ross; ( https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/04/uk/prince-charles-song-choices-intl-scli-gbr/index.html)

Now, in this unique new a cappella version of ‘’The Voice’ the song is stripped of its distinctive Irish instrumentation and is carried solely by Eimear’s soaring, soprano voice.

Dublin born Irish singer and composer, Eimear Quinn, who is best known for her Eurovision win, has forged a career for herself as one of the pre-eminent most distinctive Irish voices of her generation and a recognised composer (Classic FM Hall of Fame, 2021).

Over the past 25 years she has toured and performed extensively internationally and has released four albums; her most recent being ‘Ériu’, recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, released in 2020.

Séan Laffey, editor of Irish Music Magazine says of Quinn’s performance of ‘The Voice’;

“When Eimear Quinn was discovered by Brendan Graham singing with Anúna he knew he had found an astonishing vocalist to sing his Eurovision 1996 entry ‘The Voice’. Eimear’s performance of the song was outstanding, winning by a clear margin, her single went to Number 3 in the Irish charts and later the song became a staple of The Celtic Woman shows. A lasting testament to the timeless beauty of Eimear’s performance.”

This is the second happy occurrence from Quinn’s album ‘Ériu’, in an otherwise awful time for musicians. Her composition ‘In Paradisum’ was voted into the Classic FM Hall of Fame this year – One of a handful of works by a female composer to included in the list of 300 works.

Classic FM’s Hall of Fame is the world’s biggest poll of classical music tastes. Quinn ranks as one of only five female composers in the 2021 chart, alongside Clara Schumann, Debbie Wiseman, Yoko Shimomura and Phamie Gow.

‘The Voice’, a cappella version, also features in the documentary Songs of the Great Hunger, https://youtu.be/_zuPkjV1qwc

It will be available to download on all streaming platforms for the 25th anniversary, from July 16th.

www.eimearquinn.com

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