Trinitones

Trinitones is an all-male a cappella ensemble from Trinity College Dublin, the only constituent college of the University of Dublin in Ireland. Founded in 2012, the group are generally considered the pioneers of the collegiate a cappella genre in Ireland,[1] which was hitherto seen as an American cultural phenomenon.

Trinitones
Trinitones in concert in June 2017
Background information
OriginDublin, Ireland
GenresAcappella Pop
Years active2012-Present
Websitewww.trinitones.com

In February 2013, the group released a cover of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", which achieved overnight viral success on YouTube and led to acclaim from Wheatus themselves as well as performances on The Morning Show on national broadcaster TV3.[1][2] Since this inaugural release, the group have gone on to produce further recordings and music videos of a cappella covers which feature as highlights of their diverse popular repertoire.[3][4]

In terms of structure, the group resembles a small male-voice chamber choir of approximately 14 members, featuring bass, baritone, tenor and countertenor parts in addition to a vocal percussionist. Membership is open to current students of Trinity College with auditions held in Fresher's Week of the Michaelmas term.

The group have toured Ireland, the UK, Hungary, Canada, the United States, and Australia, and continue to perform in Ireland with great regularity throughout the year.[5] They are regulars at Ireland's main music festival, Electric Picnic, and Trinity Ball, an longstanding annual music event attended by over 8,000 concertgoers in Trinity College.[6] Also of note are the group's biannual productions of their flagship end-of-term shows in their hometown of Dublin.

History

Origins (2012-2013): Generation I & II

The group was founded by two senior sophister music education (BMusEd) students, Patrick Barrett (not to be confused with the British boxer, Pat Barrett) and Lynsey Callaghan.[7] According to Barrett, himself and Callaghan had discussed the idea when on an exchange programme in Hungary.[8] Upon their return to Ireland, they carried out auditions, and a 14-strong Trinitones had its inaugural rehearsal in late January 2012. "Gen 1" highlights include the group's first performance as part of Trinity Arts Festival, the maiden performance of the would-be viral hit, Teenage Dirtbag, and the beginning of a relationship with the world-renowned, Grammy-award-winning vocal ensemble, The King's Singers.[9][10][11]

Barrett and Callaghan continued as directors as Trinitones entered its second year. The group enjoyed the fruits of a rise in popularity, incorporating major college events and balls into their performance schedule. The undeniable climax of the year was the release of a cover of Wheatus' Teenage Dirtbag, with the YouTube video, characterised by a humorous choral pastiche, garnering 80,000 YouTube views in the 48 hours following its release.[12] This led to several appearances on national TV and radio, and the group's first performance at Trinity Ball.[1]

Establishment (2013-2017): Generation III, IV, V, & VI

With Barrett and Callaghan departing from Trinitones, two new directors were elected in the shape of Ben Jacob and Daragh Kneeshaw, both of whom had been founding members of the group.[13] Two months after taking charge, the pair had led the group to national headlines once more in performing with Scrubs star Sam Lloyd.[14] Over the next two years, Jacob and Kneeshaw slowly built up the group's profile, and led them on two major tours, one to Derry for the Derry International Choral Festival and one to London compete in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, and performed with internationally renowned musicians Glen Hansard, Imelda May and Donal Lunny.[15][16][17] Jacob and Kneeshaw's partnership culminated in a debut performance at Electric Picnic, Ireland's largest music festival.[18][19]

As the group entered its fifth year, Jacob was replaced as director by Robert Somerville. The new partnership of Somerville and Kneeshaw reaped dividends as three new music videos were released to the public, garnering significant media attention.[20][21] The other notable event of Generation V was the group's tour to Hungary, where they performed at the storied Franz Liszt Academy of Music.[22]

Kneeshaw and Somerville graduated at the end of the 2015-16 academic year, leaving Neil Dunne to take the reins as director. Despite having a large turnover of members, Dunne led the group to its most successful year to that point. Highlights included joint concerts with the Trinity Tiger Tones of Melbourne and the Yale Whiffenpoofs, as well as an invitation to perform at the prestigious Trinity London Alumni Ball and a sell-out fifth anniversary concert that saw all previous generations perform.[23][24][25][26]

Dunne's directorship built to a crescendo in September 2017, when the group embarked on a tour to Australia that included stops in Sydney and Melbourne. The group received significant media attention, appearing on several radio programmes and featuring in a number of viral videos.[27][28] The three week tour concluded with a joint performance with the Trinity Tiger Tones in the historic Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne.[29] A music video was released to commemorate the tour, a cover of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released.[30]

Meteoric rise and e-Stardom (2017-2019): Generation VII & VIII

With Dunne leaving Trinity College after the Australian tour, citing "academic differences" with the Engineering department, Andy Keenan replaced him as director for Generation VII.[31] In November 2017, Trinitones were invited to St. Andrew's University to perform in the annual A Cappella Christmas Concert.[32] In February 2018, the group appeared in the audition stage of the first series of reality talent show, Ireland's Got Talent.[33] Despite their cover of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" receiving a standing ovation and "Yes" votes from all four judges, including the "biggest yes of the day" from Irish entertainment manager Louis Walsh, the group were not subsequently selected to perform in the live stages of the competition.[34] Nevertheless, the appearance on the programme led to significant attention from local and national media.[35]

The following month, the group extended an invite to US and Scottish a cappella groups to join them and the Trinity Belles for a "international celebration of acapella [sic.]" at the Button Factory venue in Temple Bar, Dublin.[36] While the event, featuring the Penn Counterparts and the St. Andrew's Accidentals, was widely deemed to have been a success, the name of concert drew criticism.[37] Titled "Super-Duper Number 1 Greatest of All Time A Cappella Bonanza!", the unfortunate name was selected after it was voted #1 by internet trolls in an online Twitter poll. In a bargain plea with the trolls, the group agreed to proceed with the chosen name, provided the tweets in question, some of which were abusive, were removed.[36]

In April 2018, the group's exposure grew rapidly when a live video streamed on social media platform, Facebook, went viral.[38][39][40][41] The video, a cover of George Ezra's "Budapest", was shared online by free British newspaper, Metro UK, and garnered over 5 million views in the week following its release.[42] A subsequent cover of Frank Sinatra classic "New York, New York" was also widely shared, and accumulated in the region of 15 million views.[43] On the back of these successes, Trinitones were once again invited on to Ireland AM to perform on a special Royal Wedding themed episode as the in house band.[44]

In May 2018, Keenan led the group on a comprehensive tour of the American North-East coast, which included stops in Montreal, Burlington, Boston, Gettysburg, Washington, D.C. and New York City.[45] Notable performances on this tour included a performance at the annual Montreal "Walk to the Stone" famine commemoration for the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante and Lord Mayor of Dublin Mícheál Mac Donncha, and a performance at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont.[46] In Washington, D.C., the group was invited to perform at the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy for a sizable crowd, including Kennedy's widow, Ethel.[47] Later that week, in New York, the group sang the American national anthem at Yankee Stadium before a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals.[48]

By September, Trinitones had returned to its traditional system of duarchy, with Evan Holland joining Keenan as director. In December, the group once again returned to St. Andrew's to perform in the university's Christmas concert, where they were hailed by local media as a "worldwide hit".[49] Later that month, the Trinity Tiger Tones returned to Dublin, where they held a collaborative concert for the third time. Generation VIII also saw the group perform for two Irish Presidents: Michael D. Higgins and Mary Robinson.[50][51] In April 2019, the group released another viral video in the form of a cover of Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls", which was again widely shared and garnered millions of views on-line.[52]

Discography

Official releases

The group has officially released eight music videos, all covers of songs first performed by other artists. Often, the solo in a music video will be taken by a director, although this is not always the case.

Song Original Artist Year of Release Arranger Soloist
Teenage Dirtbag[53] Wheatus 2013 Daniel Cummins Patrick Barrett

Daniel Cummins

Gabriel Corcoran

Robbie Kitt

After the Storm[54] Mumford and Sons 2015 Ben Jacob Ben Jacob
Stacy's Mom[55] Fountains of Wayne 2016 Luke Duffy Richard O'Connell

Fergus Grant

Ignition (Remix)[56] R. Kelly 2016 Daragh Kneeshaw Daragh Kneeshaw

Robert Somerville

I Shall Be Released[57] Bob Dylan 2017 Neil Dunne Neil Dunne
Grace Kelly[58] MIKA 2020 Neil Dunne Dahnan Spurling
Good King Wenceslas/Little Girl Blue[59] Nina Simone 2020 Niall Barrett Dahnan Spurling
Christmas Sleighride Song (ft.The Accidentals) Nat King Cole

The Ronettes

 2020 Niall Barrett

Patrick Kennedy

Ben Steacy

 Cathal Dervan

Kat Cleland

Paula Fiegl

Johnny Mason

Other releases receiving >1 million online views
Song Original Artist Year of Release Arranger Soloist Media platform Views (Millions)
Budapest George Ezra 2018 Sam White Sam White

Ranald Macky

 c. 10M
New York, New York Frank Sinatra 2018 Ranald Macky Ranald Macky c. 15M
Beautiful Girls Sean Kingston 2019 Andy Keenan Ross Layden

Billy Behan

 Facebook (Music Crowns) c. 7.2M

Albums / LPs / EPs

Trinitones have yet to produce an album. However, in an interview with 3AW in September 2017, director Andy Keenan revealed plans for an independent release in 2018.[60] In May 2019, the group's Instagram page announced that recording had started with Keenan and co-director Evan Holland in Ardmore, Co. Waterford.[61] The group's first single 'Raglan Road' was released in December of the same year. This was followed by a trio of recordings, '7 Rings', 'Put Your Records On' and 'Giant/Never Gonna Give You Up' all released in March 2020.

Song Original Artist Year of Release Arranger Soloist
Raglan Road L. Kelly 2019 Ben Jacob

Daragh Kneeshaw

 Andy Keenan
7 Rings Ariana Grande 2020 Dahnan Spurling Dahnan Spurling
Put Your Records On Corinne Bailey Rae 2020 Niall Barrett Johnny Mason
Giant/Never Gonna Give You Up Rick Astley 2020 Sam White Ross Layden

Cathal Dervan

Associated groups

St. Andrew's Accidentals — an all-female group from St. Andrew's University, Scotland, who performed in concert with Trinitones on four separate occasions, thrice in St. Andrew's, in November 2017, 2018 and 2019, and once in Dublin in March 2018. In December 2020 both groups colaborated to release a seasonal single 'Christmas Sleigh Ride Song' which was recorded during Covid-19 restrictions.

Trinity Belles — an all-female a cappella group from Trinity College Dublin, founded in 2014.

Trinity Tiger Tones — an all-male a cappella group from the University of Melbourne, who thrice performed in concert with Trinitones, twice in Dublin, in November 2016 and December 2018, and once in Melbourne in September 2017.[62][63]

Yale Whiffenpoofs — an all-male a cappella group from the University of Yale, who performed in concert with Trinitones in Dublin in June 2017.[64]


Members
Name No. I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
Lynsey Callaghan 0 Ct. Ct.
Patrick Barrett 1 Bt. Bt.
Daniel Cummins 2 Bt. Bt.
Robbie Kitt 3 Tn. Bt. Bt.
Henry Burrows 4 Bs. Bs.
Gabriel Corcoran 5 Bt. Bt. Bt.
Daniel MacManus 6 Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct.
Cian McCarthy 7 Bs. Bs.
Declan Molloy 8 Tn. Tn.
Conor O'Shea 9 Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct.
Michael Broderick 10 Bt. Bt. Bt.
Ben Jacob 11 Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs.
Daragh Kneeshaw 12 Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn.
Mark O'Donnell 13 Tn. Tn. Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs.
Kevin Collins 14 Bs.
Luke Duffy 15 Tn. Tn.
Killian Horan 16 Bs. Bs.
Rob Boos 17 Ct.
Max Doyle 18 Ct.
Yewhoan Hong 19 VP VP
Declan O'Beirne 20 Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs.
Robert Somerville 21 Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn.
Diarmaid Brennan 22 Bt. Bt. Bt.
Richard O'Connell 23 Tn. Tn. Tn.
Tom Marr 24 Ct.
Fergus Grant 25 Ct. Ct. Ct.
Matt Murtagh 26 Bs. Bs. Bs.
Dahnan Spurling 27 Bt. Bt. Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn. Tn.
Dermot Wildes 28 Ct. Ct.
Neil Dunne 29 Bt. Bt. Bt. Bt.
Young Chae Soon 30 Tn. Tn.
Magnus Gyllenhammar 31 Bs.
Fionn McGorry 32 Bs. Bs. Bs.
Jeff Johnston 33 Ct. Ct. Ct.
Sam White 34 Bt. Bs. Bs. Bs. Bt.
Rajat Nair 35 VP
Evan Holland 36 Ct. Ct. Ct.
Jemil Saidi 37 VP VP VP VP VP
Andy Keenan 38 Tn. Tn. Tn.
Matthew Douglas 39 Bt. Bt. Bt. Bt. Bt.
Karl Hegarty 40 Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs. Bs.
Barra MacMahon 41 Bt. Ct. Ct.
Zach Miller-Frankel 42 Tn. Bt.
Patrick Kennedy 43 Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct.
Barry O'Connell 44 Tn.
Billy Behan 45 Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct.
Ranald Macky 46 Bs. Bs.
Ben Steacy 47 Bt. Bt. Tn. Tn.
Ross Layden 48 Tn. Tn. Tn.
Eoin Hand 49 Tn. Tn. Tn.
Cathal Dervan 50 Bs. Bs. Bs.
Niall Barrett 51 Bt. Bt. Bt.
Kevin Mc Donnell 52 Bs. Bs.
Johnny Mason 53 Ct. Ct.
Donncha McDonagh 54 Bt.
Key to table
Abbrev. Meaning
Abbrev. Abbreviation
Ct. Countertenor
Tn. Tenor
Bt. Baritone
Bs. Bass
VP Vocal Percussionist
Active Member
Touring Member
Director

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