From Silence to Song: Magnificat – Diva Voces at SETU Chapel

On Saturday, 18 October 2025, more than 300 guests gathered in the Good Shepherd Chapel at South East Technological University (SETU) — once the site of a former Magdalene Laundry — for a moving performance of Kim André Arnesen’s Magnificat by the Dublin-based women’s choir Diva Voces.

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Founded in 2006, Diva Voces is an all-female choir committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion within the arts. The 60-voice ensemble has a strong record of commissioning women composers and performers, and of supporting projects that advance women’s rights and social justice.

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Under the direction of Musical Director Duncan Brickenden, the choir performed alongside soprano Eadaoin Hassettand an eight-piece female orchestra. The forty-five–minute performance of Magnificat—a deeply compassionate work described by Arnesen as “a song of help and hope for those who struggle”—was offered as a gesture of empathy and remembrance for the many Irish women who experienced confinement, loss, and silence in institutions across the country.

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The performance transformed the historic chapel, once a place of silence and stigma, into a space of light, beauty, and collective remembrance. The event honoured all who spent time in Industrial Schools, Magdalene Laundries, and Mother and Baby Institutions, affirming the importance of continuing dialogue and education through art and community collaboration.