Irish Association of Youth Orchestras

Revised Guidelines for Round 3 Music Generation funding are now available online at www.musicgeneration.ie. Round 3 is the final open call for applications the deadline for which is 5pm Thursday November 8th, 2012. Three Music Education Partnerships will be selected for participation in Round 3 and will be funded from January 2013 – December 2015. Other applicants from Round 3 may be invited to take part in a closed selection process for a fourth round of funding which will be rolled out on a phased basis from January 2014. For further information, visit www.musicgeneration.ie or contact Rosaleen Molloy on 01 6719429 or at info@musicgeneration.ie.

A wonderful day of music was celebrated in St. Michael’s Primary School, Ballyfermot on February 29th. It was an exciting day for the whole school as they gathered together for a concert by all the classes learning violin and by the school orchestra.

All the parents were invited and they were in for a treat! Every child from senior infants to sixth class attend weekly violin classes and each class performed 4 pieces. It was lovely to see the increase in the standard of playing from the youngest class through to the most senior. Read more »

150 students from all 4th class students in Holy Family Senior School and Ennis National School were given the opportunity to work with distinguished violin teacher and ensemble director Dorothy Conaghan when she visited Ennis last week on behalf of a “Learn & Explore” education initiative from The National Concert Hall.

Cathy Desmond, director of the Swinging Strings at Ennis NS and the Holy Family Strings project said, “It has been a great boost to the project to have Dorothy’s expert input to the programmes. She has visited and reported on similar programmes in the States and regularly travels to give workshops in England, Scotland, France and Germany. She brought fresh ideas to the programme and gave tips on best practice from her wide experience. She worked with each class involved in the programme and also conducted workshops with the school bands . We all enjoyed working with her” Read more »

It was a hat-trick of victories for St Canice’s National School Orchestras who swept the boards at the recent Wesley College Interschools Music Festival held in Dublin on Saturday 3 March. This is one of the largest interschools music festivals held in the country with hundreds of students from primary and post primary schools competing in a wide range of disciplines, from individual and choral singing to individual instrumental and orchestral. Three orchestras from St Canice’s participated in the Primary Schools Orchestra competition, and ending up securing 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, which is a remarkable achievement by any standard!

St Canice’s “A” Orchestra, conducted by Ruth O Leary, played the rousing The Valiant Knight by Charles Woodhouse. The Jazz Band, conducted by Eamon Cahill, played the popular ‘Theme from Mission Impossible’ by Lalo Schiffrin, while the “B” Orchestra conducted by Margaret O’Faoláin de Bhróithe delighted the audience with a duet of numbers; Marco takes a Walk by Sheila Nelson and the ‘Double Surprise Symphony’ by Haydn.

There were cheers of jubilation from the very large number of supporters who had travelled from Kilkenny when the adjudicator announced the results, with the “A” Orchestra securing 1st place, 2nd place for the Jazz Band and 3rd place for the “B” Orchestra! This was a tremendous achievement for the Kilkenny National School, who have also been successful winners at Feis Ceoil on numerous occasions over the past twenty years. The Instrumental Music Programme at St Canice’s continues to go from strength to strength and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all involved. It was a great experience for the children to participate in such a competition on a national level and uplifting to see the high level of musical talent on show from around the country.

Thank you to those who have already filled out the survey on the IAYO Festival. If you haven’t done so yet, then we would ask you to please do so at the earliest opportunity. The survey is for anyone who has ever had anything to do with the Festival so please pass the link on to anyone you know that might have an opinion to express. The survey can be found online at www.iayo.ie/festival.

[From The Arts Council Newsletter]

A revised and updated Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children was launched on the 15 July 2011. Encompassing the same principles as the earlier (1999) publication, it clearly sets out what organisations need to do to keep children safe, and what different bodies, and the general public should do if they are concerned about a child’s safety and welfare. The Guidance sets out specific protocols for Health Service Executive (HSE) social workers, Gardaí and other front- line staff in dealing with suspected abuse and neglect. The revised version has been welcomed as a more robust, accessible and concise document which reflects changes in the Irish Child Protection system over the past twelve years, including the establishment of the HSE, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and learning from inquiries and research since 1999. It is available to download from the Department’s website www.dcya.gov.ie/ or in printed form from the Government Publications Office, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 (?5).

This edition of Children First replaces and supercedes all previous editions.

A more detailed briefing on the changes relevant to arts organisations working with children and young people is available on the website www.artscouncil.ie.

[From The Arts Council Newsletter]

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence has published a National Vetting Bureau Bill which has been sent to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Defence. This Bill proposes to introduce mandatory vetting of all employees and volunteers who come in regular close contact with children and / or vulnerable adults and mandatory vetting of all positions within the administration and implementation of state Justice, as well as positions that involve state security.

The current proposal provides for the establishment of the National Vetting Bureau which will replace the Garda Central Vetting Office. It provides a legal framework for Garda Vetting, and includes for the first time, a definition of ‘vulnerable adult’. It is anticipated that this Bill will be enacted by mid-2012.

The Arts Council, and other arts organisations acting as authorised signatories, made submissions to the Joint Committee highlighting concerns common to the arts sector, such as lack of access to vetting for solo practitioners, clarity around the definition of ‘soft information’, the need for repeat vetting and difficulties for smaller organisations in becoming registered. They have been asked to bring back suggestions to the Committee as to how these matters might be addressed within the legislation.

These developments provide a long awaited statutory basis, offering a much more robust framework within which to create safe environments to engage with children, young people and vulnerable adults. The Arts Council continues to encourage and support the development of safe practice within the arts sector and will provide on-going updates and information as they become available.

Galway Youth Orchestra marked the opening of its 2012 season (and its 30th Anniversary) with a concert production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance in the Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway on January 7th 2012. The Senior Orchestra (with a sprinkling of friends and alumni in the ranks) was joined by the Galway Tribal Choir (Director Mark Keane), sopranos Sandra Schalks and Emma English, playing Mabel and Ruth respectively, Daithi Ryder as the Major General, Brian Raftery as Frederick, Kevin Neville as the Pirate King and Gerry Ferguson as the Sergeant. A linking script featured GYO conductor Peter Berrill as narrator. Michael Dooley conducted.

The strong casting produced some very fine solo and ensemble singing backed most effectively as required by the chorus and all was very well integrated under Michael Dooley’s assured direction. The Pirates is Sullivan at his most Mozartian. It is a challenge therefore for a young ensemble (some as young as 13) charged with accompanying with precision the very high level and complex vocal writing. The friends and alumni sitting in no doubt gave the young players great support but the young GYO players were a revelation showing an amazing capacity to play this wonderful opera. Their success in rising so well to the occasion contributed, no doubt, to the sustained standing ovation from a capacity audience which concluded the proceeding.

[Review by Oliver Francis]

Joanna Crooks received the Agnes O’Kane award at the recent Festival of Youth Orchestras in acknowledgement of her many years of voluntary work on behalf of young musicians in Ireland. Joanna has played an instrumental part in so many organisations over the years including Dublin Youth Orchestras, IAYO (of which she was the original Festival Manager), the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, The European Federation of National Youth Orchestras, Jeunesses Musicales Ireland and, latterly, the St Agnes Violin Project and Orchestra. Read more »

Why do youth orchestras come back to the Festival every year? What do the young people get out of it? One certain thing is that the Festival is almost always new to all the young players. For many of the participants it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For others it is a first performance of many at the National Concert Hall. Below, some of the players from this year’s Festival describe their days and give a sense of what it is like to take part for the first time. Read more »