The Coole Music Orchestra Festival reached itssixth edition in March 2013, having begun as theJunior Orchestra Festival in 2008. Featuring anarmy of volunteers, the Community Centre inGort, County Galway was transformed into aconcert venue for the day with extensive stagingspecially built for the event, walls draped withcloth to tame the vibrancy of sound and a stageset and lighting specially designed for the day.Orchestras at this year's event hailed fromGalway (five of them), Sligo, Limerick, Cork andDublin. Also this year, as part of CultureConnects, the cultural programme of the Irish EUPresidency, the Ulster Youth Jazz Orchestrajoined in the fun. As always at the Coole MusicOrchestra Festival, all participants took part injoint performances at the end of the concerts.The music for the joint performances were bothworld premieres of music by the Artistic Director,

Katharina Baker. Some of the previous piecesperformed at the festival, such as the Berlin Bear,have made it into Katharina's published chambermusic for young players and we are very muchhoping that a compilation of the works composedfor this festival might appear for use by youthorchestras around the country.Into April and the 2nd Wexford Youth OrchestraFestival took place in the wonderful setting of theWexford Opera House. Featuring a line­up of 5orchestras and ensembles from Wexford townand county, the festival showcased the musicaltalents of orchestras from County WexfordSchool of Music, Scoil Mhuire, Rosslare, FCJBunclody, Kennedy Park National School and theColáiste Bhríde Concert Band. The Wexfordfestival also contained a collaborative element ina performance of 'Mars' from Holst's The Planetsby all 240 musicians. The final, combinedperformance, was conducted by Fergus Sheil,well known in Wexford as the conductor of theWexford Sinfonia. Fergus had visited all theensembles a number of times over the last sixmonths to work with each group individually andthen for combined rehearsals in the weeksrunning up to the event. The main stage for thefestival was the covered­over orchestra pit but,for the finale, the curtains were raised to revealall of the participants, covering the full extent ofthe pit and the full depth of the opera stage.Congratulations to all who took part in bothfestivals.

Allin Gray

M a y 2 0 1 3 I S S U E 6 5

IAY

OLi

mited

Civ

icTr

ust

House

,5

0Pope’

sQ

uay,

Cork

,Ir

eland.

Tele

phone:

+35

32

142

15

18

5M

obile

:+3

53

86

05

70

06

2

Email:

info

@ia

yo.ie

Web

site

:w

ww

.iayo.ie

Youth Orchestra Festivals in Galway and Wexford

The Galway Youth Jazz perform at the Coole Music Festival

Fergus Sheil conducts the combined orchestras at the Second Wexford Youth Orchestra Festival.

In 2012, Minister Deenihan launched a Philanthropy Initiativeto provide an incentive to arts organisations to proactivelyseek new and multi­annual relationships with sponsors whichwould deliver more private sector funding for the arts.Taxpayer funding was made available for organisations thatcould match this with funding from the private sector.This year, €210,000 will be available to arts organisationsunder the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’sPhilanthropy Initiative. More info at www.ahg.gov.ie

Minister Deenihan Announces Detailsof 2013 Philanthropy Initiative

Dublin Youth Orchestra Perform SleepingBeauty for Primary School ChildrenWelcome members and friends to the final issue of Newsnotes

for this school year. We have had a busy spring here at IAYO,making everything tidy after our own festival of youth orchestras,getting the programme for the rest of the year up­and­runningand making plans for next year also.In addition to attending the youth orchestra festivals in Coole andWexford this year, we have been represented at the YoungEnsembles Scheme showcase with performances by youngactors, dancers and musicians, the Tocht Youth 2013 dancefestival and the 61st edition of the European Music Festival forYoung People in Neerpelt, Belgium, which played host to over3,500 young instrumental musicians in the course of a four­dayfestival. It is really great to see the scope of artistic activity andthe great standards achieved by young people, both aroundIreland and internationally and it gives great hope for the futureamidst the ongoing economic gloom.We had a sad day for youth music earlier in the year with thepassing of Tricia Maguire, co­founder of the ConCorda ChamberMusic Course. Adrian Petcu, co­founder and current ArtisticDirector of the course has written a tribute to Tricia's life and worklater in this issue.As always, there are plenty of courses and activities going on foryoung musicians during the summer. I do hope to meet you, andthem, around the country on my travels.Allin Gray, Director.

On January 9th, the DublinYouth Symphony Orchestra,conducted by Fergus Sheil,performed two concertsspecially for primary schoolchildren.Over 1800 children in allattended the Victory Centre inFirhouse and word is that it wasa fantastic morning. Included inthe repertoire was an energeticrendition of Marquez’s Danzonno 2, following which thecomposer Brian Irvine

facilitated a highly engaging interactive experience betweenchildren and the orchestra. Pupils were enthusiastically singing,harmonising and dancing to South American dance tunes andlearning about the orchestra in about as lively a manner as ispossible.The orchestra was joined by members of the Irish National YouthBallet Company who danced to the 'Sleeping Beauty Suite' byTchaikovsky.

The venue itself was amazing, featuring fully tiered seating foraudiences up to a thousand people and the latest technologyproviding close up images of players and dancers which werethen projected on the walls behind the stage.Members of the Dublin Youth Concert Orchestra providedworkshops downstairs in the Victory Centre allowing participantsa very up close and personal experience of all the orchestralinstruments and a chance to try out the instruments themselves.Prior to the morning, teachers were provided with an educationalpack to help prepare children for the event and there wereaccompanying art and music competitions all based around the‘Sleeping Beauty’ theme.

Romey Doyle

The 5th Annual Cello Meeting Ireland takes place in theRegional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, County Donegal from the27th to the 30th June 2013. It is hosted by the Donegal ChamberMusic Society and the Donegal VEC Music EducationPartnership. It will feature cello and chamber musicmasterclasses and is open to cellists of all ages. Download anapplication form on the Course Information page at www.iayo.ie

A 36 member CTRYO group flew from Farranfore Airport toFrankfurt on Easter Monday on the first leg of a journey to begina concert tour of the Rhineland, arranged by the orchestra’sconductor Michael John Ryan.The orchestra performed at two concerts in Bad Kreuznach andin Rudesheim where the performances were greatly appreciatedand very favourably reported on in the local press. Theprogramme included a traditional Irish section of solo and setdancers for the entertainment of the audience.Between concerts, members enjoyed a cruise on the Rhine,passing some of the best known vineyards and some of thelargest wine producing areas in Germany where castles toweredhigh along the hilly banks of the great river. There too was‘Lorellei’, the area from whence came the lovely German melody.There was time for shopping and viewing the beautiful towns withtheir decorative artistic trade signs, their cobbled streets andcolourful half timbered houses, as well as visiting Phantasialandwith all it’s wonders and Theme Park and sensational fun fairrides of almost every kind.Before the orchestra went to Germany, a pre­trip concert washeld in the Excel Centre, Tipperary, at which the orchestra werejoined in concert by The Michael John String Quartet, RTÉConcert Orchestra cellist Jane Hughes, classical guitarist JohnO’Shea and The Junior Strings of the Ryan School of Music.

Danny Ryan

Summer Proms27th July ­ WIT College Hall,Waterford 7:30pm

28th July ­ University Concert Hall,Limerick 3pm

29th July ­ The National Concert Hall,Dublin 8pm

Join The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland in aperformance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 under the batonof Maestro Rafael Payare. The orchestra will be joined byrenowned singers Anthony Kearns and Majella Cullagh fora selection of Verdi arias in celebration of the composer’s2013 bi­centenary. The concert will open with the Irishpremiere of Judith Bingham’s highly anticipatedcommission Celticity.

Tickets: €18 (Concesssions available for children,students, retired and unwaged patrons)

www.nyoi.ie

Rafael Payare, conductor

Anthony Kearns, tenor

Majella Cullagh, soprano

Mayo Youth Orchestra underwent an ambitious project entitled'Musical Cartoonz' in December 2012, which originated as anextension of their successful primary school music educationprogramme ‘Classroom Cacophonies'. They wanted to broadentheir education programme to incorporate the comfort andcapability children and young people have with digital media andthus heighten interest in and explore new dimensions oforchestral music education.The programme took 5 months in total, and incorporated theyouth orchestra learning the pieces 'Themes from Autumn andWinter' by Vivaldi and recording them. Other pupils then createdstoryboards, drawings and filmed animations. The recordedpieces were then played over these animations in a communityevent with parents and past pupils attending. The performanceforms the soundtrack and stimulus for the animated film DVD.The project was completed on December 1st 2012, culminatingin a live performance by the orchestra in the school toaccompany the pupils’ visual response to the music.

Mayo Youth Orchestra“Musical Cartoonz”

More news, more detail, more often. . . www.iayo.ie/newsnotes

Athenry MEGA Concert, Galway Cathedral

Athenry Music School celebrated their 5th birthday in style withtheir MEGA Concert in Galway Cathedral on Sunday 14th Aprilwith the 1,500 seat cathedral packed to capacity. The concertstarted with a world premiere of the school fanfare composed byDuncan Moore. This was followed by a varied and richprogramme.The Athenry Junior Orchestra played 'Alan Lee Silva' and 'ThankYou for the Music' by ABBA (sung by Athenry Childrens' Choir Corle Kids). They also played Katharina Baker's Show Time andAthenry Music School was delighted to dedicate the performanceto the composer, who was in the audience.The guitar orchestra played a Playground Suite written for themby their director Kevin Brett. The newly formed TraditionalOrchestra under the tutelage of Úna Ní Fhlannagáin played amarch and jig. Helen Farrell conducted Athenry Youth Choir andadult choir, Cor le Cheile, in rousing renditions of 'Bridge overTroubled Waters' and 'Africa'.Gairmscoil Mhuire, Athenry ensemble played 'Barrier Reef' and'Shark Tale' by Kathy and David Blackwell and conducted byNickie Geddes. Lessons in Gairmscoil Mhuire are provided free ofcharge to the students and is one of Athenry Music School'soutreach programmes.The Athenry Youth Orchestra then combined with members ofstaff and the junior orchestra to form an 80 piece orchestra andperformed Karl Jenkins' 1st movement of Palladio withchoreographed movement. The students stamped and turned and

filed in and out and walked into the audience during the piece,which was received with rapturous applause. This was followedby their conductor's tribute to the people of Athenry, aptly titled,AthenRag!The finale was a massive collaborative performance of BillWhelan's Riverdance with 120 musicians, singers and dancersand included Athenry Youth, Staff and Junior orchestras alongsideAthenry Youth Choir, Cor le Cheile, members of the Loughreapipe band drum core, members of Kendra Glynn's dancingschool, Monivea and soloists; soprano, Erin Mc Inerney, sopranosaxophonist, Peter Joyce and drummer, Atreyu Conneely Baker.However, there was more to come. More than 300instrumentalists then filed up to the stage area to form the MEGAOrchestra and played 3 pieces which were specially arranged byKatharine Mannion to include all instrumentalists of any level. Thisis in the hope that the excitement created by large ensembleplaying will enthuse the younger students and they will be veryeager to get into one of the orchestras, and it seems to haveworked.Athenry Orchestra was set up 5 years ago with 16 members, andthere are now 8 regularly rehearsing ensembles with over 150members! All the students and teachers wish to thank the parentsfor their support and hard work over the last 5 years and lookforward to many more years to come.Photography by Darach Glennon darachphotography

The musical world in Ireland and UK lost adevoted and keen educationalist andadvocate following the recent death of TriciaMaguire.Born in 1948 in Felixtowe, UK, Triciaattended the Ipswich Rural Music School andlater the Guildhall School of Music andDrama studying viola under esteemedteacher ‘Nannie’ Jamieson. As a mature

student she undertook a masters degree in classical stringperformance at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance inLimerick in the class of renowned musician, Maestro BrunoGiuranna. She also trained as a reflexologist practicing for asmall but very satisfied clientele.Her two loves in her life were her close family, Hughie (herhusband Hugh Maguire) to whom she was totally dedicated, herthree children Nell, Robin and Clare and the three beautifulgrandchildren Maisie, Otis and William and her hugely successfulwork with young musicians in Ireland and elsewhere. ThroughHugh and the Aldeburgh Music Festival Tricia was very involvedin the Aldeburgh Quartet residency which started in 1988,supporting many young string quartets from all over Europegiving them the encouragement, care and attention they neededduring those most critical years of their career development.In 1994, with Hugh, Tricia set up in ConCorda, a nationalchamber music course for young string players in Ireland. In thelate 90’s she helped Xenia Ensemble to establish theInternational Chamber Music Course for young musicians at PraCatinat, Italy.

A formidable organiser,with great care for detailshe single­handedly dealtwith the full organisationof the ConCorda course,even making breakfast inthe early courses. WithHugh at her side asArtistic Director shedesigned in animaginative wayextracurricular activities

such as quizzes, sport events, fashion/talent shows, trad andsocial evenings ensuring that everyone would have a good timeduring the course. Tricia was a wonderful person. Kind andwelcoming, she had a gentle, unassuming manner, was verywise and tactful. She did not like competition and wished to giveeveryone the chance to experience and enjoy, at their own level,the beauty of ensemble playing. She was extremely supportive,especially with the less confident ones, always finding a solutionso that absolutely everyone was involved. Tricia was incrediblywarm, generous, calm, sensitive. Brilliant with young people,always encouraging, constantly praising. She started ConCordaand later helped duplicate this course in Italy with a mission. Heraim was to nurture young people in the love of music making.She made each one involved part of a team, of a big family.Franz Schubert once said ­ "Some people come into our lives,leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same."More than 500 students were nurtured in ConCorda over the last20 years. They are testimony of her commitment and enthusiasmto the mission. The legacy of Tricia’s life is the continuoussuccess of ConCorda and other similar courses which continueto go from strength to strength transforming the lives of manyyoung people.

Adrian Petcu

Tricia Maguire, co­founder of the ConCorda Chamber MusicCourse passed away earlier this year. Adrian Petcu, co­founderand Artitsic Director of the course, writes about Tricia'scontributions to music and to young people.

POP JAZZ ROCK OPERA LATINTRADITIONAL CLASSICAL HIP­HOP GOSPEL FOLK WORLDELECTRONIC BLUES JAZZ ROCKOPERA LATIN TRADITIONALMETAL CLASSICAL HIP­HOPGOSPEL FOLK WORLDELECTRONIC POP JAZZTRADITIONAL TRIP­HOPHANDBAG POP JAZZ ROCKOPERA LATIN TRADITIONALCLASSICAL HIP­HOP GOSPELFOLK WORLD ELECTRONICBLUES JAZZ ROCK OPERA LATINTRADITIONAL METAL CLASSICAL

Ireland celebrates National Music Day with love:live

music 2013 ­ a whole day and night of FREE live music

events in villages, towns and cities across Ireland. We're

inviting everyone to get involved and to make music

everywhere. Love:Live Music gives performers the

opportunity to shine a spotlight on ‘new Irish music’ by

showcasing contemporary styles. It takes place on June

21st 2013 and to get involved simply visit

www.lovelivemusic.ie

The Liffey ValleyOrchestra performed ayear­end concert at theAula Maxima in St.Patrick’s College onSunday April 28th.This year the LVOfamily concert broughtus to 'The Movies'. Aflash mob of songsuddenly eruptedduring the Overturefrom The Sound OfMusic. The beautifulrendition was given tous by SarahDarlington from

Celbridge / Maynooth to the delight of the audience. Sarah hasthree children playing with the Orchestra.Schindler’s List was the subject of special treatment whenCristina Ryan led the Orchestra in this haunting and evocativerendition of the John Wiliam’s masterpiece from the film of thesame name. Cristina is an international violin star having playedin Ireland and throughout the world. Among her vastachievements are having played alongside Sir Elton John in theRoyal Albert Hall. Also performed by Cristina was the JulesMassenet evocative 'Meditation' scored for his opera Thais.World class performances of 'Meditation' have been given byAnne­Sophie Mutter and Sarah Chang on violin, Yo­Yo Ma onCello and Sir James Galway on Flute.This family and community orchestra happily delivered 'Jupiter',the centrepiece from The Planets by Gustav Holst and BrahmsFinale, Symphony No 1 alongside Glen Miller’s 'American Patrol'and 'Chopstix', the tormentor of many early piano students.Niamh O’Reilly added some extra spice to Chopstix with herperformance on the Xylophone accompanied by the Orchestra.The capacity sell­out audience enjoyed a lovely afternoon ofmusic performed by the local musicians.

Paraic Nolan

Liffey Valley Orchestra Perform inMaynooth

Claire Condron, Liffey Valley Orchestra, andCristina Ryan, guest performer, at theconcert in Maynooth April 28th.

More news, more detail, more often. . . . www.iayo.ie/newsnotes

The European musicians' trade union has launched a petition to theEU Commission demanding significant improvements in the matterof travelling with musical instruments. The International Federationof Musicians (FIM) petition 'Fair teatment for musicians travellingon planes with their instruments' was sent to the EU Commission,and a few weeks ago it emerged that a draft amended regulationhas been published by the EU Commission on March 20th, 2013,which includes specific provisions about musical instrumentscarried on planes, which is exactly what the petition was about. Ofcourse, there is still some work to be done in order to make surethat the EU Parliament supports ­ or even improves ­ theCommission's proposal. But this is already a big success for allinvolved in the petition and it's implementation.

EU Drafts Instruments for AirTravel Regulation Amendment

Being a self­taught (and very average) music transcriber, Iapproached MuseScore with a small sense of apprehension. Ihad previously worked with Sibelius and learned throughYouTube tutorials, the official manual, and trial and error. Seeingas this was the way I had become comfortable with Sibelius, Idecided to use the same learning aides with MuseScore.

First things first, MuseScore is free. Whereas Sibelius and Finalecost hundreds of euro to buy, this is an open source software thatis a breath of fresh air to the market. We spent a few hoursworking on our own on it here in the office, and tried differentthings, but have not comprehensively explored all that MuseScorecan do. This review should be taken as an introductory guidethrough the software and its pros and cons as a music editingtool.

The thing that immediately struck me was how similar to Sibeliusit actually is. The toolbars are clear and simple, and the interfacein general is uncluttered. The presentation and display is alsovery similar to Sibelius. The note input is intuitive, both when usedby hand on a traditional computer keyboard/mouse and whenused with a midi instrument. It also exports in a number of fileextensions, including the standard music XML file.

It's notation is simple on the eye, and it has a relatively shortlearning curve to somebody familiar with basic music editingsoftware. Another bonus is that the manual is very good shouldyou encounter difficulty. In addition to the manual, MuseScorerun a blog at http://blog.musescore.com/ which has a lot of

helpful tips and tricks to get the most out of the software.Although MuseScore lacks the extra bells and whistles of itspaid­for rivals, it is not far behind in what it offers and for a freesoftware, this is great news. The plug­in options are also morelimited, but these are increasing all the time and will continueto do so in the future. One place where MuseScore falls downis that it has a tendency to crash when importing large files.We attempted to import a large 800 bar piece from Sibeliusand MuseScore crashed under the pressure. If it does crashhowever, you will not lose data, as it will save up to the lastthing you inputted.MuseScore is a perfectly viable option to many people, whether itis the amateur composer who can't break the bank, a conductorof a local ensemble looking to transcribe pieces or non­profitorganisations looking for a free alternative. Seeing as Finale andSibelius start at about €300, MuseScore is a great new additionto the landscape. Try it, it's great!

Jonathan Pearson

Join choirs, bands, and orchestras from around the world atyoung2014prague, one of the most culturally diverse andenjoyable European events for young musicians aged 8­26years, which runs next year from 27­30 March 2014.This festival and competition gives youth choirs, bands andorchestras the unique opportunity to showcase their talentand skill along with over 1,000 other musicians from aroundthe world. All who attend will be enriched by new friendshipsand enjoy cultural exchanges in the magical city of Prague.Whether you choose to participate in the competition or justsimply take part in the non­competitive festival category, thisis sure to be a wonderful and educational experience foryour choir or orchestra. Visit www.youngprague.cz for more

Prague InternationalFestival and Competition

The Freemason's Young Musicians Award 2013 has beenannounced. The competition is open to instrumentalists in thefollowing categories: Keyboard, strings, woodwind, brass, andpercussion. Visit www.freemasonsmusic.ie for more information.

Freemason's Young MusiciansAward 2013

As the largest public transport provider in the Greater DublinArea, Dublin Bus plays an integral part in the variouscommunities that make up its customer base. Over the years thecompany has implemented various corporate social responsibilityprogrammes as a way of building links with differentcommunities. Chief amongst these initiatives is The Dublin BusCommunity Spirit Awards (previously the Community SupportProgramme).Through the Community Spirit Awards, Dublin Bus provide thesegroups with support to develop new projects, grow services andhelp raise community spirit in their local community. To date, over1,300 voluntary groups have benefited from funding from DublinBus.Any group that is located where Dublin Bus operates its servicesis eligible to apply. Each application is judged independently andsuccessful groups will be awarded grants of €5,000, €2,000 or€1,000. See more at www.dublinbus.ie

Dublin Bus Community SpiritAwards

The Artist in the Community scheme provides funding toenable artists and communities to work together on projectsof interest to the local area.Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artistsand communities of place and/or interest to work together onprojects. The scheme covers all art forms.The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningfulcollaboration between communities of place and/or interestand artists. It is essential that consultation take placebetween the artist and the community group, so that bothparties are involved in deciding on the nature of the projectrealisation. Group ownership of the art should be maintainedat every stage. The Project Realisation may result in avariety of outcomes.The closing date for applications is June 24th 2013 and moreinformation can be found by visiting www.create­ireland.ie

Arts Council ‐ Artist in theCommunity Scheme