Arts & Culture

THIS year’s Féile na hInse came to an end in Cois na hAbhna on Sunday night with a prizewinners’ concert. The concert brought the curtain down on what has been described as one of the most successful Féile in the 27-year history of the event. It ran for nine days and catered for up to 2,000 young people in a wide range of events and competitions all conducted through the medium of Irish and crowned a month of Irish language events throughout the county for Seachtain na Gaeilge.Special guest at the prizewinners’ concert was uachtarán náisiúnta Chonradh na Gaeilge, Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa, who said it was a privilege to be present at such an event, where the standard of talent and performance was so high and where it was evident that all the young people who participated in the presentation enjoyed performing in the intimate atmosphere of Cois na hAbhna. “Féile na hInse is now an institution, with not just …

COMHALTAS Ceoltóirí Éireann have announced a significant initiative to bring renowned traditional musicians to regional centres around the country on a regular basis, with the first tour playing at Cois na hAbhna, Ennis on April 16.The In Session tour commences in April and will feature acclaimed accordion player Danny O’Mahony and concertina player Micheál Ó Raghallaigh. The musicians will be supported by local Comhaltas musicians, offering the audience a chance to enjoy not only established performers but the best in up-and-coming talent from their very own doorstep.Future In Session tours will expand to include an increased number of regional venues.Playing in the inaugural tour is Danny O’Mahony, an accordion player and music teacher of renown from Ballyduff in North Kerry, is instantly recognised for his very distinctive and personal style of playing traditional Irish music. Danny has won both junior and senior All-Ireland accordion titles at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann through the ’90s and has worked with Comhaltas as a …

FOR years, child development experts have published report after report on the positive effects of music for babies and young children.It has been well proven that music is important for young children, not only for their musical development but also their social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language development. And research has found that all of these areas of human development are intertwined and musicis a wonderful way to facilitate growth in each of these areas.Kindermusik works on these fundamental principles. Simply put, Kindermusik is a music and movement programme. Each week in class, parents and their young children play, listen, and dance to music that will impact on both parties in profound ways. That’s because every song, story and two-step has a carefully chosen purpose in a creative curriculum—one that’s designed to stimulate and strengthen the vital neural wiring taking place in a child’s mind. The Kindermusik programme, for babies from 0 to 18 months, up to children between five …

FINAL-year students at West Clare VTOS and Burren College of Art could get a taste of their dream job and be in with a chance to win €1,000, due to a competition launched this week by the Digital Hub Development Agency.Best in Show 2010 is a competition for final-year digital media students, who are being invited to submit examples of their work to The Digital Hub for assessment by a team of industry experts. Students can submit work under any one of seven categories: animation; film/video production; gaming; industrial design; interior design; visual communications and web design.Submissions will be judged by relevant industry leaders and the winning entry in each category will win a two-week work placement in a high-profile company based in The Digital Hub in Dublin. The seven submissions chosen by the judging panel, as the outright winners in each category will also be showcased online, where members of the public can vote for their favourite entry. The …

STUDENTS from Maoin Cheoil an Chláir entertained audiences of the Ennis Musical Society’s Hot Mikado matinee recently, when they played a variety of music as a pre-show treat.Capriccio, a group from Maoin Cheoil, conducted by Bryonie Hopper, accompanied by Rosemary Walsh on piano, played a variety of pieces, ranging from the classics like Spring, William Tell Overture through traditional music, both Irish and Jewish, to more fun items including the theme music from Inspector Gadget.Their 25-minute performance in the foyer was followed by enthusiastic audience participation in Hot Mikado.Ms Hopper was thrilled to have the opportunity for the young group to perform and felt it was the perfect way to motivate her students, many of whom couldn’t decide whether to watch the orchestra or the antics on stage.“This performance illustrated to my students the importance and ‘realness’ of what they are doing, with the direct link between their own performance and the performance on stage and from the orchestra pit, …

A FILM tribute to traditional singer Robbie McMahon was screened at Cois na hAbhna, Ennis, on Sunday night.

World champion dancer Anthony Sharkey will be reunited with former Riverdance female lead, Eileen Martin for a special once-off version of Riverdance in Glór on Saturday, April 9 in aid of Clare Crusaders, writes Dan Danaher  

ENNIS band The Bad Pennies have scooped top prize in Clare FMs Clare’s Got Talent. The three-piece group is made up of friends Shane Dwane (22), Anthony Hehir (19) and Paul Quinn (22). General manager of Clare FM, Susan Murphy said that there was never any doubt that Clare’s got talent, but that the quality of that talent left a packed audience in Glor in awe at the final of the countywide talent show on Sunday last. Eight talented acts battled it out for the overall prize with The Bad Pennies from Ennis emerging victorious at the end of the competition. The group paid tribute to the music project at Clare Youth Centre for giving them their first start. For the final they performed a medley of songs including Proud Mary and Brown Eyed Girl. The group hope to invest their prize money in new equipment. Ms Murphy said that that the entire competition had been an unprecedented success. “We …