Month: September 2019

A journey through time with classical guitarist Aleksandra Lucic


Teacher at the Redemptorist Centre of Music (RCM) and performer Aleksandra Lucic will be giving a solo performance at a lunch time concert in St Mary’s Cathedral on September 18.

From Croatia, Aleksandra is a classical guitarist, “I started to play guitar when I was ten years old in the music school, and since my first touch with the guitar, I knew that music and especially guitar would always be my main subject, my passion and love”.

Performer and Teacher at the RCM Aleksandra Lucic

Aleksandra who has a Diploma in Musical Arts said, “I was lucky to be supported by my parents, but I also had a very good guitar teachers.  I’m very proud that I can say that I was a student of Professor Mila Rakanovic, one of the leading guitar professors at that time in that part of Europe.

“I have performed numerous times in Croatia and all the rest of the states of Eastern Europe and won several prizes in International Guitar competitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

In 2016 Aleksandra moved to Limerick with her family, and since then has been working in the RCM as a guitar and ukulele teacher, where she teaches everything from classical to contemporary music, and shares her knowledge and more than 16 years of teaching experience with her students.

Following a recent well attended lunch time concert in The Granary Library, this will be Aleksandra’s first time performing in Saint Mary’s Cathedral.

The audience will be treated to a solo concert of classical music, and experience a sense of travelling through time and around the world as Aleksandra performs pieces spanning from the Baroque period to the 21st century.

The programme will include pieces by J.S.Bach, A.B.Mangorè from South America-Paraguay, and  F. Tarrega from Spain.

“After Spain we will travel to the United States in Tennessee with the composer Lawrence Long and then continue to South America through pieces by Antonio Lauro from Venezuela and Jorge Cardoso from Paraguay. For the end of the concert I will bring the audience back into Europe with the composer Roland Dyens from France.

“I’m very happy to work in the RCM where the environment is so friendly and all of the teachers are very talented. With this concert and the rest of them, that I intend to perform, I would like to show gratitude, and give a piece of me through the music to the RCM and the community of Limerick,” added Aleksandra.

The concert will take place at 1.15pm on Wednesday, September 18, at St Mary’s Cathedral.

https://www.redscentreofmusic.ie/

‘From Buenos Arias to Broadway’ with Owen Gilhooly and Helen Houlihan


This Culture night you will have an opportunity to see Tenor Owen Gilhooly and Soprano Helen Houlihan join forces in concert for ‘From Buenos Arias to Broadway’.

Soprano Helen Houlihan and Tenor Owen Gilhooly

 

Director of the Mid-West Vocal Academy (MWVA) Owen and Teacher at the MWVA Helen will be joined by pianist Michael Hennessy, violinist Hugh Connelly and Tom Murphy on viola.

The audience friendly free concert will have something for everyone, with popular operatic arias and songs from stage and screen, including a selection of Irish songs, Broadway hits, and popular arias. Instrumentals will include tango music from Latin America.

Hosted by Clare Culture night, this must see concert will take place at 7 pm on Friday September 20, at St. Columba’s Church, Bindon Street, Ennis.

http://www.midwestvocalacademy.com/

RCM Band give students a chance to perform, travel and be part of a community


The Redemptorist Centre of Music (RCM) band gives students an opportunity to perform, travel and take part in many social events, and with the new term starting the band will be gearing up for many performances over the next school year. 

However the band had one particularly memorable St Patrick’s weekend a couple of years ago when they braved wind and snow and gave their best to perform on the Ray Darcy show and then return to Limerick to take part in the international band competition the following morning.

RCM Band at St Patrick’s Parade in Limerick

Spirits were high as the band received a warm welcome from Limerick crowds as they paraded through Limerick to the school on Island road, where members then boarded the bus for Dublin to take part in the latest parade in the country on the Ray Darcy show.

The band received a warm welcome from RTE staff, and following a few rehearsals along with the other groups who were taking part, the parade went from blizzard snow conditions outside into the heat and bright lights of the studio.

Lining up for the Ray Darcy show

In the midst of the excitement and hustle and bustle, one member of the RCM band Oisín Dowling who according to his mum Barbara also a member of the band,  is a high functioning autistic 12 year old, had his dream come true when he met Ray Darcy.

Oisín with his Dad and Ray Darcy

“Ray Darcy will never know what he has done for my sons confidence, and well being. He hugged him, never recoiled when he wrapped his arms around Ray, he chatted with him and never made him feel like the child that is different. 

“Then Ray came down to every group before he went on air, and when he reached the RCM, he waved and said hello to everyone, wished them all luck, and then he spotted Oisin, and said ‘Hi Oisín’. From the child’s point, Ray is now his friend, from ours as parents, Ray didn’t just meet him, he remembered him and to the others in the RCM, you made Oisín special for all the right reasons,” said Barbara.

Teacher at the school and past Director Dr Shannon Burns said, “St. Patrick’s weekend and the International Band Parade are always a very special time for the band to get out into the public space and show people who we are and what we do. “This year, being invited to perform on the Ray D’Arcy Show just raised the level of excitement and pushed the band to perform at their very best. Bringing a band away is no easy task especially when something like this comes up at very short notice.

“The logistics of getting a band anywhere is difficult, but doing events like this brings the band closer together. I truly believe that banding and bonding make a huge difference in any group’s performance capabilities”.

RCM Band At RTE Studio

Formed in 2010 the band has approximately 50 members ranging in age from 7 to 60 years old, and according to conductor and musical director of the band Andrew Jordan, the ensembles were one of the main reasons the Centre of Music was established for music education but also for learning social skills and personal development of members.

Members and Teacher of the RCM Band and School

“It was great PR for the band but what’s more important is the whole experience of doing it for the social point of view. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see how television works, to see the studios, but  people would have chatted and mixed on that day that would never have spoken, and there was a lot of bonding.

“Because of the age group it’s a real little community, everybody just looks after each other, people know who to look out for. Students I taught are now teaching some of the younger kids so that’s how it works,” said Andrew.

http://www.redscentreofmusic.ie

Music builds bridges according to Michelle O’Connor


Performer and teacher Michelle O’Connor remembers adoring her first music teacher.

“I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. She taught me how to play songs for the holidays on the violin. That helped shape my sense of self-esteem as a child, because I was very shy and had trouble doing things the other kids seemed to do easily, like tying my shoes, jumping rope, or catching a ball, but I could play the violin, and I knew that was something special”. 

Michelle said her earliest memory of music shaped the way she approaches music education, as she remembers being a baby in the crib and her mother winding up a toy panda with a music box inside that played a lullaby.

“I remember watching the sun shine through the summer leaves, low in the sky, making a beautiful golden-green light as I lay utterly enchanted by the music. I can still picture the room in great detail. Because of this memory, I know for sure that even babies and little kids remember and retain music and may be having a vivid and memorable experience of it, even if they don’t sing along or seem to participate.

“Babies and children hear absolutely everything with a clarity and a sense of wonder that we lose as adults, and so it’s never too early for a music education. I try to nurture this sense of wonder in music lessons for kids for as long as I can, and try to bring it back for adults, including myself. That’s been the hardest part of my job, and also the most rewarding,” added Michelle.

A teacher for 21 years, this will be Michelle’s first year at the Mid-West Vocal Academy (MWVA). Michelle is certified in both the Mark O’Connor String Method and the Orff-Shulwerk approach to teaching music. Specialising in Early Music, folk fiddle styles, and improvisation, she nurtures creative string players with solid technique. 

Michelle has studied music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (IWAMD) at the University of Limerick, University of British Columbia, UC Berkeley, Brown University, and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

Performing on and exploring the possibilities of bowed string instruments for over 27 years, Michelle has an MA in Ritual Chant and Song from the IWAMD and studied music at Brown University, and has performed internationally with an eclectic variety of ensembles.

Performer and Teacher at the MWVA Michelle O’Connor

Michelle plays the violin, rebecs to vielles, baroque fiddle, Classical violin and Traditional fiddle, continues to work on her vocal technique, composes music, and has recently taken up the harp. She also plays some American ‘Claw hammer’ banjo, ukulele, recorder, and basic piano. 

“I would like to start playing some Irish banjo. I think it’s very easy to learn another instrument once we are confident in our own musical skills, because music comes from ourselves, and the instrument is just a tool to express it,” said Michelle.

Michelle loves teaching because she can help people play music that inspires them, that they would be able to perform for their friends, families, and communities in ways that are deeply meaningful to them, whether it is for a wedding, a birthday, a funeral, for a religious service, or part of a school concert. 

“It seems to me that kids who learn music early on are more comfortable in public speaking, and this is a skill that they will carry with them into adulthood, helping them with everything from socialising to job interviews. There have also been numerous scientific studies done which reveal that music develops empathy in children”.

For Michelle, music and food bring people together and build bridges instead of walls, “Because of music, I have been able to connect with people from all over the world even when we couldn’t speak each other’s languages. Learning about other cultures has enriched my life and inspired me, and allowed me to travel all over the world.

“It’s also inspired me to use music as a tool to empower ourselves and our communities to enact positive change in the world when we see injustice; music is an expression and a reminder of our humanity”.

http://www.midwestvocalacademy.com/