Laois Trad Summer School

The Laois Trad Summer School will run this year from the 20th to 22nd July and take place in the Portlaoise Further Education and Training Centre, which is located at Tower Hill, Portlaoise.

The Summer School is geared for students aged 8 years of age and upwards with the  €60. The school will run from 11am until 3pm on Friday & Saturday and from 11am until 4:30pm on Sunday.

To attend the school students must have some experience in an instrument in order to enroll in the Trad Summer School classes. Those of a more junior standard will be placed in the mixed juniors class. This will be decided by the instrumental tutors.

This year the tutors include:

• Mohsen Amini & Ernestine Healy: Concertina
• Laoise Kelly, Deirdre Granville & Lauren O’Neill: Harp
• Mikie Smith & Padraig McGovern: Uilleann pipes
• Paul Finn & Derek Hickey: Button accordion
• Siobhan Peoples & Denise Boyle: Fiddle
• Tommy Fitzharris & John Kelly: Flute
• Colm Phelan & Tommy Hayes: Bodhrán
• Joseph Byrne: Pipes
• Aine McQuaid: Mixed juniors

There will also be a series concerts whilst the Trad Summer School is on.

There will be an Opening Gala Concert which will be held on Friday 20th July at the Dunamaise Arts Centre and will commence at 8pm. This concert will feature top-notch traditional musicians teaching at the Summer School, the Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra, and the Music Generation Laois Junior Trad Group.

For tickets, book directly through the Dunamaise Arts Centre by either calling +353 (0)57 866 3355 or online at Dunamaise.ie. Tickets will be €5.

On Saturday 21st Talisk will be in concert on in The Courtyard @ Kavanaghs in Main St. This epic Scottish Trad Band were winners of the BBC 2 Folk Band of the Year 2017. This concert will commence at 7pm and is a family-friendly gig.

The band consists of Mohsen Amini on concertina, Hayley Keenan on fiddle and Graeme Armstrong on guitar. As a group they create a captivating, energetic and dynamic sound that, in just a couple of years, has earned them multiple award wins, unwavering nationwide media praise, and standing ovations far and wide.

Tickets for this concert are €15/€10, and can be booked online at kavanaghsportlaoise.com or in person in Kavanagh’s Live Music Venue.

The Finale Concert will take place on Sunday the 22nd and will showcase students from the Summer School. This concert will be held in Portlaoise Further Education and Training Centre, Tower Hill. It will commence at 3pm, admission is free, donations welcome.

To book a place at this years Laois Trad Summer School send an email to [email protected]. You can also do it by calling +353 (0)57 866 4176 or by visiting the website at musicgenerationlaois.ie where you will find all the details.

See also the Music Generation Laois Facebook page for updates.