Musicians at Music @ Mount Leinster in 2015

108 Young Traditional Musicians to Take Part in 3rd 'Music @ Mount Leinster' Festival

Major Music Generation event runs from 21 to 23 February in Borris, Co. Carlow.

The third Music @ Mount Leinster festival of traditional music, an initiative of Music Generation, will take place in Borris, Co. Carlow, over three days from 21 to 23 February.

Unlike a normal traditional music festival, Music @ Mount Leinster comprises three days of workshops and collaboration, plus informal sessions, under the guidance of 11 professional traditional musicians. The event culminates in a Young Musicians Finale Concert where the young artists – 108 in all who have registered – have an opportunity to perform and demonstrate their skills and what they have learned.

Music @ Mount Leinster is one of the major annual initiatives of Music Generation, the national music education programme supported by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills, and Local Music Education Partnerships. The event, hosted by Music Generation Carlow, has grown considerably since its inception in 2014 and is based out of Borris Vocational School, where the students stay and also undertake the workshops.

This year’s tutors are Damien Mullane (accordion), Liam Bradley (piano), Michael Rooney (harp), Ernestine Healy (concertina), Mikie Smyth (uilleann pipes), Tola Custy (fiddle), James Mahon (uilleann pipes and flute), Clara Mannion (concertina), Niall Murphy (fiddle), and Aimee Farrell Courtney (bodhrán). As well as tutoring, the professional musicians will participate in a free concert that takes place at The Step House Hotel, Borris, on Wednesday evening at 8pm

The performance by the young musicians, who come from Music Generation partner programmes in Donegal, Carlow, Clare, Cork, Laois, Louth, Sligo and Wicklow, will take place on Thursday 23 February at 7.30pm and is also free in.

Music @ Mount Leinster, which is supported locally by Kilkenny Carlow ETB and Carlow County Council, is not currently accepting applications from any more students for participation in this year’s festival. For information on future Music Generation events, visit www.musicgeneration.ie or email info [at] musicgeneration.ie.

To find out more about Music @ Mount Leinster, see the introductory video from 2016 below.