***Top Security/ Frank Maher Classical Music Awards 2021***

Deadline for submissions: Friday 8 October 2021, 5pm
Competition: Friday 29 October 2021

Good news for Ireland’s top teen music talent as the 2021 Top Security/Frank Maher Classical Music Awards has just been launched. With a €5,000 prize for the winner, it is the largest such competition for secondary schools in Ireland.

The Top Security Frank Maher Classical Music Awards were created in 2001 by Emmet O’Rafferty, chairman of the Top Security Group, to honour the memory of his late teacher, Fr Frank Maher, a pioneer in the nurturing of musical talent in secondary schools.

The Award entrants are a rollcall of rising young Irish classical music talent. Past winners include violinists Julieanne Forrest (2020 winner, pictured above) and Mairead Hickey, pianists Kevin Jansson, Aidan Chan and Maire Carroll, cellists Sinead O’Halloran and Killian White. All the winners have received national and international recognition for their achievements and used their prize money as a springboard towards a professional career by funding their studies at some of the world’s most renowned music colleges and institutions. These include Juilliard School, Barenboim-Said Akademie, Royal College of Music, Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Musique et de Danse and Kronberg Academy.

The Awards are open to sixth year post-primary students of string, woodwind, brass and piano. The €5,000 top prize will be used by the winner to attend a recognised place of tuition, a course of study in Ireland or abroad or on a purchase necessary for the development of their talent. The remaining finalists will each receive a €300 bursary.

The closing date for this year’s entries is Friday 8th October 2021 and the competition night is scheduled to take place on Friday 29th October in Dublin. Further information, rules and a copy of the application form for downloading on www.frankmaherclassicalmusicawards.com