Music Alliance Ireland/Comhaontas Ceoil na hÉireann, the recently formed group of national music organisations and companies, will host its sixth public meeting at the New Music Dublin festival on Friday 21 April at 5pm. The meeting is free in and open to the public and follows the group’s launch last year and subsequent meetings at Clonmel Junction Festival, TradTalk at UCC, Quiet Lights in Cork City, and Your Roots Are Showing folk conference in Monaghan in January.

Music Alliance Ireland was formed at the beginning of the pandemic to establish a collective voice for the music sector and has been involved in a number of advocacy campaigns since.

The current members are the Contemporary Music Centre, Crash Ensemble, Diatribe Records, Improvised Music Company, The Journal of Music, Kirkos Ensemble, Music Network and Trad Ireland/Traid Éireann. The group meets ten times a year and is open to new members.

The meeting at New Music Dublin will take place in the Iveagh Room at the NCH. Speakers will include Chair Toner Quinn, MAI member Nick Roth and Project Officer and co-founder Neva Elliott discussing the work of the Alliance and projects undertaken so far.

Six aims
Music Alliance Ireland was initiated in 2020 by Elliott, an artist and former CEO of Crash Ensemble, and Aoife Concannon of Improvised Music Company, in partnership with the Arts Office of Dublin City Council. The group has since developed six main aims, as follows:

1. To establish a network and voice for music organisations and musicians.
2. To advocate for policies that support the development of all aspects of music, including music education.
3. To work for the establishment of flagship music hubs (spaces for rehearsal, collaboration, performance, administration, recording and equipment storage) in locations around Ireland.
4. To campaign for proper pay for musicians.
5. To further the provision for music from Ireland in broadcasting and media.
6. To support the development of the independent record label sector in Ireland.

The group has already published a number of submissions advocating for the music sector, including submissions to the Arts Council’s music policy, the Future of Media Commission, RTÉ Lyric FM, the Dublin City Council Cultural Infrastructural Study, the Dublin City Development Plan and the Basic Income for the Arts pilot. 

For more on Music Alliance Ireland, and to sign up to the group’s newsletter, visit https://musicallianceireland.ie/about-us/

New Music Dublin 2023
New Music Dublin is Ireland’s largest annual contemporary music festival and takes place at the National Concert Hall and in various venues across Dublin from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 April. This year’s edition includes 20 world premieres, 12 Irish premieres and features Ensemble Modern, Crash Ensemble, National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Chamber Choir Ireland, Quiet Music Ensemble, Roger Doyle, Juliet Fraser and Mark Knoop, Evlana, Robert Curgenven and more. For further details, visit www.newmusicdublin.ie.