Irish Association of Youth Orchestras

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In February of 2020, the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras celebrated 25 years and our 25th Festival of Youth Orchestras at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. (Click the image to watch our 25th Anniversary Festival short film and images throughout the page to related content.)

“I am still in disbelief that I got the opportunity to play in the National Concert Hall. Being in the orchestra was so overwhelming. I miss it so so much. I would love if we could have continued on.”

Ellen T. Crowley IAYO Festival Orchestra musician

With orchestras and ensembles shut down in March, much of the instrumental music teaching around the country moved online and we were in a position to support this move: we had previously piloted and supported a number of online teaching and teacher-training initiatives and had access to many helpful materials through our international networks. (Click the image to see a pdf our online-instrumental-teaching pilot from 2016.)

In March and April, we saw a series with Evelyn Grant on RTÉ lyric fm playing music performed by our ensembles and members and interviews focussing on the way in which immigrants have contributed so enormously to the development of classical music in Ireland. Throughout April and May, we kept in touch with our members and connected with other national and international organisations to find the best digital pathways for our community. Our mission was to deliver practical supports to keep young people meeting and playing together.

In May, we engaged young orchestra members for National Drawing Day on the subject of the socially-distanced orchestra. A drawing competition saw some wonderfully imaginative creations – one of which inspired the main visual theme for Ode to Joy. Next up, in June, we lent our support and were one of the main contributors to Ode to Joy, a project which saw socially-distanced outdoor performances for individuals and ensembles throughout the country for European Music Day. We were a central point in the collaboration of over 50 music organisations working to bring our community together. (Click the image to visit the Ode to Joy website.)

July and August are amongst the busiest times of the year in IAYO and this year, surprisingly, was not different. While we may have run our lives through Zoom, the re-imagining of our summer courses saw us developing and learning new ways of engaging and bringing people together with some very surprising results. We still didn’t get to play together in real-time but we will seek to reproduce at least some of each of the courses we presented online in 2021 and beyond – ConCorda Chamber Music Course for Strings, the Irish Youth Baroque Orchestra and our Conducting Workshops.

“What I found most exciting was to see how much students can learn from each other and how helpful it can be for students to learn in a supportive and open environment.”

Claire Duff, Artistic Director Irish Youth Baroque Orchestra and Leader of the Irish Baroque Orchestra

Reaching the end of August, the young professional players who mentor and perform with the Esker Festival Orchestra were due to get together – some young Irish professional musicians completing their 14-day quarantine after returning home – only to have their plans derailed by the August lockdown. Fortunately, they were allowed to perform with an online stream (while coping with thunder and torrential downpours on the recording studio’s roof). From mid-August, we began a series of workshops to help members with online and blended orchestra and for getting back together in person. We included workshops on risk assessment and mitigation and sessions on starting chamber music programmes that could keep running through various levels of restrictions. Workshops ran through until the end of November and we had, by popular demand, another get-together of the ConCorda Chamber Music Course for Strings between Christmas and New Year. We wrapped up the year with a radio documentary celebrating 35 years of the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. Winds of Change premiered on RTÉ lyric fm as the Lyric Feature on Saturday, 26 December at 6pm. (Click the image to see and hear ConCorda’s Biber Battalia.)

“I was blown away by how rich the quality of this year’s chamber music course was. I came to the clear realisation that ConCorda has nothing to do with a time or place. It is a spirit that comes from young and mature musicians alike sharing a passion for music.”

Aisling Martin ConCorda participant