FEATURES: Music lovers from as far away as Colombia and Japan will be travelling to Letterkenny next month to take part in the Ceol na Coille Summer School.
More than 250 people are expected to attend the traditional music school, which runs in Coláiste Ailigh from Monday 11th July to Friday 15th.
Classes in a whole range of instruments are part of a busy programme, which features concerts, workshops and sessions locally.
New features include a class in conversational Irish for adults, a Club Gaelach and a Trad Camp for 6 – 8 year olds.
A CPD (continuous personal development) course for primary teachers, pioneered at the school last year, has been approved for a further three years by the Department of Education and Skills.
School organiser Paul Harrigan, a renowned traditional musician on both uilleann pipes and piano accordion, said it’s shaping up to be another excellent summer school.
“After five very good years the name of the Ceol na Coille Summer School of Traditional Music is definitely getting out there internationally,” he said.
“We’ve already had confirmed bookings from across the globe, from Colombia to Japan, Germany to the Outer Hebrides and Eygpt!
“We’re expecting more musicians from far-flung parts to simply turn up to enrol when we open on Monday 11th July.
“This year we’re also delighted to be working with Failte Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way, and contributing to cultural tourism in the region.
“That’s a valuable boost because it means we’re included in tourism campaigns and marketing.
“However, a big part of what we do is about stimulating interest in traditional music here in the Letterkenny area and in Donegal generally.
“It’s about helping local young players to develop as musicians and make new friends in music from all over the world.”
The Ceol na Coille Summer School will start with the regular monthly session on Sunday 10th July at 4pm.
This time the session will be held in the Glebe Gallery in Churchill.
Classes start on Monday 11th at 10am and the demand for places means there will be more than twenty five tutors involved, all of them well-known on the traditional music scene.
Visiting tutors include the piper Padraig McGovern and his wife, harpist Sabina McCague; accordionist Martin Quinn; fiddler and fiddle maker Paul Bradley; Joanne O’Connor on banjo; and Michael McCague on guitar.
Dr Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick is heading up the primary teachers’ CPD course.
One of the highlights of the week is likely to be the ‘Bellows and Bows’ concert at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny on Wednesday 13th July. It features several of the visiting tutors.
2016 is developing into a memorable year for the Ceol na Coille music school generally.
A group of 35 from the school travelled to Texas in March to visit sister school, the North Texas School of Irish Traditional Music in Dallas. 50 Texans are due on a return visit in August.
For more details on the summer school, see http://www.ceolnacoille.ie<http://www.ceolnacoille.ie>,
email ceolnacoille.letterkenny@gmail.com<mailto:ceolnacoille.letterkenny@gmail.com> or ring Paul Harrigan on +353 87 677 4601
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