Dear Reader –
It’s May - a month of titles and recitals!
Both in today’s letter…
**All hyperlinks in bold.
The Big Thing
It’s a great time of the year! Dance shows, concerts, speech and drama recitals - it’s all happening.
And after a lovely evening earlier this month when the adults in our Music Club performed for each other for the last time this term, it’s the turn of the younger students this coming Thursday.
Their end-of-term concert will take place in Strandhill, just across the corridor from the room in which they have their lessons each week, and the aim is to have an informal and enjoyable evening, where students, parents and teachers alike can mix and hear what each other has been up to over the last few months.
It is a learning experience for the children - many will not have played in front of an audience before, and it makes the sometimes lonely experience of playing the piano a bit more social.
It’s another example of something we all missed over the last few years, and while it’s always an evening to which I look forward, this one will be extra special.
Where else but Sligo?
I feel it’s a really interesting time in Sligo’s music scene.
It reminds me of a conversation I had with Gerry Grennan on one of the long car journeys we undertook on our 32 Pianos tour back in 2015. He reckoned that while the musical cards in our town may sometimes seem to be settled in certain unshakeable combinations, every so often they will get thrown up into the air and gradually reform into new groups.
The enforced break we all had over the last few years gave us all time to think. Some musicians have found new careers, others have changed their priorities. Some pubs have closed while others have opened. Some gigs have stopped and others have started.
There is an ever-growing gang of young musicians around town who are hungry for gigs and this is always great to see.
And so I’m looking forward to seeing what combinations come out of this latest reshuffle. One thing I would love to see is the emergence of a new original band following in the tradition of the likes of Indian, Those Nervous Animals, Oddsocks, Rackhouse Pilfer and Moxie. Bands who wrote their own music and drew crowds.
I feel that now the time is right (and the talent is certainly there) for a new band to take the town by storm. Who’s it gonna be?!
What’s New?
LA ROCHELLE: It’s also the time of year where many sporting titles get decided, and I was particularly happy to see Corkman Ronan O’Gara lead an unfancied French side to victory in rugby’s European Cup. There is something about O’Gara’s ability to lead people while being so open and transparent himself that is impressive.
THE VISIT: Am looking forward to seeing this play tonight in the Hawk’s Well.
BURNOUT: Particularly relevant to me this month (!), I listened to a short podcast today on this topic. Find the link to listen to it here, as well as some other interesting resources on this matter.
Finally…
One of the more popular tunes among my (more advanced) students. Here’s Pascal Wintz doing his thing…
Till next time - Kieran.
