Yay, a concert back in Ireland – for 1 night only. I will be performing with the A-YOI – The Adult Youth Orchestra of Ireland !! next Saturday in Leisureland in Galway. Last time I played in this venue was with the Junior National Youth Orchestra of Ireland back in 1987 (I think!) with Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, Rodney-Bennett Porgy & Bess Suite and Borodin Symphony No 2 (again, I think..).

What is the Adult Youth Orchestra of Ireland you say… The AYOI came about because of a charity fundraiser concert that was organised a few years ago in aid of Brain Tumor Ireland. Not an ordinary concert, but er.. “Christmas in June”. This was such a success, both musically and financially for the charity, many of the players said, why don’t we do this again, so here we are a few years later, after a number of subsequent events.

The Orchestra meets on Thursday July 9th (tuning at 1:45!!) with rehearsals on Thursday, Friday in Dunlin Village, University College Galway, moving to the venue Saturday for dress & performance. I’m really looking forward to the trip and having the chance to perform with “friends of old” (see, I didn’t say old friends), many of whom I’ve not seen in at least 30 years.

The Orchestra will be conducted by Ronan O’Reilly, whom I first meet in the JIYO in the late 80’s when he came in to play Cor Anglais in Dvorak 9. Ronan was also on the other side of the torch later when he was staff during my time at NYOI (but we won’t hold that against him). And as the way things work, my two nephews Daniel and Adam have had the pleasure of playing for Ronan as he is also MD of the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble.

We will be performing:


Vivaldi: Concerto in C Major RV443 for Piccolo and Strings
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Britten Young: Persons guide to the Orchestra
Greg Scanlan: Legacy

I performed the Tchaikovsky earlier this year, so certainly looking forward to that again. I’ve previously performed the Britten with Bloomsbury Chamber Orchestra. The Greg Scanlan (a fellow musician from Waterford) should be interesting – it’s great that we’re programming compositions by Irish Composers. I’m assuming as I didn’t receive charts for the Vivaldi, this is where we can enjoy the soloist and orchestra and regenerate for the big works! 🙂

Added bonus, I get to visit the family back in Waterford.

Added concern, what is the EV charging network like in Ireland?? – although, looking forward to taking the Benz CLA on a long road trip.