Fermanagh musicians awarded BBC NI and Arts Council NI Young Musicians’ Platform Award

Opera singer Andrew Irwin, and composer and multi-instrumentalist Rose Connolly, are two of six young musicians from across Northern Ireland (NI) to have been selected for the prestigious award.

The other four award recipients include classical awardees, cellist, Angus McCall and pianist, Justine Gormley; traditional music awardees, Jack Warnock; and singer-songwriter awardee, Roisin Donald (ROE).

The biennial awards, which are run by the Arts Council in collaboration with BBC Northern Ireland, aim to showcase and support the development of young musicians from the region by providing individual funding awards of up to £5,000.

This funding enables the recipients to spend a sizeable amount of time learning from a master musician, mentor, teacher or composer either in NI or abroad.

For the first time, the awards have been extended beyond the Classical and Folk music arenas, reaching out to singer-songwriters in the region.

Professional radio engagements

As well as this training opportunity, the awardees will receive two professional radio broadcast engagements, including one with the Ulster Orchestra in 2021.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about receiving the award, opera singer Andrew Irwin said: “It’s great news, I’m very happy.”

He explained that he will use some of the £5,000 grant towards recording some Irish songs which he hopes will culminate into an album.

“Further to that, there are various concert and broadcast opportunities in collaboration with the BBC and there may be soon an opportunity where I give a performance with the Ulster Orchestra.

“Unfortunately, with the year that I got the award, that won’t likely be for a live audience but rather a BBC broadcast,” said Andrew.

Talking about the challenging year he has had as a musician because of the pandemic and what it means to him to receive this award at this time, he said: “I’ve been in lockdown since March 17, 2020. I can’t even begin to describe the relief that something like this has come through.”

He continued: “Everyone is trying to find their positive in the coronavirus period. If there has been one for me, it has been my relationship with my country.”

Andrew went on to explain that he left home at 16 to pursue his studies at Chetham’s School of Music in England and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Wales.

“I went away, and to tell you the truth, there are some companies at home that I’m sure had never heard of me before,” he said, adding: “Since being home, I have some success at home, I have won the Audience Prize at the Northern Ireland Festival of Voice, and now I have received the Young Musician’s Platform Award from the Arts Council and BBC Northern Ireland, so to me it doesn’t get much better than that.

‘A moment of positivity’

“Rather than looking back at how terrible it’s all been – which it has, of course, it has been the absolute ruin of the development of my career – but rather than looking back at it as that, with a moment of positivity like this, I can hopefully look back in the future and realise that it was an opportunity for me to build a musical relationship with my home country that I never had before,” Andrew told this newspaper.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Rose Connolly was born in co. Fermanagh. Her body of work includes ensemble, large-scale and small-scale works, solo pieces, electronic solo/ensemble pieces and short film/multi-media works.

Her unique sound is an idiosyncratic combination of contemporary music with inflections of Irish Traditional music, Folk and Jazz.

As an accomplished performer in the Classical and Traditional field, Rose studies Music Composition in The Royal Irish Academy of Music under the direction of Jonathan Nangle.

“I was very excited to hear that I was awarded the Young Musicians’ Platform Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland,” Rose told The Impartial Reporter, adding that it opens up a “plethora of new and exciting opportunities and projects” for her.

She continued: “Mainly, it gives me the means to create an album and, hopefully, provide the equipment for me to produce it as well, which is an immense help!

“The award also gives me the opportunity to write for and perform with the Ulster Orchestra,” she added, explaining that she will be doing that in mid-March and the broadcast will be on BBC radio Ulster/Foyle.

“The concert will be pre-recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster’s Classical Connections programme on Sunday, March 21 as well as other broadcasts by other programmes on the station,” Rose told this newspaper.

Highlighting BBC Radio Ulster’s continuing commitment to specialist music and to developing new musical talent, three presenters from the station will mentor the new awardees in helping them prepare for their upcoming performances with the Ulster Orchestram which will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle.

John Toal, a classical pianist and presenter of Classical Connections, will mentor the three Classical musicians, while Folk Club presenter, Lynette Fay, will mentor the Folk musicians, and Stephen McCauley of The Stephen McCauley Show, will mentor the singer-songwriters.

‘Exceptional young musicians’

Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “The Arts Council is committed to providing valuable, meaningful opportunities for our artists to develop their professional careers, and we are hugely proud to partner once again with BBC Northern Ireland to offer these awards to exceptional young musicians.

“Congratulations to all six musicians on receiving these awards, which offers a unique opportunity to develop musical skills, learn from the best and perform live with our tremendous Ulster Orchestra.”

Paul McClean, Executive Editor Arts and Music, BBC Northern Ireland, said: “At BBC Radio Ulster, we are dedicated to providing our listeners with the best in specialist music and nurturing new talent is something we are extremely passionate about.”

For more information on funding opportunities, see www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding.