Blended Sounds: a concert presented by The Drumshanbo Traditional Irish Music Course & The Ukrainian Community of Drumshanbo will take place in the Mayflower Drumshanbo, on Saturday December 3rd,at 8pm.
The event will be attended by her excellency Gerasko Larysa the Ambassador of Ukraine to Ireland.
All proceeds will be donated to the local branch of St Vincent de Paul, with donations accepted on the door. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome.
The Ambassador will also visit the Lough Allen Hotel, to meet community representatives and some its 280 Ukrainian residents.
After a successful appeal for musical instruments, spearheaded by local musicians George Eggleston and Celia Briar, tin-whistles, violins, guitars, drums and two pianos were generously donated from across county Leitrim and beyond. The once-quiet rooms of the hotel were filled with the sounds of piano, guitar and violin - lighting a musical spark with the Ukrainian community, and inspiring them to share their native music with the people of Leitrim.
The Ukrainian community of Drumshanbo formed two groups – one group of talented teenagers led by their music teacher, creative director, and accomplished classical pianist Viktoria Polianska; the other ‘Malva’, a choir led by their musical director Oksana Berezovska, and named after the Malva flower, a Ukrainian symbol of love for the motherland, for its people, and for a family house.
The Drumshanbo Traditional Irish Music course was established in 1997 and is the only course of its kind in the country, providing an introduction to the traditional arts at QQI Level 5. Students study modules in Irish Music, Music Theory, Music Performance, Event Production, Sound Engineering, Music Technology, Music Industry Studies, Work Experience and Communications. Students are encouraged to learn an instrument of their choice and to practice every day, a core element of the course being the transmission of Irish music in the traditional manner - by ear.
Well-known for their annual charity concert, where students showcase the tunes, songs and dances that they have been working on throughout the year, the students of the Drumshanbo Traditional Music Course are delighted to come together with their fellow Ukrainian singers and musicians, in what promises to be a night of shared music and song not to be missed.
