Musicians from the Irish World Music Centre to Give Free Concert

Five student musicians from the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick will collaborate with students from the School of Music in a free program of chamber music on Wednesday, February 13. Featuring works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Brahms, and Clarke, the concert will begin at 8:15 p.m. in the recital hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.

The Limerick students, who hail from China, Hungary, Canada, and Ireland, are working toward master’s degrees in the classical string program at the Irish World Music Centre. The concert will cap four weeks of study and work with faculty members from Ithaca’s School of Music. The residency is part of an exchange program established in 1999 by an anonymous gift that enables students from the music center and Ithaca College to study at the partner institution. The gift also supports a series of performance exchanges.

The Irish World Music Centre is a graduate school offering performance and academic courses in music and dance; it has a special interest in research and innovation in Irish and Irish-related music worldwide. Programs of study include traditional Irish music and dance, classical string performance, chant and ritual song, and ethnomusicology.

During the 2000–2001 academic year, six Ithaca students took courses in Limerick, while in July 2001 three more attended the center’s International Summer School for Traditional Irish Music and Dance. Next month School of Music voice faculty and the Ithaca College Choir, under the direction of Lawrence Doebler, will travel to Ireland. The faculty members will conduct master classes at the center and join the choir as it performs in Cork, Galway, and Limerick. The choir will give a free preview of its tour concert on Sunday, March 24, at 3:00 p.m. in Ford Hall.

For more information call Erik Kibelsbeck in the School of Music at 274-3717.