Two County Galway orchestras unite for unique RTÉ St Patrick’s Day TV Broadcast.
Two youth orchestras based in Galway, Symphonic Waves and Galway Traditional Orchestra, recently united for a very special collaborative performance which will be broadcast on St Patrick’s Night (17 March, 2021) on RTÉ One television, as part of A St. Patrick’s Festival Celebration. The orchestras’ performance is one of a select few, chosen by the national St. Patrick’s Festival, to be included in a celebratory broadcast for the prime time tv slot.
The two orchestras will perform an original composition entitled The Magic Carpet by Eric Cunningham, co-arranged for orchestra by Ita Geraghty and Cian Boylan. The orchestras were also joined by Galway dancer, Daniela Goluba (17), from the Genevieve Ryan Dance Academy.
Symphonic Waves and Galway Traditional Orchestra, facilitated by St. Patrick’s Festival, filmed their performance recently at Furbo Beach in Galway County under strict Covid-19 directives and supervision. Covid-19 restrictions have meant that the two Galway-based youth orchestras, similar to all others locally and nationally, have not been able to rehearse or perform in public for more than a year now, so this first-time collaboration is unique in many ways.
A St. Patrick’s Festival Celebration will be presented by Baz Ashmawy and will be a celebration of the national St. Patrick’s Festival’s six-day event, which sees more than 100 programmes broadcast on SPF TV, a dedicated TV channel which runs from March 12-17 at www.stpatricksfestival.ie and on TVs in 1.1 million home across Ireland on the Oireachtas TV channel. This very special RTÉ One broadcast at 6.30pm on March 17 will be packed with culture and creativity and includes music, dance, poetry, visual arts, comedy, and craic, as well as uplifting, inspiring performances lighting up the night all over the country. The programme highlights the Festival’s artists and performers and featuring alongside the two Galway Orchestras will be Irish pop artist Soulé, a short film from award-winning performer Mark Smith and a specially commissioned poem from spoken word artist Stephen James Smith, featuring young people from all 32 counties. There will also be a very special performance from the Hot House Flowers and plenty more to enjoy.
Speaking of the inclusion of Symphonic Waves in the broadcast, Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture’s Head of Programme, Marilyn Gaughan-Reddan stated, “Symphonic Waves is a substantial legacy project within the Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme, we are really delighted to see this collaboration as part of the celebration of St. Patricks Day involving so many talented young people from the West, the piece is so beautifully arranged and presented, well done to everyone involved”.
Given the restrictions on numbers for the live recording, a virtual performance of the same composition, filmed from home by 86 members representing both orchestras, will be broadcast online separately on March 20th. This virtual concert will also feature the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Anúna, the Ulster Youth Orchestra, stars of Lord of the Dance & Riverdance and vocalist Sibéal amongst others. The performance can be viewed on March 20th on Youtube or Facebook Live at 8pm GMT/Dublin time at https://linktr.ee/citizensofsong
Symphonic Waves Youth Orchestra is presented by Music Generation Galway County, Galway 2020, in partnership with Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, Galway City Council and Galway County Council.
Music Generation Galway County is part of Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme which transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Established by its parent company Music Network, Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships. Music Generation Galway County is managed and funded locally by Galway and Roscommon Education & Training Board, with other local funding partners Galway County Council, Galway Rural Development, Tusla, Foróige, Youth Work Ireland and Involve.
St Patrick’s Festival is operating under the ‘Information and Communications’ essential services as designated by the Department of Taoiseach for the purpose of filming for television and online broadcast.