Trench Award at the Birr Festival of Music

This May bank holiday, I got to spend the weekend in wonderful Birr, enjoying beautiful music and great company. I was lucky enough to have been selected as a finalist in the Trench Award, which culminated in a Gala Final evening on Sunday 4 May.

After arriving in Birr on Friday afternoon, the Trench finalists headed to the Opera and Orchestral Favourites concert in St Brendan’s Church, featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by festival director Niall Kinsella, with guest soloist Ava Dodd. Ava was a few years ahead of me during my studies at RIAM, so hearing her after her amazing recent success was particularly enjoyable!

On Saturday, I started off my day with a run around the grounds of Birr Castle, which was definitely one of the most incredible locations for any run I’ve done! Between rehearsals and more exploration of Birr, I saw the 4 in a Bar concert at lunchtime, which was a really fun mixture of musical genres, as well as a fabulous jazz programme in the evening performed by Liza Pulman and Gareth Williams.

Sunday morning commenced with interviews for the Trench Award, which is an award designed to support further education of emerging classical musicians. In the afternoon, after rehearsals, we got to attend the Music in Birr Castle concert, featuring cellist Jayden Lamcellari, soprano Deirdre Higgins, and pianist Julian Evans. It was a really beautiful concert, inspiring us all ahead of the Gala Final that evening! It was a brilliant event of performances, and in the end I was absolutely delighted to be awarded the inaugural Lumcloon Energy Award for an instrumentalist. Congratulations again to all the finalists - what an amazing group of musicians to have spent the weekend with.

Thanks again to all of the team at Birr: the adjudication panel (Julian Evans, who gave me a wonderful masterclass on the Monday morning, Bruno Caproni, and Dr Róisín Blunnie), Maureen de Forge (the awe-inspiring coordinator of the Trench Award), all of the Birr Festival Team, and Tommy and Mary for letting me practice in their beautiful home!

Photos © Deema Feehan @we_createmedia.ie