www.westcorkmusic.ie

Fiddler Matt Cranitch and flute player Conal Ó Gráda will be visiting schools in Cork county from Monday 28th November to Friday 2nd December, through Tuning-Up, Cork County Council’s Music in Schools programme which aims to bring students face to face with the best Irish performers of the baroque, classical, modern and traditional repertoire.

In these workshops, the musicians will explain how their instruments work and explore different kinds of tunes and rhythms featured in Irish traditional music, such as jigs, reels, slides, polkas and slow airs.

Among the schools taking part this week are Gaelscoil Bheanntrai, Bantry Boys School, Convent Primary School in Mallow, Gaelscoil Thomas Daibhis in Mallow, Ballincollig Community School, Whitegate NS Midleton, Scoil Naomh Iosaf in Riverstown, Scoil Mhairtin in Kilworth, Ballygiblin NS, St Luke’s NS in Douglas and St Mary’s Secondary School in Macroom.

Matt Cranitch is renowned as a fiddle-player and teacher. He has performed extensively at home in Ireland and abroad, and has presented many lectures, master-classes and workshops. He is author of The Irish Fiddle Book. An authority on the fiddle-music of Sliabh Luachra, he teaches courses in traditional music at UCC. He is a consultant for traditional music programmes on TG4, and is also an advisor to the Arts Council Deis scheme for the traditional arts.

Born in Cork, Conal Ó Gráda has long been at the forefront of traditional Irish flute-playing, and truly has one of its most distinctive sounds. A multiple All-Ireland winner in his youth, Conal’s debut recording The Top of Coom in 1990 is still regarded as a seminal recording of flute-playing. Conal has played, toured and recorded with many of the music’s leading exponents, and his long-overdue second recording Cnoc Buí was released in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim. He is also a member of the band ‘Raw Bar Collective’ which released its first CD in Feb 2011.

Tuning-Up enables schools to apply for a workshop visit by a professional music ensemble such as a string quartet, brass or wind Quintet, baroque ensemble or traditional music group. It gives young people an opportunity to experience live music performance first hand, to learn about the various elements of music and how these combine to create a musical composition, to engage in discussion with musicians and to actively participate in a music performance. West Cork Music, the organisation behind the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, West Cork Literary Festival and Masters of Tradition, manages and organises these music residencies.

For Further Information Contact:
Sara O’Donovan
PR and Marketing
West Cork Music
13 Glengarriff Rd, Bantry, Co Cork
Tel 027 52788
sarawcm@eircom.net
www.westcorkmusic.ie