Our final session of the season will be held in The Elk tomorrow night (Thursday, 5th May) at 7:30pm (junior) and 9:00pm (senior). We’re dedicating this session to the memory of our former chairman, Kevin Walls, who passed away last November, and we hope to have many of his old friends and family members in attendance. As a result, the venue for both sessions has changed, with the junior session to be held in the upstairs room of the night club and the senior session in the upstairs function room.

Due to the involvement of several of our tutors at the Antrim fleadh in Toome, classes on Saturday morning, 7th May, have been cancelled. There will be two more weeks of classes, on the 14th and 21st May, before the summer break. Good luck to all our competitors at the fleadh!

The 2016 Derry fleadh was held in The Loup/Ballyronan from 7th-10th April. Congratulations to our many prizewinners at Saturday’s competitions (full list below) and well done to everyone else from Newbridge CCE who participated and helped out with the large programme of events throughout the weekend including competitions, sessions, ceili and Irish night. Hopefully our younger musicians enjoyed the experience and they’ll be inspired to develop their skills when our classes resume in Anahorish PS this Saturday, 16th April. Some pictures from the fleadh have been posted in the Gallery.

We were delighted to be able to donate a new cup in memory of our former chairman, Kevin Walls, to the winner of the 15-18 button accordion competition. The first winner was Brigeen Mitchell from Loup CCE. She’s pictured here receiving the cup from adjudicator Anne Marie McCloskey. Also pictured are Kevin’s son, Damian, and our chairperson, Mary Cassidy.

Thanks and well done to everyone at the Loup branch of Comhaltas for organising another successful county fleadh and good luck to everyone who qualified to represent Derry at the Ulster fleadh in Bangor in July.

Newbridge CCE Prizewinners

U-9 Tin Whistle – Jemma Shivers 3rd
12-15 Fiddle – Caoimhe O’Kane 2nd
U-12 Flute – Roise McCloy 1st
U-12 Tin Whistle – Roise McCloy 1st, Ellie Conway 2nd
12-15 Tin Whistle – Caoimhe O’Kane 1st
U-12 Banjo – Caitriona Lagan 1st
O-18 Banjo – Hugh Mulholland 2nd
U-12 Mandolin – Caitriona Lagan 2nd
O-18 Mandolin – Hugh Mulholland 1st
U-12 Piano – Roise McCloy 1st
12-15 Bodhran – James McCloy 2nd
U-12 Ceili Band Drums – Tony Diamond 1st
U-12 Flute Slow Airs – Roise McCloy 1st
U-12 Tin Whistle Slow Airs – Roise McCloy 2nd, Ellie Conway 3rd
12-15 Tin Whistle Slow Airs – Caoimhe O’Kane 3rd (recommended to play at Ulster Fleadh)
U-12 Duets – Caitriona Lagan and Ellie Conway 1st, Roise McCloy and Hannah Lee (Loup CCE) 2nd
12-15 Duets – Padraig Mullan and Caoimhe O’Kane 2nd
U-12 Trios – Caitriona Lagan, Ellie Conway and Aoife McOscar 1st
U-12 Ceili Band – Loup CCE 1st (Ellie Conway)
12-15 Grupai Ceoil – Loup CCE 1st (Ellie Conway)
12-15 Singing in English (Ladies) – Caoimhe O’Kane 2nd
Any Age Newly Composed Tune – Hugh Mulholland 1st

Classes resume this Saturday morning at Anahorish Primary School. Registration for the six week term is from 10:00am with classes at the usual times of 10:30am and 11:15am. There are places available in all our classes – tin whistle, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, concertina and bodhran – and all abilities are catered for. Cost for the term is £20 per pupil and £10 for additional family members and classes in a second instrument (timetable permitting).

This Saturday’s classes marks the end of our Spring term. We’ll be putting on another short term of 6 weeks after Easter – the dates will be announced in the next week or two.

Before we break up for Easter, we’re holding a Big Trad Breakfast in The Elk on the morning of St. Patrick’s Day between 9:00am and 12:00pm. Meals cost £6 for adults and £3 for children and we will have entertainment in the form of a music session and activities for children. All musicians are welcome to come along and play.

This year’s Derry Fleadh will take place in The Loup/Ballyronan from 8^th-10^th April, with the competitions being held in St. Patrick’s Primary School on Saturday, 9^th April.

In addition to group and solo instrumental and singing competitions at U-12, 12-15, 15-18 and O-18 age groups, there’s an U-9 tin whistle competition for younger players. A full list of competitions and rules can be found here – https://comhaltas.ie/images/press_room/rialacha_fleadhanna_ceoil_2014.pdf

To take part as a Newbridge CCE member, fill out the form below and return by next Saturday, 12^th March – there are no entry fees for Comhaltas members.

Download (PDF, 41KB)

No joy, unfortunately, for Roisin Magee and the Moneyglass instrumental music group at the Ulster Scor finals on Saturday, 20th February, in Downpatrick, but we have plenty of success to report from the Ballymena Festival of Music Speech and Dance earlier in the day.
The first competition of the morning session was for groups of primary school age and, for the sixth year in a row, our group was successful, winning the James Kerr Memorial Cup against a group from Glengormley
We also entered a secondary school age group who played well in the afternoon session but they were ultimately unsuccessful in a very competitive class.

Thanks to everybody who came along to our very enjoyable Trout Supper on Friday night, 5th February. Over 150 people attended the event in support of the Superstars Club in Cookstown. We’re thankful to the staff at The Elk who worked to prepare the food and to everyone who provided entertainment throughout the evening. Pictured (above) is our chairperson, Mary Cassidy, presenting a cheque for £1000 to May McEvoy of the Superstars Club and below are a few pictures from the event.

Our monthly session for February will be held, as usual, in The Elk on Thursday 4th February. There’ll be a junior session at 7:30pm and a senior one at 9:00pm.

The following night, Friday 5th February, we’re having a Trout Supper in aid of the Superstars Club in Cookstown who do outstanding work in providing all kinds of opportunities for people in the area with learning difficulties. Check out their site for more information  – http://www.superstarsclub.org.uk/

Tickets need to be ordered from any committee member or by using the Contact Us tab on this site and are priced at £12.50

Well done to both our members who competed at last weekend’s Antrim final of Scor Sinsear. Roisin Magee was in the winning Moneyglass group while Anthony Totten represented the Randalstown club. Good luck to Moneyglass in the Ulster semi-final in Threemilehouse, Co. Monaghan, on 12th February.