Our monthly traditional music and singing sessions resume this Thursday night, 1st October, in The Elk. The junior/slow session will start at 7:30pm with the seniors from 9:00pm. Hope to see you there.
Classes – Autumn Term 2015
Our traditional music classes resume this Saturday, 12th September, at Anahorish Primary School.
The autumn term will consist of 12 weeks of classes between now and Christmas, with a two week break for Halloween on 24th and 31st October – each class lasts 45 minutes.
Registration on Saturday is from 10:00am and classes will follow at 10:30am and 11:15am.
All-ability classes in concertina and banjo/mandolin will start at 10:30am each week. The bodhran class will be at 11:15am as will the classes for both beginner and improver fiddle. The class timetable for tin whistle/flute will be finalised during this Saturday’s class where all pupils are invited to attend at 10:30am for grading.
Fees for the term are £40 per pupil with additional family members paying £20. Classes in a second instrument (if the timetable permits) will cost £20.
Membership fees can also be paid at registration. The benefits of membership include reduced entry fee to fleadh competitions for juniors and free Treoir magazine (official Comhaltas magazine published three times per year) for senior/family members. Membership fees for the incoming year are:
Junior – £4
Senior – £8
Family – £14
Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2015
What a week in Sligo! We’re really proud of all the young ones from Newbridge CCE who went to the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil and contributed to a hugely enjoyable festival of our culture by attending the Scoil Eigse, competing in competitions, playing at sessions and going to the many and varied events laid on by the organisers. Our thanks to their parents and tutors for their help and encouragement in getting them to such a high standard of musicianship that they were able to compete with the best traditional musicians in Ireland, the UK and the USA.
Well done to Padraig Mullan, Ellie Conway, Roise McCloy and Caoimhe O’Kane who all competed in solo competitions at the weekend. Special congratulations to Caoimhe O’Kane, Caoimhe Purvis and Patrick Magee who all returned with second place medals in group competitions – Caoimhe O’Kane in the 12-15 Ceili Band and Caoimhe Purvis and Patrick Magee in the 15-18 Grupa Ceoil, all representing Ceoltoiri Crosskeys.
We’re indebted to everyone at Loughbeg CCE for the opportunities afforded our children to participate in their Ceoltoiri Crosskeys bands and groups and congratulate their other members who competed, especially Jane and Molly Walls who are All-Ireland champions in U-12 uilleann pipes slow airs (Jane) and 12-15 duets (Jane & Molly).
Congratulations, also, to our neighbours at Loup CCE who did so well – to Mairead and Maria Mitchell, Lauren O’Neill, Rosie McElroy who were all placed in their competitions and, in particular to Bridgeen Mitchell, 15-18 tin whistle champion for 2015.
Classes in September 2015
Preparations are underway for the resumption of our music classes in September which will be held on Saturday mornings in Anahorish Primary School, starting on 12th September. We currently have classes for all abilities in tin whistle/flute, fiddle, banjo/mandolin and concertina but would like to be able to offer tuition in more instruments subject to demand. To this end, please contact us with any expression of interest or suggestions. We’re particularly keen to have classes in accompaniment instruments like guitar, bodhran, harp and piano, but are also considering classes in traditional singing and accordion.
Ulster Fleadh 2015
Huge congratulations to all our competitors at the Ulster Fleadh in Dromore last weekend. We think it’s our most successful ever in terms of results with no less than three of our tin whistle players qualifying for the All-Ireland Fleadh next month. All three achieved third place with recommendations that they progress to compete in Sligo. They are Padraig Mullan (U-12 whistle), Ellie Conway (U-12 whistle slow air) and Caoimhe O’Kane (12-15 whistle). Our other solo qualifier was Roise McCloy (pictured) who was awarded third place in U-12 piano, again with a recommendation that she goes on to play at the All-Ireland.
Other participants in solo competitions were Caitriona Lagan, Caoimhe Purvis and Patrick Magee, all of whom acquitted themselves well and weren’t out of place on the Ulster stage.
In group competitions, Caoimhe Purvis and Patrick Magee qualified as members of the Ceoltoiri Crosskeys 15-18 Grupa Ceoil who finished third in their competition while Caoimhe O’Kane (pictured here with some of her fellow band members) was in the 12-15 Ceili Band from Ceoltoiri Crosskeys who were crowned Ulster champions on Saturday evening. Other participants in group competitions were Brian Magee, Ellie Conway and Caitriona Lagan who played at their first Ulster Fleadh as part of the Ceoltoiri Crosskeys U-12 Grupa Ceoil – we’re sure they’ll be back again next year!
Apologies if I’ve omitted anybody – let me know and I’ll edit accordingly.
Well done, also, to the Dromore branch of CCE and all those involved in the organisation and efficient running of the fleadh.
Finally, the best of luck to all those from each of the nine counties who qualified to represent Ulster in two weeks time.
A full list of results from the fleadh can be found at http://www.ulsterfleadh.com/results/
Yew Tree Feis 2015
Well done to all our competitiors at yesterday’s Yew Tree Feis.
Caitriona Lagan was placed 1st in the P4-P5 open (banjo) competition and 3rd in the fiddle. Brian Magee achieved 2nd place in both the P6-P7 open (concertina) and tin whistle sections while his sister, Siobhan, was awarded 2nd place in the P1-P3 tin whistle. In the P4-P5 tin whistle competition, Roise McCloy was 2nd and Katie McGarry, Tony Diamond and Annie Diamond were all awarded certificates for their participation.
Good luck to all our musicians at next weekend’s Antrim fleadh in Cushendall.
May 2015 News
Our monthly session for May (and our last before the summer break) will be held in The Elk tomorrow night, 7th May – 7:30pm for juniors and 9:00pm for seniors.
Congratulations to Roise McCloy who won the Billy Andy Perpetual Cup at the Larne Music Festival last week as the junior performer with most potential in the traditional music section. And well done, also, to our other prizewinners at the festival – Caitriona Lagan, Ellie Conway and Darcie Conway.
Congratulations, as well, to Katy Shivers on getting a Distinction in her Grade 2 tin whistle exam recently.
Derry Fleadh 2015
Well done to all our musicians and singers who took part in the Derry Fleadh in The Loup and Ballyronan last weekend. We had our largest number of competitors at the competitions for quite a few years and there was a corresponding rise in the number of musicians who have qualified to represent Newbridge and Derry at the Ulster Fleadh in Dromore at the end of July.
In addition to the competitions, we participated in numerous sessions over the weekend and were able to have a group of our younger musicians perform on the Gig Rig in Ballyronan on Sunday.
Congratulations as well to Loup CCE for organising another excellent fleadh and good luck to all the musicians who qualified from Derry at the Ulster Fleadh.
Listed below are all our competitors and prizewinners – my apologies if I’ve omitted anybody. Let me know of any inaccuracies and I’ll edit accordingly.
Prizewinners/Qualifiers
Caoimhe Purvis – 15-18 fiddle (3rd)
Roise McCloy – U-12 piano (2nd)
Caitriona Lagan – U-12 banjo (2nd)
Ellie Conway – U-12 tin whistle (2nd)
Ellie Conway – U-12 tin whistle slow airs (2nd)
Padraig Mullan – U-12 tin whistle (3rd)
Padraig Mullan – U-12 tin whistle slow airs (3rd)
Caoimhe O’Kane – 12-15 tin whistle (2nd)
Caoimhe O’Kane – 12-15 tin whistle slow airs (1st)
Caoimhe O’Kane – 12-15 fiddle (2nd)
Caoimhe O’Kane – 12-15 ladies singing in English (1st)
Other competitors
Aoife Gribbin
Aoibhinn McPeake
Katie McGarry
Aoibhinn Young
Lile Keenan
Cliodhna McPeake
Pictured below are some of our competitors and participants.
March 2015 News
Our classes finish on Saturday, 28th March, and will resume when the autumn term starts in September. Thanks to all the pupils and their parents for supporting our activities this year – classes, sessions, fundraisers, Ballymena Festival, etc. It’s been a very busy and successful year on all fronts, with the children all making good progress. We’re also grateful to our tutors and to both Anahorish Primary School and The Elk for facilitating our classes and all the other events we’ve organised.
Our regular monthly session for April has been cancelled as it falls on Holy Thursday, so our next one (and final one until the autumn) will be on Thursday, 7th May.
Before that, this year’s Derry Fleadh will be held in The Loup/Ballyronan the week after Easter. Competitions take place in The Loup Primary School on Saturday, 11th April. On Sunday, 12th April, there will be a family fun day in Ballyronan – see www.loup-cce.com for details of all the events associated with the fleadh.