Young Irish String Orchestra |
The Young Irish String Orchestra is an twenty piece classical string orchestra from Ireland made up of players of between the ages of 14 and 21. The young players are drawn mainly from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and are selected on the basis of their age, ability, attitude and standard.
The 2008 cultural and artistic exchange with Japan will be the first foreign tour for the Young Irish String Orchestra, although many of the players have themselves toured abroad as members of the Royal Irish Academy of Music orchestras and with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland.
The youth orchestra movement in Ireland is very strong with over 108 youth orchestras in the republic of Ireland and three national performing ensembles for young people, the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Junior National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. There are also a number of Regional Youth Orchestras, chamber music courses and orchestral summer schools held annually around Ireland.
There is an annual Festival of Youth Orchestras held in the National Concert Hall in Dublin, at which Young Irish String Orchestra conductor, James Cavanagh has conducted many times with both the orchestras of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. The Festival is managed by the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras which is the national resource organisation for youth orchestras in Ireland.
This is not the first time that conductor, James Cavanagh, has conducted in Japan. He has previously worked with the The Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra and The Tokyo Oratorio Society with whom he recorded CDs of Haydn's The Creation, Faures Requiem,Handel's Messiah and Bach's Magnificat.
The Young Irish String Orchestra mostly plays music from the western classical string repertoire, and also plays specially arranged works from the traditional and other repertoires. The version of Three Little Pigs by Fergus O'Carroll is a family favourite normally played by full symphony orchestra which has been arranged for strings for the Irish Young String Orchestra's tour of Japan in 2008.
The players of the Young Irish String Orchestra are delighted to be performing as part of the 5th International Music Festival for Youth in Japan.
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