Gifted young musicians to benefit from Arts Council and BBC NI artist development award
Four exceptionally talented young musicians from Northern Ireland have been awarded the Northern Ireland Young Musicians’ Platform Award by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and BBC Northern Ireland. The four winners are: classical musicians, Seán Morgan-Rooney (pianist from Newry), Aaron O’Hare (baritone from Warrenpoint) and Richard Allen (harpist from Lisburn) with the folk award being presented to Niall Hanna (singer and guitarist from Dungannon).
Published: 9 December 2016
We are delighted to be involved in finding new classical and traditional artists and to be able to have our listeners engage in their journey as they grow and develop.
Four exceptionally talented young musicians from Northern Ireland have been awarded the Northern Ireland Young Musicians’ Platform Award by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and BBC Northern Ireland. The four winners are: classical musicians, Seán Morgan-Rooney (pianist from Newry), Aaron O’Hare (baritone from Warrenpoint) and Richard Allen (harpist from Lisburn) with the folk award being presented to Niall Hanna (singer and guitarist from Dungannon).
The biennial awards, which are run by the Arts Council in collaboration with BBC NI, aim to showcase and support the development of young musicians from the region by providing individual funding awards of £5,000. This funding enables the recipients to spend a sizeable amount of time learning from a master musician, mentor, teacher or composer either in Northern Ireland or abroad. For the second time, the awards have been extended beyond the classical music arena, reaching out to musicians from traditional folk music backgrounds.
As well as this training opportunity, the awardees will receive two professional radio broadcast engagements, including one with the Ulster Orchestra, between January and December 2017. Performances at this level raise not only the professional profile of the young musicians but also give a boost to their performance experience.
Highlighting BBC Radio Ulster’s continuing commitment to specialist music and to developing new musical talent, two presenters from the station will mentor the new awardees in helping them prepare for their upcoming performances with the Ulster Orchestra which will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle. John Toal, a classical pianist and presenter of Classical Connections will mentor the three classical musicians while Folk Club presenter, Lynette Fay, will mentor the folk musician.
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, at the Arts Council, says: “The Arts Council is committed to providing valuable, meaningful development for our artists. Congratulations to all four musicians on receiving this award which offers a unique opportunity for outstanding musicians to develop their musical skills, learn from the best and perform live with a professional orchestra. All of the previous recipients of this award have gone on to have successful careers in music and I’ve every confidence that the new recipients will benefit greatly from this experience.”
Fergus Keeling, Head of Radio, BBC Northern Ireland, says: “At BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle we are dedicated to providing our listeners with the best in specialist music and nurturing new talent is something we are extremely passionate about. We are delighted to be involved in finding new classical and traditional artists and to be able to have our listeners engage in their journey as they grow and develop with some help from John and Lynette, both of whom share a deep love of music.”
Previous recipients of the Young Musicians’ Platform Award include celebrated Belfast classical pianist, Michael McHale, soprano, Laura Sheerin, violinist, Michael Trainor and jazz drummer, Ed Dunlop, among others.
John Toal presents a special live edition of BBC Radio Ulster’s Classical Connections from the Ulster Hallon Sunday 15 January 2017, featuring the 2016 classical winners of the BBC NI/Arts Council NI Young Musicians' Platform Award including pianist, Seán Morgan-Rooney, harpist, Richard Allen, and baritone, Aaron O'Hare, with the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy.
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