It is not unusual for Sligo’s mixed-genre Informal Music Afternoons to include students as part of the programme, but the fourteen top students coming from Dublin on Sunday March 31st is something of a first. The programme will also include two very well established Sligo musicians, Seamie O’Dowd and Kieran Quinn.
The students from RIAM will perform both as soloists an as a chamber orchestra, presenting pieces by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Dvorak, Shostakovich… and a Premier of a piece entitled Let’s Give the World to the Children composed by Tiffany Qui – co-organiser of this ensemble.
The young musicians featuring in this concert are junior students of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. Among them include scholars, prizewinners of both national and international competitions, and members of esteemed youth orchestras such as the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. They have performed in prestigious venues like the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Convention Centre, the Mansion House and the National Concert Hall. The Chamber Orchestra (aged 9-16) was organised by Tiffany Qiu and Ms Yue Yu in 2018.
Tiffany Qiu (17) from Sligo, studies piano with Dr Hugh Tinney and composition with Dr Kevin O’Connell in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. As a soloist, she has performed under the batons of Uri Segal, James Cavanagh, Finghin Collins and Paolo Ponziano Ciardi. Recent performances have brought her to Carnegie Hall (with the New York Sinfonietta) and the Basilica di San Pietro (Italy). She has won numerous prizes including 1st Places in the Dublin Feis Ceoil Huban Cup 2018, Pigott Cup 2018 and 2nd Place in the César Franck International Piano Competition in Belgium.
IMAs take place in the Atrium in The Model with a cabaret style set-up, the Model Café in operation, and a very relaxed atmosphere. Children are more than welcome.
Admission €5 – and children go free
Sunday, March 31st at 1 pm in The Model, The Mall, Sligo
IMAs are produced by Sligo Baroque Orchestra in partnership with the Model, and receive financial support from The Arts Council and Sligo County Council.