The Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival has announced the winners of their 2023 Young Musician Award.
Dublin fiddle player, Roisín O’Connor, and Cork uileann-piper, Éamon O’Meachair were selected from almost 100 entrants.
The winners will perform a solo piece and a duet with their chosen tutor in the Sliabh Luachra Concert at the festival, on Saturday October 28th.
Since introduced in 2021, the Young Musician Award seeks to motivate and inspire young people to take an interest in Sliabh Luachra Music.
The Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival will take place over five days between October 26th to 30th.
Éamon O’Meachair - Young Musician of the Year 2023 - Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival
Róisín O'Connor- Young Musician of the Year 2023 - Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival.
The winners were invited to choose a musical hero of theirs to tutor them in advance of the concert, and perform with them in concert. Róisín has chosen Aidan Connolly, by popular consensus one of the leading fiddle players of his generation.
Aidan is from Dublin but has very strong Sliabh Luachra connections. He was a recent nominee for 'Instrumentalist of the Year' at last years RTE Folk Award, eventually losing out to Cormac Begley. Aidan has 3 studio albums to his name, and is releasing a new album in the coming month.
Eamonn O'Meachair has chosen Peter Browne as his tutor. Peter presented The Rolling Wave on RTE Radio 1 for many years. He is a founding member of the Patrick O'Keeffe Traditional Music Festival and a past recipient of the hugely prestigious 'Dedication to the Music of Sliabh Luachra Award.
First inserted into the festivals programme of events in 2021, The Young Musician Award seeks to motivate and inspire young people to take an interest in Sliabh Luachra Music.
This is the music of the area in which the festival takes place, the music of Patrick O'Keeffe, Julia Clifford, Denis Murphy and Johnny O'Leary to name just a few. The goal of the award is to promote and preserve the playing of Sliabh Luachra Music among the next generation.
