Craobh Eochaille Czech-ing in!
28 July 2008, 10:07 AM GMT
The group that took part in the European Youth Folkband 2008 have landed back. On 10th July a group largely drawn largely from Craobh Eochaille CCÉ left Cork airport to take part in a European Youth Network Project entitled ‘Music and Folklore are Connecting Us III’. We were based in Hotel Javor, located high in the Kroknose mountains.
The group of thirteen students were accompanied by teachers Daithí Kearney and Louise Keating and branch secretary Mary Treacy. As well as ten students from the Youghal branch, two came from Craobh na Dúglaise and one from Craobh Trá Lí, Amy Stone, who is also a member of Siamsa Tíre.
We arrived in Prague late and did not reach our hotel until after 2am. We were met by the Czech organisers and some of the Polish students who were waiting for us. After a good nights sleep we settled into WORK.
Along with groups from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, we formed an orchestra conducted by Daithí Kearney and Jan from Slovakia. The pieces were chosen by the various group leaders and arranged for orchestra by Lukas Gal, Daithí Kearney and Louise Keating. Days were divided between orchestra rehearsals and practices in smaller groups with the various teachers on hand. In another room, a group of dancers prepared accompanying pieces including some Irish dancing choreographed by Daithí Kearney. When we weren’t in orchestra practice, we could be found practising in our rooms or playing a session at the top of the stairs.
Of course, it was not all work. We went to a wonderful safari park and zoo, a historical castle and spent a day in Prague taking in the history and culture of this wonderful city. While in Prague we also visited the museum of musical instruments, which also had an exhibition on world musics. Students got to see where Mozart’s Don Giovanni was first performed and passed by the Dvorak museum. We also had a céilí for the other groups to learn some of our dancing - that was great fun.
Our final performance was in the beautiful village of Janske Laznie on a new concert platform surrounded by a lovely garden. It was certainly a memorable experience. All students were later presented with certificates of participation and gifts were swapped. All agreed that they had learned a number of new skills and had enjoyed the experience. We have also made many new friends who we hope we will meet and perform with again in the future.
We are back now to join the Seisiún groups that had been working hard without us and are looking forward to the possibility of meeting our friends again in the future. We are proud to represent Ireland and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in this project. Perhaps we will host another phase of this project at Brú na Sí in the future as we establish Youghal as a European centre of excellence for the transmission and sharing of folk culture.
For more about our project see www.musicproject.ic.cz or check out the new website for the Youghal branch
Posted By Youghal
