Castle set to come alive to the sounds of summer music

Lifestyle – Judy Murphy finds a school where the teachers are classical performers from all over the world

The sound of music will echo through every nook and cranny of Claregalway Castle from August 5 to 10 when leading classical performers from orchestras all over the world come to Ireland to share their knowledge and talent with students and amateur musicians.

The Summer Music in Galway/Summer Music on the Shannon programme, which is now in its 20th year, set up home in Claregalway Castle last year, when invited to do so by its owner Eamonn O’Donohue.

The relationship has proved so successful that the event is returning next month and it’s hard to imagine a more suitable setting for a music school and festival than this restored 15th century de Burgo building.

Canadian-born musician and teacher Robert Creech, who is the driving force behind Summer Music School and Festival, has “been involved in this sort of thing for a half a century”, he explains.

Bob taught at the University of British Columbia and was music director (1970-1985) of the Comox Valley Youth Music Camp on Vancouver Island, which his now in its 40th year.

As a horn player, he performed in orchestras across Canada including Victoria, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Toronto, and the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. He was principal horn with the Vancouver Symphony and performed and recorded widely as a soloist in Canada and the US.

In 1991 Bob became chief executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society in England in 1991, overseeing the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Choir, Philharmonic Hall and Merseyside Youth Orchestra. Since moving to Ireland in the 1980s, he has founded and steered this summer school, fuelled by a desire to let music students and amateur performers experience the best classical music the world can offer – and in a way that allows them to perform.

“I believe in the value of music as an active rather than a passive occupation – for young people to learn how to play and be involved, to give them the passion and to get them to be performers,” he explains.

With this in mind, Bob annually invites performers from the world’s top orchestras to come to Ireland where they teach music to young people and also perform with them. 

“The idea is to bring professionals, students and amateurs together so that young people have an idea of the standard that can be delivered,” Bob explains.

The Summer Music School welcomes musicians of all ages and ability and  has two remits. One is to cater for students who play orchestral instruments, including piano, the other is to nurture those who want to get involved in youth opera theatre.

Events at the annual school include a series of performances “where beginners will sit right beside professionals and there are parts for everybody”, he says.

“We’ve had musicians from 18 of the top orchestras in the world including Berlin, London, Oslo, Montreal and Chicago, because they believe in the ethos of this school.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.