Connacht Tribune
Orchestra turns teen energy into creativity
Lifestyle – Judy Murphy talks to German-born Katharina Baker who has hit right note with 200 young people in South Galway
When I started the school, it wasn’t just about lessons and exams. I wanted a community of musicians. I’m not interested in exams, I’m interested in people having skills for life and in music.”
The aims of German-born Katharina Baker are being fulfilled in Gort Community School on a Saturday morning where some 40 teenagers from the Coole Music Youth Orchestra are rehearsing for the annual Coole Music Orchestra Festival, which takes place next Saturday, March 11, in Gort Community Centre.
Several members of this orchestra had just finished their Mock Leaving Certs the day before, but not one of them had opted for a lie-in instead of practice.
The teenagers are dressed simply in black, and all wear monogrammed shirts, bearing the Coole Music logo.
The atmosphere is business-like, but it’s fun too – the place is buzzing with teenage energy.
Coole Music has 200 students of all ages and levels – and the 40-strong Youth Orchestra is the most senior of its six orchestras, which accommodate all ages from young children right up to Leaving Cert.
The various orchestras rehearse on different days – for the Youth Orchestra it’s a Saturday.
Members kick off with theory classes at 9am, then the different sections split for rehearsals before regrouping for the final practice of the day under the baton of Katharina. They finish at 1.30pm.
“If we do it properly, we do it properly”, says the conductor, as she encourages each section to take responsibility for its own contribution.
The young musicians sit forward in their chairs, backs straight as they focus on the sheets in front of them.
Katharina conducts, listening to every note, making suggestions and giving praise when it’s deserved. She’s a born leader and it’s clear that all in the Youth Orchestra have huge regard for her.
Katharina, who now lives in Ardrahan, grew up in a church community in Germany which had a strong focus on co-operation. And while her relationship with the church isn’t important anymore, she’s still a big believer in community.
“You can create something so incredible with a group of musicians that nobody can do by themselves. That’s a metaphor for life too.”
Katharina joined her first orchestra in Germany aged 10, and recalls “an arc of progress” which allowed committed musicians to progress to regional and national youth orchestras and string quartets.
That’s the ethos she has brought to Coole Music, which is ‘dedicated to joyful, creative and supportive music-making’, according to its mission statement.
“Some people do take exams but our path of progress is through the orchestras – you can audition for the next orchestra if you are at a certain level,” she explains. “Exams are only important if you have no other way of measuring progress. An exam can benefit and focus a student and we do support it, but it’s not a necessity.”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
