Limerick secondary school student named finalist in classical music awards
Oluwalonimi was one of only six finalists at the competition night on Friday, October 23 in the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin
PIANIST Oluwalonimi Adegbola was a finalist at the 2026 TopSec Frank Maher Classical Music Awards, Ireland’s largest classical music competition for secondary schools.
A sixth-year student at Colaiste Ide agus Iosef in Abbeyfeale, Limerick, Oluwalonimi was one of only six finalists at the competition night on Friday, October 23, at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin.
Lyric FM presenter Marty Whelan was master of ceremonies for the evening of outstanding teen talent, at which Oluwalonimi performed two pieces: Romance, Op. 21, No.5 by composer Sergei Rachmaninov and Prelude “La fille aux cheveux de lin’ by composer Claude Debussy.
The awards - which celebrated their 25th anniversary this year - were created in 2001 by Top Security chairman Emmet O’Rafferty to honour the memory of his late teacher, Fr Frank Maher, who taught music at Castleknock College in Dublin.
The chairman said it was a “great pleasure” to celebrate the anniversary and to “experience the extraordinary standard of young musical talent coming through Irish schools”.
“My congratulations to Oluwalonimi and all our finalists who took part in the competition night and over the past 25 years, it has been hugely rewarding to see how the awards have helped young musicians pursue their ambitions. I look forward to seeing what the next generation will achieve,” Mr O’Rafferty continued.
The awards aim to showcase exceptional young musical talent in Irish schools and are open to sixth-year post-primary students of strings, woodwind, brass, and piano.
The €5,000 top prize, won this year by violinist Iona Wu from Wesley College Dublin, must be used to attend a recognised place of tuition, a course of study in Ireland or abroad or on a purchase necessary for the development of their talent.
Trombonist Yannick Daly Trillaud from Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Cork came second, and violinist Kitty Sabry from Seamount College in Galway secured the third-place spot.
Last year’s winner, cellist Adam Joyce from Castleknock Community College in Dublin, gave a guest performance on the night.
Previous winners have used the prize to further their studies at prestigious institutions that include the Juilliard School, New York, MUK Vienna, Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HfMT) Hamburg and the Royal College of Music in the UK.
Oluwalonimi and the other finalists - Yannick Daly Trillaud (trombone), Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Cork, Kitty Sabry, Seamount College, Galway (violin), Aran Cahalan from Wilson’s Hospital School, Westmeath (flute) and Ruby Creighton-Kowalsky from Newpark Comprehensive School, Dublin (violin) - each received a €300 bursary.
The judging panel consisted of Dr Gerard Gillen, emeritus professor of music at NUI Maynooth, international classical pianist Veronica McSwiney and international violist Wolfgang Klos, professor of viola at the University of Music and the Performing Arts, Vienna.