Budding and blooming Longford ukulele players perform live at Rose Cottage, Ballinalee
Music Generation Longford: 'It's been amazing to watch how each person has progressed to performing songs'
An intergenerational musical evening hosted in Ballinalee has given a number of young musicians a taste of live performance.
The Music Generation Longford concert in Rose Cottage was a blend of budding and blooming ukulele players.
Resource Worker with Music Generation Longford, Rachel Berry, explained the background to the event: “The Music Generation Longford Ballinalee Intergenerational Ukulele Collective started eight weeks ago.
“This all-ages group has members from age six to eighty-four, some of whom have been involved in our ukulele programme since September, and some who have never held a ukulele before.”
Over the eight weeks Music Generation Longford worked with participants learning chords and songs for the performance:
“When Rose Cottage Café opened, we thought it would be an amazing opportunity for our community ukulele group to perform in this new community café,” Rachel said.
The location was perfect for the first outing: “The staff at Rose Cottage were so accommodating and couldn’t have done more for us. A special thanks also to local Ukulele Group The Sneaky Tequilas who performed with us.
“Ukulele is a fun, community instrument and it's been amazing to watch how each person has progressed to performing songs, and making friends along the way. It’s been a lot of fun and everyone should be so proud of themselves,” the Music Generation Longford Resource Worker said.
This is not the end of the initiative: “We will be opening registration to continue the Ballinalee Intergenerational Ukulele Collective in September and we’re welcoming new members to join. If anyone wants information please email [email protected],” Rachel told the Leader.
Music Generation Longford is managed by Longford Local Music Education Partnership, led by Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board in partnership with Longford County Council.