Ukrainian ambassador to attend Drumshanbo fundraising concert

Blended Sounds: A Concert Presented by The Drumshanbo Traditional Irish Music Course & The Ukrainian Community of Drumshanbo will take place in The Mayflower, Drumshanbo on Saturday December 3rd at 8pm. All proceeds will be donated to the local branch of St Vincent de Paul, with donations accepted on the door. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

Gerasko Larysa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Ireland, will honour the concert with her attendance.   The Ambassador will also visit the Lough Allen Hotel, to meet community representatives and some of its 280 Ukrainian residents. On hearing that the ambassador had accepted their invitation, Viktoria Polianska, Creative Director, stated “we are honoured that the ambassador will be visiting Drumshanbo and seeing with her own eyes how the Irish and Ukrainian communities have come together through music”.

After a hugely successful appeal for musical instruments, spearheaded by local musicians George Eggleston and Celia Briar, tin-whistles, violins, guitars, drums and two pianos were generously donated from across county Leitrim and beyond.  The once-quiet rooms of the hotel were filled with the sounds of piano, guitar and violin - lighting a musical spark with the Ukrainian community, and inspiring them to share their native music with the people of Leitrim. The Ukrainian community of Drumshanbo formed two groups – one group of talented teenagers led by their music teacher, creative director, and accomplished classical pianist Viktoria Polianska; the other ‘Malva’, a choir led by their musical director Oksana Berezovska, and named after the Malva flower, a Ukrainian symbol of love for the motherland, for its people, and for a family house.  

The performances of the groups have already proved hugely popular, performing on Defender of Ukraine Day in the Lough Allen Hotel, and on Culture Night in the Island Theatre Ballinamore with special guest Charlie McGettigan.  Both concerts proved to be wonderful, emotional and uplifting for all who attended. They have now teamed up with Drumshanbo’s Traditional Irish Music Course to host a night of traditional Irish and Ukrainian music and song, as well as universally festive Christmas carols in the Mayflower on December 3rd.  Oksana Berezovska, Musical Director of the Malva choir expressed her excitement at collaborating with the Traditional Music Course: “we are very pleased to have united to hold a Ukrainian-Irish evening to share the traditional music of our peoples and feel the spirit of coming Christmas holidays”.  

The Drumshanbo Traditional Irish Music course was established in 1997 and is the only course of its kind in the country, providing an introduction to the traditional arts at QQI Level 5. Students study modules in Irish Music, Music Theory, Music Performance, Event Production, Sound Engineering, Music Technology, Music Industry Studies, Work Experience and Communications. Students are encouraged to learn an instrument of their choice and to practice every day, a core element of the course being the transmission of Irish music in the traditional manner - by ear.

Well-known for their annual charity concert, where students showcase the tunes, songs and dances that they have been working on throughout the year, the students of the Drumshanbo Traditional Music Course are delighted to come together with their fellow Ukrainian singers and musicians, in what promises to be a night of shared music and song not to be missed.