Music Generation Young Ambassadors will perform at the Global Irish Economic Forum this evening!

This evening, Friday 20 November, eight Music Generation Young Ambassadors will perform for attendees and guests at the fourth Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin, organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Commencing the evening’s proceedings, Sligo-born harpist Elsa Kelly will perform for an audience of more than 300 leading Irish and Irish-connected figures from across the globe. A final year music student in University College Dublin, Elsa received the honorary Ad Astra Performing Arts Scholarship in 2014/2015. She has previously played at festivals and concerts in Europe and the United States as a soloist as well as with the group Spraoi. Elsa has performed at distinguished venues including Áras an Uachtaráin, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Leinster House and the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence, and on behalf of Music Generation has performed in both Farmleigh Castle and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Elsa comes from a very musical family and received tuition from harpist and composer, Michael Rooney.

After dinner, seven members of the accomplished contemporary traditional Irish music group Spéirling will join renowned pianist, composer, recording artist and academic Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin to play three sets. They will have the great honour of joining Mícheál on a track from one of his own albums, Oíche Nollaig. The group will then perform the traditional Irish song May Morning Dew, originally sung by Dolores and Sean O’Keane, closing with a set of lively reels.

Spéirling are dynamic young musicians aged between 18 and 21 and hailing from Laois, Offaly, Longford, Cork, Dublin and Achill Island. The group has previously performed as Young Ambassadors for Music Generation Laois during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union in 2013. Spéirling, meaning “Storm”, blend facets of the old tradition of Irish music with modern influences to create a new and exciting sound across a wide range of instruments, including guitar, concertina, fiddle, accordion, tin whistle and bodhrán.

National Director Rosaleen Molloy will be on hand on the night to speak to participants and guests at the Forum about the breadth and scope of the work of Music Generation, and to introduce these extraordinarily talented young musicians.

The 2015 Global Irish Economic Forum takes place from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November, focussing on a number of Government priorities including fostering entrepreneurship, targeting sectors with strong job-creation potential and growing Irish exports in a diverse range of markets. Participants from over 30 countries will be in attendance, together with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan T.D. Regional meetings will be held in Galway, Limerick, Laois and Derry, in addition to sessions and meetings in Dublin Castle and a dinner in the Hogan Suite, Croke Park, where the Music Generation performances will take place.