The 2017 Frank Maher Classical Music Awards have recently been launched and are currently seeking applications.

The Awards, founded by Emmet O’Rafferty of the Top Security Group in memory of his late music teacher, have a top prize of €5,000 – the biggest classical-music award in Ireland for secondary-school students – and are open to sixth-year post-primary students of string, woodwind, brass and piano.

The €5,000 prize will be used by the winner 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. Finalists will each receive a €250 bursary.
 
The 2017 awards were launched by former winner and pianist Máire Carroll, who has since completed her studies at the Royal College of Music, London, and has given performances at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican, St John’s Square with the London Sinfonietta, Leeds International Chamber Music Festival and the National Concert Hall. She also won the Jim McNaughton/TileStyle Artist Bursary, the Royal Dublin Society Music Bursary, the William Finlay Award, and the Maura and Lucien Tessier Bursary.
 
Máire Carroll commented:

Winning the Frank Maher Award in 2009 was a great honour and privilege. I am incredibly grateful to have had that financial support at such a crucial stage in my career. It is a fantastic opportunity for sixth-year students and I would encourage all aspiring professional musicians to enter it.

Another former winner is pianist Aidan Chan. Following his win in the 2016 competition, he was invited to appear in the RDS Rising Stars Gala concert followed by a performance in the International Rising Stars concert at Carnegie Hall. He is now studying at the Royal College of Music in London.  

Founder of the awards Emmet O’Rafferty commented:

I established the Awards to honour the memory of one of my late teachers, Frank Maher, who would have been delighted with the incredible young talent they have attracted over the years, as so ably demonstrated by former winners like Maire Carroll and Aidan Chan. I wish this year’s prospective entrants the very best of luck.

The closing date for the 2017 awards is Thursday 12 October. Seven finalists will be selected by an independent board of adjudicators to attend the competition night on Friday 10 November 2017 at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin to perform in front of an invited audience.

Full full details, including rules and a copy of the application form, visit www.topsecurity.ie.

Download the full brochure below.