Siamsa Tire in association with the Kerry Diocesan Youth Services (KDYS) in Listowel has launched a new project to establish a Kerry Youth Trad Ensemble with funding from the Arts Council’s Young Ensemble Scheme. The project is being spear-headed by Tom Hanafin (musical director with Siamsa Tíre), Daithí Kearney and Gareth Hardeveld (of KDYS), and will aim to prepare young musicians for potential careers in music.

The project leaders are working with a group of young musicians from the Listowel area as well as a group of young musicians currently under the tutelage of the Siamsa Tíre training academies. Sessions with the Listowel participants have been taking place in Teach Siamsa in Finuge which has recently been refurbished on the strength of funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht (allocated in 2007), the local community in Finuge and Siamsa Tíre in Tralee.

Both groups of young musicians joined together on Saturday, 11 August in Teach Siamsa na Carraige in West Kerry for a day of team building and rehearsal. The group will make their debut performance in Teach Siamsa in Finuge on Wednesday, 29 August at 8pm where they will present a taste of experimental work from the early stages of their musical journey. The concert will also feature the launch of Midleton Rare, a new album by musicians Daithí Kearney and John Cronin. The young musicians’ journey will culminate in a performance in Siamsa Tíre, Tralee in March 2013.

Tickets for the performance at Teach Siamsa Finuge on the 29th are €6 and are limited, but can be booked at the Siamsa Tíre Box Office (066) 7123055.