Music students throughout Dublin will want to tune in to Anna Livia radio station from tomorrow evening and over the coming weeks to hear a new series designed especially for them. Entitled A Class of Music, the series of 26 programmes will be broadcast at 6 p.m. each evening as a resource for music students and teachers in second-level schools. It will focus in particular on world music, contemporary classical music and traditional Irish music. Guest teachers will provide short analyses and extracts from the list of prescribed works at Junior and Leaving Cert level. Arthur Sealy, a teacher of the Junior and Leaving Cert syllabus in Dublin, will produce and present the series.
The station, broadcasting on 103.2 FM, also wants to make contact with Transition Year music students, who are interested in getting involved in the production and engineering of these programmes. The production team for the series, which is being sponsored by the Leinster School of Music at Griffith College, Dublin, can be contacted at (01) 473 4444 or fax (01) 473 4445.
Here's another musical titbit for eager students who want to listen, learn and relax. A new chamber opera for four singers and seven instruments will be visiting a venue near you shortly as the Opera Theatre Company plans to tour with funding from the Arts Council. Throughout the month of October the company will perform The Wall of Cloud, an especially commissioned piece based on an eight century Chinese play about love, loss, frenzy and a return to love. The opera will play in Longford, Dublin, Belfast, Kilkenny and Wexford. For more information contact the Opera Theatre Company in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, at (01) 679 4962 or fax (01) 679 4963.
It is hoped that families and young people will visit museums in 11 centres, north and south of the Border, during the first weekend of October to learn and have fun. In Co Down, the centres taking part include Castle Espie in Comber, Crawfordsburn Country Park, Scrabo Country Park in Newtownards and Down County Museum in Downpatrick. In Co Tyrone they include the Ulster History Park and the Ulster American Folk Park, both near Omagh. In Dublin the National Gallery of Ireland will be participating and in Co Roscommon King House in Boyle is involved. The Ulster Museum in Belfast and the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum in Co Antrim will also be running events.
There will be quizzes, tours, talks, debates and activity trails. There will be art and craft workshops and trips to wildlife and conservation areas. Called the Family Learning Initiative, this is part of a growing commitment to life-long learning. It is funded by a range of organisations and companies. The events are being overseen by Gemini, the group promoting education in museums in Northern Ireland, which is based at The Mall, Downpatrick, Co Down at e-mail museum@downdc.gov.uk
A new booklet crammed with useful information is now available to students who are preparing for life at third level. Those who expect to start third level in the near future can get a copy from Co Roscommon's Youth Service and Ossory Youth, free of charge. Flying the Coop is packed with information on the costs of going to college, on student banking and details of student deals that are available, with information on grants, accommodation, healthcare and other general details, as well as useful contact addresses.
There are helpful tips for students on accommodation, with a strong emphasis on tenants' rights. It lists students' rights and entitlements. It is particularly aimed at those who are leaving home for the first time. It also has a list of youth information centres, where the booklet is available. For more information contact Roscommon YIC at (0903) 253 95 or Kilkenny YIC at (056) 61200.
