Young talent lifts the spirit on a gloomy March day

FOR ANYONE with the time, it would be difficult to find a more uplifting and value-for-money way to spend a day in Dublin than to visit the ESB Feis Ceoil.

For just €5, a recession-weary body can wander from room to room in the RDS Ballsbridge, listen to the talent displayed by participants and be transported.

The celebration of musicians and singers continued yesterday as part of the two-week festival, which began on Monday.

Over 250 individuals and groups entered yesterday’s competitions with pianists, cellists, harpists and vocalists among the many talented young people to display their skills.

Included in the highlights was the Junior Chamber Music Cup for under 17s. Some 11 groups played Haydn, Mozart and Tchaikovsky, with the Cairde Quartet’s rendition of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 18 No 2, Movement IV a light and delicate antidote to a rainy March day.

In the Lansdowne room, the Patricia O’Farrell Cup for under 15 harp players offered escapism to the Ireland of Carolan with competition piece Madam Maxwell. The concentration on the young faces was rewarded with generous rounds of applause.

And for those with a taste for drama, the main concert hall featured a day-long competition for aspiring divas.

The Dramatic Cup, presented to the Feis by the late George W Sleater was on offer along with €5,000 in prize money put up by Margaret Quigley, widow of opera lover the late Tony Quigley.

Some 49 competitors performed arias or scenes from operas, many in costume, to the delight of the small audience. Arias from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Verdi’s Rigoletto, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess were some of the treats for listeners.

Among the competitors was Helen Aiken from Belfast’s Queen’s University who performed Che faro senza Euridice from Gluck’s Orpheo et Euridice. Dressed for the part, and despite never having rehearsed with her accompanist Maireád Hurley, the 20-year-old seemed to impress the adjudicator who could not prevent himself from occasionally conducting her.

Afterwards, Ms Aiken, who is studying for a bachelor in music at the Belfast college, said the competition was “nerve-racking but brilliant”.

The final of the Dramatic Cup will be held on Saturday evening in the RDS Concert Hall at 7.30pm.

Among treats in today’s events will be the Bradbury Cup, which promises performances of Down by the Salley Gardens and She moved through the fair.

And the Junior Vocal Recital for 14 to 18 year olds includes some musical favourites such as I could have danced all night, from My Fair Lady, I feel pretty from Westside Story and As long as he needs me, from Oliver.

Some 2,000 musicians and singers from all over Ireland will have taken part in the event by finish date, March 26th.

ESB Feis Ceoil Results

Family Ensemble 1st: Quaid Quartet, Co Wexford.

Nancy Calthorpe Memorial Prize 1st: Mairéad Duffy, Co Tyrone C: Alice Martin, Co Meath.

Corn Uí Chearbhalláin 1st: Aedin Poole, Co Meath.

Terry O’Connor Trophy 1st: David Tobin, Dublin. 2nd: Phoebe White, Dublin. VHC: Claire Austen, Dublin. VHC: Isobel Howard-Cordone, Dublin. VHC: Mairead Hickey, Cork. HC: Christopher Ellis, Dublin. C: William Ormiston Doyle, Dublin. C: James O’Doherty, Dublin.

Junior Violin (A) 1st: Rebecca McCarthy-Kent, Co Waterford. 2nd: James O’Doherty, Dublin. HC: Colma Ni Bhriain, Dublin. HC: Dervla Malone, Dublin. HC: Emma Masterson, Co. Down. HC: Abbie McDonagh, Dublin. HC: Anna Livia Kimura, Dublin.

Junior Violoncello (A) 1st: Rory White, Dublin. 2nd: Caitriona Finnegan, Dublin.

An Chruit (A) 1st: Fiona Gryson, Co Meath. 2nd: Oisín Walsh-Peelo, Co Wicklow. VHC: Siofra N Dhubhghaill, Co Wexford. HC: Niamh Nic Uileagoid, Dublin. HC: Aisling Quaid, Co Wexford.

McCullough Cup 1st: Aoife Mc Cambridge, Dublin. VHC: Naoise O Briain, Dublin.

Senior Clarinet 1st: Lynda Norris, Dublin. 2nd: Christopher Moriarty-Pearson, Co. Kildare VHC: Seamus Wylie, Dublin.

Junior Saxophone 1st: Billy Griffin, Dublin. 2nd: Louise Conway, Dublin.

Nordell Cup 1st: Nadene Fiorentini, Greencastle, Co Donegal. VHC: Darragh Brogan, Kilmacud, Dublin 14. VHC: Rory Dowse, Lisburn, Co Antrim. VHC: Stephanie Abe, Maynooth, Co Kildare. HC: Jennifer Abe, Maynooth, Co Kildare. C: David O’Shea, Milltown Road, Dublin 6. C: Katerine Speranskaya, Ashbourne, Co Meath. C: Marcel Vigh, Kilmainham, Dublin 8. C: Maria Greenan, Coothill, Co Cavan.

THURSDAY MORNING

Junior Classical Guitar (A) 1st: Rafino Murphy, Stepaside, Dublin 18. HC: Kevin Clancy, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. C: Marc Blennerhassett, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.

Junior Classical Guitar (C) 1st: Liam McManus, Malahide, Co Dublin. 2nd: Alexander Gillett, Dartmouth Square, Dublin 6. VHC: Lorcan Macken, Greystones, Co Wicklow. VHC: Oilbhe Nathan, Raheny, Dublin 5. HC: Eoghan Brennan Doody, Sutton, Dublin 13. HC: Gearoid Lynch, Firhouse, Dublin 24. HC: Patrick Duffy. Sandymount, Dublin 4.

Junior Classical Guitar (B) 1st: Caoilfhionn Ni Choileain, Ballinlough, Cork. 2nd: David McDonald, Knocklyon, Dublin 16. VHC: Kevin McDonnell, Ringsend, Dublin.

Esposito Cup 1st: Sean Og Boylan, Dunboyne, Co Meath HC: Cahal Masterson, Banbridge, Co Down.

Senior Pianoforte Solo 1st: Anna Callanan, Dunmore Upper. 2nd: Jennifer Abe, Maynooth, Co Kildare. HC: Darragh Brogan, Upr Kilmacud Road. HC: Jack Hurley, Sandymount, Dublin. C: Fern Bartley, Ballybough, Dublin.

Senior Recorder – Descant 1st: Sandra Collins, Dunboyne, Co. Meath. 2nd: Fionnuala MacMahon, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. C: Caoimhe de Paor, Ballykeeffe, Limerick.

Senior Recorder – Treble 1st: Caoimhe de Paor, Ballykeeffe, Limerick C: Sandra Collins, Dunboyne, Co Meath.