It may not be the Twelfth Night but the musicians will ‘play on’ in Clongowes next Saturday (March 1st) at 19.30, when we host a most unusual concert, which will demonstrate on a large scale how music brings people together. We have not applied for a place in the next Guinness Book Of Records, but we must be close to seeing and hearing the largest orchestra which has ever performed inIreland. The musicians (whose ages span seven decades), playing as one ensemble, will gather from Clongowes, Dublin City and County and Madrid.
St Agnes’ School Violin & Orchestra Project (conductor, Terence Clancy), was established in 2006 to provide an opportunity to play a string instrument and to play in an orchestra at no 
cost to parents for tuition and instruments. Students from Clongowes have volunteered for several years at the annual summer camp in St Agnes’ Primary School, and have also spent time in Transition Year doing work experience and community service in the project in Crumlin.
St Agnes’ Parents String Orchestra (conductor, Eimear O’Grady) formed in 2010 as parents and grandparents wanted to learn as well and they teamed up with the Sounds 
Ensemble in 2011. When one member of the Parents String Orchestra relocated to Madrid she began to bring musical friends together from Madrid and Dublin as a result of which, Orquesta Crescendo de Tres Cantos (conductor, Raul Sanchez), an ensemble from a music school in Madrid will also be involved on Saturday.
These three ensembles will join with the Clongowes Wood College Orchestra (conductor, Philip
Thomas) in a programme, which will include well known works by Handel, Beethoven, Puccini, and Tchaikovsky as well as a suite of Irish traditional tunes. The programme will conclude with an arrangement of Wagner’s ‘Overture to Rienzi’, a real challenge for the musicians.
This vast intergenerational ensemble illustrates in a marvellous way how music can enrich our lives at any age and that it is never too early or too late to start learning an instrument!
ADMISSION TO THE CONCERT IS FREE
Proceeds from the raffle will go to Habitat for Humanity in Vietnam.
Further information:
Philip Thomas pthomas@clongowes.net
Website www.stagnesmusiccrumlin.com
