Music Network has today announced the recipients of its newest Music Capital Scheme Award, a string instrument loan scheme supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. The scheme provides exceptional emerging classical players with access to quality instruments from the Music Network National Instrument Collection and the inaugural awardees are Evan Lawrence, Anna Mitchell, Kate O’Shea, Eve Quigley and Aoibhín Keogh Daly.
A primary barrier for high calibre classical musicians in fulfilling their artistic and career potential is the lack of access to a suitable standard instrument. This new strand of the Music Capital Scheme is designed to address the unique challenges faced by emerging professional classical string players in particular. Each awardee will receive a three year loan of a fine instrument and where necessary, a grant of up to €5,000 towards the purchase of a new bow, which they will retain after the loan period.
The five instruments awarded in this inaugural round are:
- A violin by Gand & Bernardel Frères (1880), awarded to Evan Lawrence, an Irish violinist who studied with Krysia Osostowicz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is due to graduate later this year. A passionate chamber musician, Evan performs with the Florens String Quartet under the mentorship of Levon Chilingirian.
- A violin by Stephan von Baehr (2007), awarded to Anna Mitchell, a Dublin-born violinist currently based in London, where she is a member of the Southbank Sinfonia and a founding member of the Millbank Quartet. Anna is a former Ad Astra Scholar at UCD and a 2023 University Concert Hall Limerick Rising Star.
- A violin by Alexandre Valois (2024), awarded to Kate O’Shea, an Irish violinist and passionate chamber musician. Kate has performed across Europe, including at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and was a 2023 finalist in the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year.
- A viola by Charles John Wilkinson (1930), awarded to Eve Quigley, an Irish violist who has just completed her BMus at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Matthew Jones. A prize winning soloist, Eve won the 2022 Senior Viola Cup at Feis Ceoil and was a finalist in the 2024 Max and Peggy Viola Prize.
- The O’Neill Cello & Bow by Conor Russell (cello, 2015) and Robert Pierce (bow, 2016) respectively, awarded to Aoibhín Keogh Daly, an Irish cellist and recent graduate from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, studying with Jan Ype Nota and Michel Strauss. Aoibhín became the youngest ever winner of the Trench Bursary in 2021 and has performed at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival.
Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O'Donovan said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to establish this wonderful new resource, which will support exceptional emerging classical string players at a crucial point in their careers. The Music Network National Instrument Collection marks a significant expansion to the Music Capital Scheme thanks to record investment across five different award strands in 2024. These new awards announced today are a positive step towards ensuring that our most talented graduates are well equipped to embark on a successful performance career and will benefit future generations of Irish musicians to come. I would like to thank Music Network for the outstanding work they do in supporting music making and live performance across Ireland.”
Established in 2008, the Music Capital Scheme is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and managed by Music Network. Since it was established the scheme has made 652 awards to individual musicians and organisations, providing access to instruments for over 59,000 people across the country. 227 performing groups have been able to purchase instruments and expand their memberships, and 258 professional established and emerging musicians have advanced their performance careers with new instruments enabled by the scheme. Even more musicians have been supported in the most recent round, with the introduction of this new award among other enhancements to the scheme
Music Network CEO Sharon Rollston commented: “We would like to express our deep gratitude to the Department of Culture, Communications & Sport for its ongoing commitment to providing vital funding for musical instruments to both groups and individual musicians working in any genre. This investment is having a transformative effect on Ireland’s musical landscape, in so many different settings.
We have been able to expand the scheme significantly to meet a wider range of access needs across the music sector, and are particularly excited about the opportunity the funding has provided to establish this new instrument loan scheme, which provides practical support at a crucial time for early career classical musicians. Lack of access to an appropriate standard instrument can be an insurmountable obstacle to establishing a performance career, and we believe this scheme will be a game changer, allowing some of our most promising musicians to truly shine.’’
