Between 11 June and 27 August 2025, participants will receive eight one-to-one instrumental lessons with the relevant musician, in addition to three group lessons with others playing the same instrument. The project will conclude with three large ensemble sessions, where all participants will join together with the professional musicians to play the music learned during the project. As well as playing together, the participants will enjoy three informal coffee sessions which will include chats on wide-ranging musical topics.

Please note, participants must be available on all of the dates listed.

Places are limited to 15. Priority will be given on a first come first served basis, however additional criteria that will be taken into account for selection include availability of teaching slots, geographical spread throughout the county, availability of instruments, playing experience and ability to partake in the full programme.

Project Dates (June - August 2025):

*For individual instrumental lessons 1-8, participants will each be allocated a 40 minute slot within the time frames set out below. Introductory session, group lessons, coffee sessions and ensemble sessions involve all participants for the full duration.

All events will take place at glór, Causeway Link, Ennis, Co. Clare V95 VHP0

Wednesday 11th Jun, 10am -11am - Introductory Session (everyone together)
Wednesday 11th Jun, 11am - 3pm, Individual lesson 1
Wednesday 18th Jun, 10am - 3pm - Individual lesson 2
Wednesday 25th Jun, 10am - 3pm - Individual lesson 3
Wednesday 2nd Jul, 10am – 11.30am - Group lesson 1 (everyone in their tutor groups)
Wednesday 2nd Jul, 11.30am -1pm - Coffee session 1 (everyone together)
Wednesday 9th Jul, 10am - 5.30pm - Individual lesson 4 (accordion/concertina lessons happening in the afternoon only)
Wednesday 16th Jul, 10am - 3pm - Individual lesson 5
Tuesday 22nd Jul, 10am - 3pm - Individual lesson 6
Wednesday 23rd Jul, 10am - 11.30am - Group lesson 2 (everyone in their tutor groups)
Wednesday 23rd Jul, 11.30am - 1pm - Coffee session 2 (everyone together)
Wednesday 30th Jul, 10am – 3pm - Individual lesson 7 (accordion / concertina / guitar / bouzouki / mandolin / banjo)
Tuesday 5th Aug, 10am - 3pm - Individual lesson 8 (Lesson 7 for fiddles)
Wednesday 6th Aug, 10am -11.30am - Group lesson 3 (everyone in their tutor groups)
Wednesday 6th Aug, 11.30am - 1pm - Coffee session 3 (everyone together)
Tuesday 12th Aug, 10am - 3pm - Fiddle lesson 8
Wednesday 13th Aug, 10am - 1pm - Ensemble Session 1 (everyone)
Wednesday 20th Aug, 10am - 1pm - Ensemble Session 2 (everyone)
Wednesday 27th Aug, 10am - 1pm - Ensemble Session 3 (everyone)

*Please note, dates may be subject to change, with the agreement of artists and participants

Maeve Donnelly is an internationally acclaimed Irish fiddle player hailing from East Galway. Maeve started learning the fiddle from a young age, and grew up immersed in the region’s rich musical heritage. She now lives in County Clare.

Maeve won the prestigious All-Ireland Fiddle Competition when she was only 9 years old. Her early success and passion for Irish music led her to win two more All-Ireland fiddle titles, and the Stone Fiddle Competition in County Fermanagh. Maeve was the youngest member of the American Bicentennial group that toured the U.S. in 1976.

Maeve has recorded several critically acclaimed studio recordings, including her solo album Maeve Donnelly, The Flame on the Banks with Tony McManus, and The Thing Itself with Peadar O’Loughlin and Geraldine Cotter. She has performed extensively and recorded and toured with various groups over the years, including the group Moving Cloud.

Maeve is highly respected and sought after as a teacher. She has taught workshops and masterclasses worldwide, including the Willie Clancy Summer School, Catskills Irish Arts Week, Swannanoa Gathering and Scoil Acla.

Josephine Marsh is an accordion player/multi-instrumentalist and award-winning composer.  She released her first album with Cyril O' Donoghue in 1990 and since then has gone on to record three more albums: Josephine Marsh, I Can Hear You Smiling (with The Josephine Marsh Band), and her latest release in 2018, Music in the Frame.

In 2020, Josephine was honoured with the prestigious TG4 Gradam Ceoil Composer of the Year award. Last year she published her book, 111 Original Irish Music Compositions, and in April this year she was invited to perform at glór, Ennis with the Clare Youth Trad Orchestra under the direction of Padraic O Reilly.

Josephine has been commissioned to compose music for RTE radio and ITMA, TG4, and Music Network. Josephine's music has featured on many albums over the years with artists such as Mick Hanly, Niamh Parsons, Sean Tyrrell, Gerry Lynch, Sean Garvey and Tim Flannery.

Josephine has been a resident teacher at the Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy for over 30 years and encourages children to compose a tune each year as part of their learning.

Musician and radio presenter Eoin O’Neill has been steeped in the music of County Clare for many years. Eoin arrived in Doolin in time for the wild eighties and nineties, where he learned his craft. Since then, he has spent decades accompanying and playing with traditional musicians such as Sharon Shannon, Mary Custy, Terry Bingham, Martin Hayes, Christy Moore, Conor Byrne and Luka Bloom, and has featured on over a hundred CDs with his unique style of bouzouki playing. He is famous for his informal music sessions and classes in many venues throughout the county. Today he performs almost nightly as a member of North Clare band The Fiddle Case, and as a collaborator with singer Clara Buteler.

In his capacity as a presenter of shows on Clare FM, he promotes and encourages local and well-known musicians in equal manner. His most recent project has seen him emerge as a songwriter, and his songs are being performed in sessions and concerts around the world.