New Roscommon traditional music school to open

A new music school is set to open in the county next week.

The Roscommon traditional music school will be based in Kilteevan Community Centre and its founder is Ash O’Rourke, who lives in Four Roads. Among its subjects are fiddle, guitar, flute, accordion, and speech and drama.

An experienced musician and teacher of a range of instruments including the uilleann pipes and tenor banjo, Ash is excited to begin teaching at the school, which is set to open on Tuesday September 10th, and he hopes that it will form the hub of a new musical community.

“I started playing music when I was six, I started doing violin lessons when I was in school. Then at 13 I picked up the bass guitar,” he explained.

Ash became a professional musician at the age of 19, becoming a member of a signed band.

“I started touring and cut a few albums,” he added. He also worked as a tour manager for another band, ‘Nine Below Zero’, a blues group.

“They had members of the Rory Gallagher band, Mark Feltham on harmonica, Brendan O’Neil was the drummer and Gerry McAvoy on bass. I was Gerry’s bass technician for ten years,” said Ash.

The band toured all over Europe and Ash recalls the experience with fondness and gratitude.

“It was a really good way to come up,” he said. “I learned a lot from them.” He explains that while he was living in Brighton, he began playing in an Irish trad band.

“It was a new style of music for me and I got really invested in the tunes.” This led him to learn the tenor banjo and the iconic Uilleann pipes.

“I started my own session group in Brighton and I started teaching people tunes,” said Ash. “I moved to Ireland about ten years ago and I was teaching in Derry and in Belfast. Then when I moved down to Clare I carried on teaching. I just have always taught.” A firm believer in the benefits of learning music, he is adamant that anybody can learn an instrument.

“I even see it with my own son, he has learned focus and patience from practising music,” he said. “People can learn confidence from performing. For children you are giving them something they will retain for the rest of their lives. You can go to any country in the world and walk into a session, and you make friends immediately.” Over the past couple of weeks, Ash has been interviewing music teachers and has gathered a number of experienced and dedicated people for the school, all of whom are Garda vetted.

“Kilteevan is a beautiful venue, it’s gorgeous. I think that kids should get a chance to perform so I want to run gigs and events in the hall at least every couple of months,” he said, adding that the school’s three terms would follow the terms of primary and secondary schools.

“And then at the end of every term, we will do a performance. It’s good for the kids and parents. And that’s just for starters, from there we want to form a trad orchestra, a céilí band and a choir. We have a brilliant sean nós singer, Margaret Kilcoyne, who teaches in the Galway tradition. We have an All Ireland Champion piano accordion player, Fiona Sirr.

“Another incredible musician has just joined the team, Junior Davey, the bodhran player from Sligo, and we also have teachers for harp, button accordion, and concertina. We have every instrument in the tradition covered and a few others. There will absolutely be a Christmas concert. But the most important thing is building up a community in the county around music for kids and adults, he said.

Lessons at the school will be one to one and last 30 minutes. The fee will be paid by term, which equates to ten lessons. Ash hopes that the school will perform around the county and compete in local and national fleadhs.

“We have a few teachers that are All Ireland champions. However, while entering competitions is something we will offer, it is not our main focus. The focus will be on instilling a love of the music and the instrument. Comhaltas does have a grading system and we will be encouraging people to go through the exams. I think that’s important. There’s a huge sense of achievement when you get your certificates.” In terms of instruments, Ash has asked that anyone with instruments they are not using donate them to the school, giving them a new life with new learners. He is also opening a new online business, the Roscommon Music Shop, ahead of the launch of the school, and is exploring an instrument rental scheme.

To keep up with news about the school, please see the Roscommon Traditional Music School Facebook page or contact Ash on 085 163 2860 or traditionalmusicschool@gmail.com.