*Update 1 November 2021*
Stan O’Beirne is the winner of the Top Security Frank Maher inter-school national music competition 2021. He, along with the five other finalists, was selected from across Ireland to perform live in the final on Friday 29 October in The Mill Theatre, Dundrum. Stan receives a €5000 bursary towards his music studies.
Congratulations to pianist Stan O’Beirne (6C) who has been selected as one of the finalists for the Top Security Frank Maher Music Awards 2021. The invitation-only final will take place on Friday 29 October in The Mill Theatre, Dundrum. Stan, and all the other five competitors, will perform a ten minute programme each. They must perform two pieces of classical music. Stan will perform Chopin’s Ballade No.2, Opus 38 in F major, and Rachmaninoff’s Musical Moment No.4, Opus 16, in E minor.
The Top Security Frank Maher Classical Music Awards is Ireland’s largest solo music competition for secondary schools. The competition is open to sixth year students attending any Post Primary school nationwide. Applicants must submit a CD recording of one piece of music, and a detailed CV of their musical experience. From the applications received an independent Board of Adjudicators decide and select the finalists to attend. The winner receives a bursary of €5,000, with the rest of the finalists receiving a bursary of €300 each.
The awards were established in 2001 and are sponsored by the Top Security Group to honour the late teacher at Castleknock College from 1959-1998. From the outset, exceptional and highly talented young musicians have performed each year to invited audiences in a bid to win this award. The aim of the awards is to promote musical life, assist cultural exchange and promote young and talented musicians.
Past winners have used their bursary to attend many of the world’s most renowned music Academies such as Julliard School New York, Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, Royal College of Music in London, Shenandoah University, Virginia, U.S.A., Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Musique et de Danse Paris, Kronberg Academy Germany, Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, Texas, RAM London to name but a few.
Thanks to Ms Dunne and Ms Reid for the photos.