A special transatlantic event will take place in Ennis on Friday, July 31st when young musicians from Clare and St Louis, Missouri come together to perform a specially arranged piece of music to mark the links between Ireland and the USA as part of the America 250 programme.
The concert will place in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis at 7pm.
Clare Arts Officer, Siobhán Mulcahy, said, “Many people associate Shannon Airport with transatlantic travel to America and a large number of Irish people made St Louis, Missouri their home. What’s not so widely known is that the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh came from St Louis.
“He was the first aviator to succeed in a solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in his famous aeroplane, ‘Spirit of St Louis’. He later went on to be a consultant to the Irish government in building a transatlantic airport. He chose Rineanna, Co Clare as the site for the ‘Shannon Airport’ in 1934.”
Over the last number of years, the cultural links with St Louis have expanded with schools from Clare attending the International Robotics Showdown in St Louis earlier this year as well as strong musical links. For the last two years, St Louis Irish Arts Centre has hosted groups of talented teenagers from Music Generation Clare, where they have shared traditional music skills with their American counterparts.
This year, Music Generation Clare are delighted to welcome learners from St Louis Irish Arts (SLIA) Centre to Clare for the first time and they will attend the Folk Front Festival happening at the end of July in Ennis.
This summer the young people have worked together on Across the Atlantic.
Pádraig Rynne, Music Development Officer with Music Generation Clare, said, “Across the Atlantic is much more than a new musical work. It celebrates the enduring connection between Clare and St Louis through the creativity and talent of young musicians. Bringing together young people from both communities to perform a newly commissioned piece is a powerful way to mark America250 while creating something that will have a lasting legacy beyond the commemorations.”
A special arrangement of music by Rebecca McCarthy Kent, inspired by the historic and cultural connections between Clare and the United States, will be performed at the FolkFront Festival Concert, featuring music by Pádraig Rynne.
The America250 commemorative programme marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It acknowledges the key Irish connection to that historic moment and was developed using the key pillars of commemorations – historical exploration, artistic and creative expression and community-led commemoration.
America250 is coordinated by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and delivered using a partnership approach including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, the Irish Traditional Music Archives, the National Library of Ireland, local authority network, the Clinton Institute, UCD and the Department of the Taoiseach through the Shared Island Initiative.