Instrumental Music...
Instrumental performance and studies are central to the activities of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.
The focus of instrumental practice is within the MA Classical String Performance, MA Irish Traditional Music Performance, and the BA Irish Music and Dance – the last two encompassing the entire range of instrumental practice in the context of contemporary traditional Irish music practice.
This, however, is not exclusive and instrumental performance and its study has a role in all of the programmes at the Irish World Academy. A prominent manifestation of this is in the context of the postgraduate Elective system where many students choose to engage instrumental study – this can be in instruments they have previous experience of or are completely new to. Many students engage in classes on classical and traditional instruments but students sometimes look to contemporary and other world music instrumental practices in the course of the Electives.
Instrumental skills are also vital to many of the so-called non-performance programmes on offer at the Irish World Academy. For example, in the MA in Music Therapy, students attend weekly classes where they learn improvisation techniques for piano, specifically being able to improvise in a range of tonalities. Students of this programme also learn accompaniment skills on keyboard and guitar and develop proficiency in playing arranged and improvised music on tuned and untuned percussion instruments.
In short, programmes at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance always have a space for the development of instrumental technique and musicianship at every level and in as many practices as we can facilitate.
31 January, 2008
