Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland To Include The Lincoln Center In U.S. Tour

The Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland (CBOI), Ireland's most acclaimed youth orchestra, has announced its presentation of The Crossing, Celebrating Cultures and Connections on October 29, 2009. The event will take place at 8 PM at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City.

One of Europe's leading youth orchestra conductors, Maestro Gearóid Grant, will conduct the concert, and featured performers include renowned tenor Emmanuel Lawler and piper Patrick Martin.

They will perform alongside Drum and Piping Corps and be accompanied onstage by a variety of Children's Choirs from select schools across New York.

The CBOI was founded in 1995 by former music teacher Sharon Treacy-Dunne as a means of bringing young people from different backgrounds and communities together through the powerful medium of music.

The CBOI celebrates youth, music and peace, and hopes to bring that message with them as they tour the United States. "I believe through music we can empower young people to help in the healing of their differences, and overcome the division of race and religion by teaching children tolerance. They are the future of cultural transformation," Treacy-Dunne said. The Orchestra is currently comprised of 130 young people from around Ireland, aged 12-24 years.

In addition to its core membership, CBOI provides essential musical education to over 5000 children from Primary and Secondary Schools all over Ireland and often fills a void where no musical outlet exists.

As part of the program, the orchestra incorporates local children in their performances. The CBOI has invited over 500 children from schools in the New York area to perform on stage with the orchestra to highlight the importance of cultural arts education, which is often the first budget cut for many schools.

Also in accordance to the CBOI's commitment to cultural education, on October 27, the Tuesday prior to the Lincoln Center performance, the CBOI will be hold a Cross-Cultural Youth Festival at The Armory Track and Field Center in Washington Heights for 2500 New York City public school children.

The free concert will feature dance acts in hip-hop, gymnastics, ballroom dancing, salsa, merengue and more.

The Orchestra will perform the music as the audience is engaged in spectacular performances by the Harlem School of the Arts, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Keltic Dreams, 92nd Street Y, the 'Wendy Hilliard Foundation' and the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts among others.

These activities have the full support of the Department of Education, the Department of Cultural-Affairs, and the office of Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is also scheduled to speak at the event.

Co-chairs Orla Maguire-Moore, and Dr. Ciaran Grant created the 'Cross-Cultural Youth Festival' (CCYF) in an effort to raise awareness of music and arts programs within public schools and convey peace among New York City school children of different cultural backgrounds just as the CBOI operates in Ireland.

By nurturing young talent and exposing children to dance and musical mediums, the free concert will lay a foundation for peace through music and set the stage in New York for the Lincoln Center Performance.

Tickets for 'The Crossing' are available through the Box Office at Lincoln Center and www.lincolncenter.org.

About The Cross Border Orchestra Of Ireland

The CBOI was established at a landmark moment in Irish history-the implementation of a long-term peace process between Catholics and Protestants. "When I established the orchestra, my goal was to create a cross-culture and cross-community link between Catholic and Protestant school children throughout Ireland, and to educate children about commitment, tolerance and friendship through music," Treacy-Dunne said.

With a budget of only IR£25, the equivalent of approximately $60 today, Sharon set about raising additional funds and acquiring instruments for her orchestra.

She resourcefully found old instruments that had been in storage since the late 1950s, raised IR£3,500, had the instruments refurbished and tuned and began her search for children who were interested in becoming part of her orchestra.

The CBOI made its first National Concert Hall appearance in 1996, followed by its first European performance in England, before traveling to the Czech Republic in 1998 and then on to Finland in 2000.

In 2000, CBOI headlined the Grand Millennium Project, comprised of the Departments of Education in Northern and Southern Ireland, and toured all major towns and cities in Ireland.

By 2001, links were established with the South Ulster Youth Orchestra, drawing over 300 young musicians.

As the CBOI continued to expand, they moved from the St. Louis Secondary School into a much larger base at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

The CBOI's achievements over the past 14 years are staggering, they are the only amateur Orchestra in Ireland's history to have sold out Carnegie Hall, and repeated this success at Chicago Symphony Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, as well as an eight-city tour of California.