Looking out at the Limerick rain it seems hard to imagine I was performing in Italy’s Dolomite mountains not too long ago! Back in July I travelled to the Trentino region in the north of Italy for my third consecutive year performing with New York based Music Academy International at Trentino Music Festival. This prestigious academy runs comprehensive training and performance based programmes for aspiring young performing artists. In previous years I performed with the opera orchestras for full stage performances of Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Magic Flute and many more operas. I also performed for musicals including Chicago and Nine. This year I returned to join the musical theatre orchestra for Evita. This was an amazing opportunity to work with former musical director of Evita on Broadway, Robert Meffe, in a stunning location.
Now we are nearly mid-way through September and I have a new term of piano and violin lessons already underway in Limerick city centre. It’s lovely to see students returning eager to learn after the summer break and also to welcome new students!
At the end of September I will be taking a short break from lessons to travel to South Korea’s capital for the Seoul International Community Orchestra Festival. I auditioned online back in May and was delighted to be accepted as a member of Seoul International Community Orchestra, the flagship ensemble for the festival. The orchestra brings together over 50 musicians from over 30 countries to perform special concerts in Seoul. The orchestra members will fly in from all over the world and after a quick tour of the city and catching up on some sleep after the long journey we will head straight to rehearsal.
Over the weekend we will perform special concerts in the very contrasting venues of Seoul Station, and the 3,000 seater grand theatre at Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts. The concert programme includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no.2 “Little Russian” and Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance no.1”. Also on the bill is “Arirang Fantasy”, a special orchestral arrangement by North-Korean composer Choi Seonghwan of a Korean folk song, the unofficial national anthem of Korea. My upcoming trip has already been featured online at ilovelimerick, in the Limerick Leader newspaper, and I was interviewed by the Limerick Today radio show on Limerick’s Live 95fm. Final preparations and practice is now well underway as I leave in 2 weeks!
Valerie Gunning 