Dundalk IT to host music event to celebrate 50 years of EU membership

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) have been selected as part of a national programme of events marking Ireland’s 50 years of EU membership.

Students are excitedly rehearsing for this historic event that will showcase and celebrate DkIT’s Music Department and its collaboration with fellow European Erasmus educational partners.

The commemorative project that DkIT are involved in is called Echoes of Erasmus. This specific initiative honours music as an important shared cultural asset across Europe that highlights similarities and differences within its communities.

Through the Erasmus and other programmes, individuals and educational organisations across Europe have benefited from shared opportunities. The music at the upcoming event is inspired by the successful partnerships already established by the Institute with associates across Europe and the project will culminate in a performance of a new piece of music, incorporating contributions from musicians across Europe in both live and pre-recorded formats.

Reflecting on the EU Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 (2018), the initiative will harness the power of culture and cultural diversity for social cohesion and well-being by promoting cultural participation, the mobility of artists and the protection of heritage. 

As part of this celebration DkIT has invited musician-educators from Erasmus partner institutions across Europe to facilitate workshops and perform a concert culminating in a new, co-composed piece of music. 

The three visiting lecturers are bass guitarist Frode Hammersland from the University of Western Norway (Stord-Haugesund), Brendan Hemsworth who is the director of percussion at the Curso de Música Silva Monteiro in Porto and Ragnhild Knudson who is a hardanger fiddle player based in the University College Southeast Norway, Rauland, Norway.

The event will be held from the 2nd – 4th May with a performance of music, comprised primarily of compositions by Dr Daithí Kearney, involving visiting musicians and students on the BA (Hons) Music at DkIT.

Italian student, Leandro Pessina, an Irish Research Scholar in the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music at DkIT, and visiting Erasmus student David Kappermeier from the University of Hildesheim, will also participate in the concert reflecting the European links in the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music.

This programme is being funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of An Taoiseach as part of the Communicating Europe Initiative 2023.

The aim of this project is to deepen public awareness of the role the EU plays in our daily lives and to help improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues, particularly at regional or national level.