COVID Care concert series
Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and the Mobile Music Machine present ‘COVID CARE CONCERTS’ SERIES 2020 for residential care homes across County Waterford.
COVID CARE CONCERTS is part funded by the Ireland Funds and is a new project that has been devised by the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival (BVOF) and Mobile Music Machine (MMM) in response to the many social challenges presented by Covid 19 in residential care home settings.
Our classical music ensemble will perform at an appropriate social distance in the grounds of care homes across Co. Waterford. The residents will gather in the garden or listen to the performance through open windows and doors. The project is also designed to offer employment opportunities to world class Irish musicians, many of whom are facing long term unemployment.
With the support of the Ireland Funds grant, we will commence these concerts in residential homes in county Waterford at the end of June. 10 privately owned nursing homes in Co. Waterford have been selected for this project (see attached). Each outdoor performance will last for approximately 2 hours and will allow the musicians and residents to follow social distancing guidelines. We will rotate the members of the musical ensemble, thus providing a unique musical concert for each visit and employment opportunities for a range of performers throughout the series.
The Mobile Music Machine is a leading national music education company, founded by cellist Gerald Peregrine. The company has delivered workshops to over 55,000 primary school children across Ireland since 2007.
The Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, Ireland’s only summer opera festival, is a celebration of the finest opera and classical music set in the heart of Ireland’s Ancient East. Tucked away in the breath-taking Blackwater Valley, we stage performances of the highest artistic quality featuring both Irish and international stars and emerging talent of the classical music world. The 2021 Festival will take place from 1st-7th June and will feature an opera double bill Gianni Schicchi and Pagliacci.
As a Festival we are committed to fostering a love of music and opera in the next generation through our Education and Outreach programmes. Our Covid Care Concerts series is an appropriate expression of our commitment of support for our local communities. In collaboration with Mobile Music Machine we also run a thriving schools’ programme based on our commitment to fostering a real passion for music in young people today.
For further information please contact Eamonn Carroll, Festival Director on 087 2865207.
