Music Generation is coming to Tipperary!

Music Generation has announced that Tipperary is among five new counties in Ireland to participate in its most recent phase of development. Over the coming years, ‘Music Generation Tipperary’ will offer new opportunities for hundreds of children and young people ages 0 to 18 to access high-quality, subsidised vocal and instrumental tuition in their local communities. Planning for the roll-out of Music Generation Tipperary is already underway, with the next step in the set-up process involving recruitment of a Music Generation Development Officer to oversee programme development. Advertisements for the role will be circulated in the coming days.

Initiated by Music Network in 2010, Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships (LMEPs). Locally, Music Generation Tipperary will be led by Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB) in partnership with Tipperary County Council.
Music Generation Tipperary’s goal will be to develop a range of affordable and accessible ways for children and young people to engage in performance music education. This will include the coordination of music tuition services within the county, working in partnership with schools, community music groups and tuition centres in the formation of choirs, ensembles, access programmes, composition projects, songwriting initiatives and more, across a broad range of musical genres and styles.

To achieve these aims, Music Generation Tipperary will receive up to €200,000 annually from the Department of Education and Skills. This funding will be matched on a 50/50 basis by income generated locally.

Responding to the news, Bernadette Cullen, Chief Executive of Tipperary ETB, commented: ‘We’re delighted to have been awarded this fantastic opportunity to develop the infrastructure for performance music education in County Tipperary. We have a wonderfully rich musical tradition here and a great number of passionate and energised partners are to be thanked for their commitment to working together to ensure that this tradition continues long into the future. We’re now very much looking forward to progressing our plans as part of Music Generation, and to realising our ambitions for musical access and creativity for the children and young people of Tipperary.’

Already there have been two extraordinarily successful phases of development for Music Generation, enabled through philanthropic donations by U2 and The Ireland Funds and through the ongoing commitment of the Department of Education and Skills and LMEPs. Since its establishment the programme has grown to reach 25 areas of Ireland and now creates some 48,500 opportunities annually for children and young people to access music tuition.

In December 2017 Government announced its commitment to support the nationwide roll-out of Music Generation as part ‘Creative Youth’ – a Creative Ireland plan to enable the creative potential of every child and young person. Ultimately, this plan will see Music Generation partnerships formed in all remaining areas of the country by 2022, including Tipperary, where programming is expected to commence later in 2019.

Rosaleen Molloy, National Director of Music Generation, said: ‘I’m thrilled that Tipperary is joining this next phase of development for Music Generation. Tipperary has demonstrated enormous ambition and great commitment in setting out its vision for music education within the county. We look to working together over the coming months and years to realise this vision, which will bring about truly transformative outcomes for Tipperary’s next musical generation.’

Music Generation

Music Generation is Ireland’s national music education programme which transforms the lives of children and young people through access to high-quality, subsidised performance music education. Established in 2010 by Music Network, Phase 1 of Music Generation was made possible by philanthropic donations from U2 and The Ireland Funds, which were gifted to progress the implementation of Music Network’s Feasibility Study for a National System of Local Music Education Services.Music Generation currently works closely with Government through the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the Local Music Education Partnerships (LMEPs) established during Phase 1 – Carlow, Clare, Cork City, Laois, Limerick City, Louth, Mayo, Offaly/Westmeath, Sligo, South Dublin and Wicklow. Each of these programmes is now sustainably co-funded on an ongoing 50/50 basis by the DES and LMEPs, ensuring a long-term and lasting outcome from U2 and The Ireland Funds’ philanthropic giving.

Phase 2 of Music Generation was enabled through the combined investment of U2 and The Ireland Funds to seed-fund expansion of the programme into 9 new areas of Ireland between 2017 and 2021 – Cavan/Monaghan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Galway City, Galway County, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Waterford and Wexford. The DES has pledged its commitment to sustainably co-fund Phase 2 into the future, subject to Exchequer funding.

In December 2017 Government announced its commitment to support expansion of the programme nationwide by 2022. The process for roll-out will commence in 2019 with five further areas of Ireland: Kerry, Kildare, Longford, Meath and Tipperary. Subject to Exchequer funding it is intended that all remaining areas of the country will have access to Music Generation by 2022.

Currently Music Generation creates more than 48,500 opportunities annually for children and young people ages 0 to 18 to engage in high-quality, subsidised performance music education across more than 150 different programmes in all musical genres and styles – from trad to jazz, rock, pop and hip-hop, samba drumming, brass band, choral and orchestral initiatives, composers clubs and much more. Music Generation believes in every child and young person’s musical potential and their innate artistry, that it is every child and young person’s right to have the choice of access and the chance to participate as a musical citizen and that music doesn’t just change lives, it transforms lives. For further information visit www.musicgeneration.ie.