Mullingar Town Band Music Capital Scheme funding
Mullingar Town Band has been awarded €3,487 in the latest round of the Music Capital Scheme announced by Music Network.
A total of €545,150 in funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has been granted to 109 awardees which will potentially benefit over 7,960 musicians throughout Ireland, through Awards 1, 2 and 3 of the scheme.
The funding for the Mullingar Town Band was allocated under Award 1, a fund of €269,795 awarded across the non-professional music sector, providing a range of community and music groups with financial support.
The local group was one of 40 concert, marching samba bands, orchestras and other community and music organisations to receive funding for the purchase of musical instruments in a range of genres including Irish traditional, folk, classical, rock, early music/baroque, popular, musical theatre, jazz and contemporary.
Established in 2008, the Music Capital Scheme is supported by the Dept of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and managed by Music Network.
This year the scheme has been expanded and will support even more musicians through new award streams designed to address the unique challenges faced by professional classical string players and venues presenting live music.
This includes the recently announced Music Network National Instrument Collection (Award 4), which is now accepting applications and will provide exceptional classical string players who are in the early stages of a professional performance career with access to high-quality instruments for a defined period.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin, TD, said: “It was wonderful to be able to confirm record funding of over €1 million for the Music Capital Scheme earlier this year, which will not only fund these three awards but also allow the scheme to be expanded to offer even more support for musicians.
“I would like to sincerely thank Music Network for managing the Music Capital Scheme once again. This funding allows so many deserving organisations and individuals to receive the support they need to purchase musical instruments and, as a former music teacher, that is such a wonderful thing to be a part of.”
Since establishing The Music Capital Scheme together with The Arts Council 16 years ago, 652 awards have been made to individual musicians and organisations, providing access to musical instruments for 59,000 people.
“Our mission is to make high quality live music accessible to communities throughout Ireland, and to support professional musicians to excel in the performance and creation of music,” said Music Network CEO Sharon Rollston.
“The number and range of instruments provided through the Music Capital Scheme year-on-year continue to make a significant impact on the quality of, and access to, music making and live music performance across Ireland.
“We’re grateful for the continued support of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in funding this valuable resource for the music sector.”
Mullingar Town Band are marching and concert band who also support an instrumental programme and music school.