The RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet founded its Scholarship Fund in order to
assist and enhance the studies of Ireland's most gifted young musicians
in the difficult stage between being outstanding students and fully fledged
concert artists, specifically in the area of chamber music.
The Quartet launched the Fund with a sponsored weekend performance of the complete Beethoven Quartets in Cork in April 1996; it has since been augmented by further fund-raising concerts given both by the Quartet and by past beneficiaries of the Fund, and by private donations.
At present the principal beneficiary of the Fund is the Young Musicians Platform of the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Started along with the Festival itself in 1996, the Young Musician's Platform offers an invaluable experience for Ireland's most talented young musicians in the form of chamber music masterclasses in the stimulating and inspiring context of the Festival.
Each year students are invited to Bantry to form chamber groups - be it string quartets, piano trios or wind quintets - and in the charged atmosphere of the Festival they work together under the guidance of the Festival Artists and of dedicated coaches. in addition to the tuition they receive, the students have free access to all the Festival concerts as well as the opportunity for informal consultation with visiting Artists. Their week culminates in performances on the main Festival stage, all of which are broadcast by RTE.
Guest coaches at the Festival masterclasses have included Siegmund Nissel and Martin Lovett (Amadeus Quartet), Valentin Berlinsky (Borodin Quartet), Milan Skampa (Smetana Quartet), David Ehrlich (Audubon Quartet) and Sawa Kazuki (Sawa Quartet).
The Fund is administered on a voluntary basis and is held under the auspices of the Cork Orchestral Society, a registered charity. Donations are welcome. For further information, please E-mail us or write to:
All photographs on this page are ŠAldo
Belmonte (+353)(0)27 60047