Madam, - Winni Fejne of the Embassy of Sweden (October 8th) congratulates the young musicians and all those connected with the Royal Irish Academy of Music on the occasion of John O'Conor's 60th birthday celebration concert in the NCH and concludes that they are doing a great job in securing an all-Ireland musical future.
We deeply wish there were solid grounds for the gracious optimism expressed by Ms Fejne but, given the advancing age profile of the audiences at classical concerts and operas, one wonders if there will be anyone listening when the excellent young musicians of the RIAM Symphony Orchestra come of age.
European classical and pre-classical music are among the greatest achievements of Western civilisation. Yet year after year many thousands of young people leave our schools without having been given the slightest notion of this great cultural heritage. This is a very serious form of cultural deprivation and has hugely damaging consequences for our society.
Friends of Classical Music will be discussing these and related issues at its Coffee Morning in the Carmelite Community Centre, Aungier Street, on Saturday October 13th from 10.30am. Interested members of the public are welcome. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN MEAGHER, (Secretary, Friends of Classical Music, (formerly Music Association of Ireland),
69 South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2.