IRELAND is one of the few countries in Europe without professional training for a career in music outside the classical genre. Courses at university level tend to have a strong classical and academic orientation and there is little in the way of third-level opportunities for those who want performance training in other types of music.

The professional musician training course now in its first year at Newpark Music Centre in Dublin is designed to prepare students for careers as professional musicians.

All instruments - including voice - are catered for and selection for the course is by audition. The auditions for next September's intake will take place during April and May.

"We're looking for people with a basic competence in their chosen instrument and this is not age-related," says jazz musician and composer Ronan Guilfoyle, who directs the course. "We will consider students of all ages even if they don't read music because it's possible to acquire this skill during the year.

"It's an intensive course which makes heavy demands and this is the main reason why we need people who can play to a certain standard. Otherwise they will get buried very quickly. At present we have students playing guitar, drums, trumpet and voice, but all instruments are welcome.

The aim, says Guilfoyle, is to produce "all-round musicians capable of doing a lot of different things from playing solo or with a group to arranging music or using MIDI technology. It's not a stylistic course - we teach elements from a whole mix of music styles and the only formal style we cover is jazz improvisation because this is a very good method for developing musical skills in a number of different ways.

There are 20 students on the certificate course at the moment, many with performance experience. A number have played in rock bands while others come from jazz backgrounds or have had classical training. They are all male - places were offered to female students who decided not to accept them. Guilfoyle thinks this gender imbalance may have something to do with the essentially `macho' culture of certain types of music such as rock. "If you look at classical music it's densely populated by females, whereas rock music tends to be dominated by males.

"But the picture is changing and certainly more women are gravitating towards jazz, although women are still few and far between as instrumentalists in mixed rock bands."

Newpark now has two courses for aspiring professional musicians. As well as the certificate course, there is a diploma course in jazz studies which will be awarded by the Guildhall School of Music in London. It includes instrumental tuition, jazz improvisation, ear training, harmony and chord voicings, arranging and jazz history.

This is an internationally recognised qualification. Auditions for next September's intake will be held in May with an open day on April 15th.

BASS guitarist Rory O'Donovan (20), from Rathmines, Dublin, is taking a year out from a science degree at Trinity College to do the training course. "I enjoyed science at school which is why I decided to do it at College," says O'Donovan, "but I'm also really, into music. I suppose I was torn between the two.

Being at college didn't leave him much time for music, "so I decided to take a year out to concentrate on it. I'm finding the course really enjoyable and very productive and it has very much lived up to my expectations. We're being taught by the best people in the business and it's fantastic to be in such a musical environment and to be able to learn from their insights."

Lindsay Ryan (19), from Sandymount, Dublin, plays drums and he is particularly attracted by the idea of playing jazz. "Jazz is a very interesting medium," he says. "It offers a very liberating style for a drummer. I was involved with a rock band before I came here, writing music and playing and I'm hoping that the course will improve my composition skills.

"I find the course excellent from a technical level. It's ideal for anyone thinking of a career as a professional musician as it's designed to make you as versatile as possible within the music business."