Latest Laois Event: Laois School of music to celebrate 21st birthday in style
Official Opening of the newly refurbished Laois Music Centre, Church Avenue, Portlaoise
Laois School of Music celebrates a milestone 21st Birthday with a weekend of live music performances on 22 and 23 October in St. Peter’s Church, Market Square, Portlaoise :
Saturday 22 October @7pm – LSM Ensembles Concert featuring LSM Junior Youth Orchestra, MGL/LSM Chamber Group, LSM Musician Educators and LSM Alumni Elliot Murphy (Cello) and Erin Dollard (Soprano).
Sunday 23 October @4pm – LSM Piano Recital featuring LSM Tutors Mary Wisely, Tatyana Vykhodtseva and past pupils David Vesey, Emmett Malone and Jonathan Murray.
FREE admission, tickets available at www.dunamaise.ie
Laois School of Music was established in 2001 under the governance of the Arts Office of Laois County Council and in partnership with the then Laois VEC, along with funding partner The Arts Council of Ireland. Laois School of Music provides high quality, life-long music education in a variety of instruments, and ensemble opportunities.
Laois School of Music played a central role in securing a Music Generation programme for the County, and since Music Generation Laois was established in 2012, these two organisations work in tandem.
In 2018, Laois County Council purchased the former Scoil Mhuire building in Portlaoise, to house both Music Generation Laois (MGL) and Laois School of Music (LSM), and in 2019 both LSM and MGL programmes moved under the governance of Laois and Offaly ETB, and continues to be supported by Laois County Council.
Both MGL and LSM are now firmly established in Laois Music Centre, a vibrant music building in the Portlaoise Cultural Quarter that welcomes over 750 students each week.
Laois School of Music is now in it’s 21st year and has established itself as the leading centre of music excellence across the midlands, providing a creative and nurturing environment for children and young people of all ages.
Laois School of Music also has a vibrant adult student population, with this commitment to life-long learning contributing to the attractiveness of Laois as a place to live, and the sense of a cultural community in the County.
Laois School of Music has a dedicated staff of 15 professional Music Tutors and offers expert tuition from age 3 to adult in a range of instrumental programmes including piano, woodwind, strings, percussion, as well as Kindermusic & Pre-Instrumental classes, vocal training and Music Theory which includes Junior & Leaving Cert Music.
LSM also have a dedicated Orchestral Department which includes the Laois School of Music Junior Youth Orchestra and Chamber Group. Laois School of Music is also a local exam centre in the midlands for RIAM and ABRSM exam bodies, hosting hundreds of exam students each year.
Laois School of Music and Music Generation Laois have worked in a creative and resourceful way to continue to deliver a high-quality music education programme for the County, and the skills and resilience developed over this time will be of great assistance in future developments of both organisations.