After 5 days of studying online, we finally were able to meet up at the Hill of the O’Neill in Dungannon on Saturday 21st August.

Over 6 hours, the Orchestra rehearsed and recorded Symphony No.1 by Sibelius and the second movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 conducted by the energetic and fast paced David Brophy.

Niamh Brown (piano) tugged at our heart strings with her sensitive interpretation of the Shostakovich and the full orchestra poured their hearts and souls into an emotional performance of the Sibelius.

Despite being socially distanced and the relentless rain we had a blast!

“(I loved) getting to feel like a full orchestra again! The atmosphere was lovely and getting to hear the Sibelius live was the first live music I’ve been at since before Covid so I really loved it. I also was really glad to finally meet the people I’ve seen online for two years!”

” To be honest, just being able to play together at all was a privilege for me! The safety measures put in place were very reassuring and put me at ease when playing, which was key to my immense enjoyment of the day.”

“There was no favourite thing (about the course), just playing with UYO again in general was probably the highlight of the summer.”