Even if a grim day of reckoning on our pandemic-drained public finances is at hand, or at least getting closer, the news that a grants package of €100,000 will help deliver “non-mainstream” music education must be welcomed even if that figure is unlikely to be transformative. The pandemic has reminded many of us of how very primal an emotional and intellectual force music can be. Many of us took the thrill of live music for granted before concert halls and smaller venues were closed. Online efforts to replicate that experience went some way towards filling that vacuum but despite their best efforts, and wonderful contributions, of those involved live music is all but impossible to emulate in those circumstances.

Source: Irish Examiner April 26, 2021 07:18 UTC