Exceptional Achievements

Our congratulations go to the Downey siblings, vocalist Aoife (17), and 14-year-old pianist Daire, who performed so impressively as finalists in the 2021 Northern Ireland Young Musician of the Year.  In the company of their other talented family members, they have been consistently successful performers - across several disciplines - at Newry Musical Feis for as long as they can remember. 

In recent weeks Daire has won a number of Newry Feis 2021 overall awards including that for Most Promising Organist and the Doreen Whitten Memorial Cup for Solo Piano.  However, it is likely that his most exciting moment came with the news that he has been accepted into the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), where he will commence piano studies in September. 

We are delighted that Daire will have this opportunity to build on his already exceptional achievements and look forward to following his successes in the years ahead.