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The Gleneagle Hotel will be the venue for a massed band concert on Sunday March 25 at 7.30pm as part of the Gleneagle Concert Band Annual Charity Concert.

The Cobh Confraternity band will be guest artists this year. Each band will perform a selection of pieces individually before coming together at the end of the concert for an amazing massed band performance featuring over 100 musicians on stage. All proceeds from this concert will be allocated to South Kerry MS Association, Kerry Cancer Support Group, Enable Ireland Kerry Children Services and the Band Music Education Youth Programme.

Band conductor Vincent Condon says: “We are really pleased to be collaborating with the South Kerry MS Association, Kerry Cancer Support Group and Enable Ireland Kerry Children Services at this year’s charity concert. We hope the public will come out in great numbers to support this worthwhile fundraising venture.

“The band musically is in excellent form and the concert will also provide an opportunity to showcase the tremendous work being done through our Music Education Youth Programme, which has benefited so many young people throughout the county for the past 38 years. I extend an open invitation to everybody who has been involved with the band in the past as well as our supporters and music enthusiasts to come and join us for what will be an evening of great entertainment.”

The band, which performed superbly for President Michael D. Higgins on his visit to Killarney in 2012, embarked on a concert tour to Lisbon in 2013 and performed two concerts in the Portuguese capital. The band was again a very proud ambassador for Killarney and Kerry on foreign soil in August 2017 when the they travelled to Monaco and Cannes and performed two concerts in the south of France under the baton of band conductor Vincent Condon. This was the band’s seventh foreign tour after visits to Germany, Holland, Sweden, Austria, Portugal and Paris over the past four decades.

Band manager Ciaran Lynch says: “These are very exciting times for the band which would not be possible without the encouragement and support we receive from the political and business sector and general public in Killarney. This concert will be a highlight and a celebration of the voluntary work, community service and musical excellence that exists here in Killarney. Rehearsals are going very well and there will be a massed band of over 100 players on stage for what will be a musical spectacle in Killarney not to be missed.”

Tickets are priced at €12 for adults and €9 for children/OAPs and are available from the INEC ticket office, band members, the South Kerry MS Association, Kerry Cancer Support Group, Enable Ireland Kerry Children Services and on the door of the night of the concert. The concert will cater for all musical tastes and will include military marches, classical music, jazz numbers, film music, and vocal hits.

Any person interested in joining the Gleneagle Concert Band (including past members and adults with previous musical experience) or enrolling in music lessons in the Gleneagle School of Music should contact the band at 087 2229513.