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IT IS said that music is the universal language of mankind and this is certainly the case when it came to the generosity sparked by a Killarney contest for aspiring young performers.
When seeking sponsorship for last year’s annual Killarney Rotary Young Musician of the Year, the club’s then-president Mike Stack contacted all the suppliers of his company Tricel asking them to put an ad in the concert programme.
“One of the people I contacted was a guy called Peter Senior from a UK company called Polynt which is owned by the French oil company Total,” said Mike.
Explaining that it would take months to get approval from France, Peter decided to send Mike a personal cheque and asked him to send him an invoice which he then claimed back from the company.
Tragically, Peter died suddenly of a heart attack a short time after the competition. “It transpired that Peter was a musician (a blues guitarist) and his best friend, a guy called Paul Walton (also a musician), decided to hold a memorial concert in Peter's memory,” said Mike.
As Paul was sorting Peter's affairs, he came upon the cheque to Killarney Rotary Club. “Paul contacted me and proposed the idea of presenting the funds raised from the concert to Rotary and specifically to the Young Musician competition. I thanked him for this gesture and said that we would present a prize in Peter's memory on the finals night,” said Mike.
Paul raised €2,500 and presented this to the club. “This money is invaluable in safeguarding the future of the competition,” said Mike.
As Peter was a blues guitarist, Killarney Rotary decided to present the prize in his memory to the most promising young musician in the strings category and this year’s winner as Fossa violinist Cian Buckley O’Sullivan, who was presented with his prize on Wednesday at The Malton Hotel.
 

 
Above, Cian Buckley O’Sullivan, Fossa, who won the prize for the most promising strings musician in the recent Killarney Rotary Young Musician of the Year competition, pictured with Killarney Rotarians Sean Treacy, Mike Stack, Grace O’Neill and Paul Sherry. PICTURE: JOHN O’SULLIVAN, KILLARNEY PHOTOGRAPHIC