Moore Bursary for Gavan Ring

On Tuesday night, 22 January, baritone Gavan Ring (3rd year BEd student, St Patrick's College) received one of the 12 bursaries for the D.I.T.’s My Gentle Harp Thomas Moore Competition for Young Singers. The preliminary rounds were held between the 15th and the 17th of January at the Theatre in the Conservatory for Performing Arts in Rathmines where 62 young singers battled it out for one of the 12 places in the gala final which was held at the National Concert Hall. Among the adjudicating panel were, Dr. Una Hunt, Jonathan Allen, Louis Browne, Bríd Grant, Dr. Philip Hammond, Gail Henry, Colette McGahon and Anne-Marie O’ Sullivan. Gavan, accompanied on piano by Mairéad Hurley, sang Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms and The Minstrel Boy.

On the night of the final, Gavan received a €500 bursary with a beautiful Iceberg Trophy fashioned by Dublin Crystal.  Along with this handsome award he will also be performing at subsequent concerts as part of the Thomas Moore Festival 2008 and will be part of the archive recording of Moore’s Melodies which will be streamed later in the year on the Festival’s website.

On Wednesday 23rd, Gavan gave a solo concert in St Patrick's College, as part of the lunchtime series. He sang a lovely range of melodies, including one of the Moore melodies he sang at the competition the previous night, together with pieces by Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, amongst others.

Last Updated: Thursday January 31 2008