ICO Advice highlights | Irish Chamber Orchestra
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ICO Advice highlights

24 July 2024 Orchestra
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Best quotes from Irish Chamber Orchestra members.

  • "Don't focus on the small stuff" - Malachy Robinson, Principal Double Bass
  • "When your body feels great, then your playing sounds better" - Anna Cashell, Violin
  • "There's a time to practice, a time to study, but also a time to just relax" - Oonagh Keogh, Violin
  • "By doing small steps every day, little by little and being patient, you can achieve a lot in a small amount of time" - André Swanepoel, Principal 2nd Violin
  • "Breathing helps the body to totally relax. When I'm on stage, and it's a particularly tricky piece or stressful situation, just exhaling and releasing helps a lot" - Nicky Sweeney, Principal 1st Violin
  • "The more I fought the anxiety, the worse it would get. So I would say to myself 'Of course I feel nervous, bring it on!' " - Stephen Nicholls, Principal Horn
  • "Prepare in small chunks, if you feel fatigued, notice that and stop. This prevents injury" - Malachy Robinson, Principal Double Bass
  • "ICO is like-minded people in a room. Everyone is friends and passionate about the same thing. We have a sense of adventure, it's a wonderful and rare thing" - Joachim Roewer, Principal Viola
  • "In concerts, I make sure I have learnt the music thoroughly, so that I don't have to furiously read off the page and I can keep my music stand really low. This helps me to connect with the players around me" - Malachy Robinson, Principal Double Bass
  • "It is important that you actually do have nerves during performances. Nerves are the main ingredient to a brilliant performance. The only way to enjoy your nerves is if you have done enough practice" - Katherine Spencer, Clarinet
  • "You must meet the student where they are and not judge them against any other student of the same age. All students learn at different paces" - Aoife Nic Athlaoich, Principal Cello
  • "Exams are important, but it is also important to allow your students to have interests outside of that. Give them pieces they want to learn, that can be classical, jazz, pop or really anything" - Oonagh Keogh, Violin
  • "It really broadens the mind to play different styles and genres as often as possible" - André Swanepoel, Principal 2nd Violin
  • "It is important for music teachers to conspicuously enjoy what you are doing. Let the enjoyment show in your lessons. All of us will remember teachers at school who were enthusiastic about their subjects. These are the subjects most of us warmed best to" - Malachy Robinson, Principal Double Bass
  • "If you have a burning desire to play and a huge love of music, then I would urge you to study music, because it is something you will never regret doing. And if you decide later on, that you want to earn money doing something else, then of course, that is also possible" - Katherine Hunka, Orchestra Leader
  • "Listen to as many different instruments, so you can find out what you really love and which instrument really resonates best with you" - André Swanepoel, Principal 2nd Violin
  • "Swimming is really important to me. It's a form of mediation and really good exercise. But for me, it is mostly about the silence. As a musician, the world can be very noisy" - Aoife Nic Athlaoich, Principal Cello
  • "When kids get involved in music, make sure that they start learning in a group so they can have an outlet and friends doing the same thing. It is very important because music can be quite solitary" - Oonagh Keogh, Violin

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