| The traditional sector of the arts in Roscommon is performed and enjoyed at all levels by performers and audiences alike. However, while there are a number of noteworthy festivals, summer schools and practitioners in the county, the casual or voluntary nature of the supports available to the sector somewhat diminishes the potential for development in terms of new work, innovation, career prospects and audience development. |
| In light of these issues and in keeping with the Arts Council's policy on traditional arts of promoting high standards of performance and enhancing the quality of audience engagement, Roscommon County Council in association with Mid-South Roscommon Rural Development Company (MSRRDC) and Arigna Catchment Area Community Co. (ACACC) have established a project to consolidate and promote the development of traditional singing, music and dance in County Roscommon funded by MSRRDC, ACACC and Roscommon County Council supported by the European Union and An Comhairle Ealaíon |
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| The project, which commenced in March 2003, and has been co-ordinated and facilitated by traditional arts specialist, Dr. Liz Doherty and operates with the following objectives - |
| • Increase the participants and audience, especially young people, for traditional arts in the county. |
| • Identify standards of excellence in the performance and practice of traditional music, song and dance and encourage the achievement of these standards. |
| • Encourage innovation in the performance and practice of traditional music, song and dance. |
| • Encourage the development of new composition and choreography. |
| • Develop and build on an understanding of Irish traditional music, song and dance in an international context. |
| Following a comprehensive audit of the sector, a representative forum of practitioners was convened to pool knowledge and resources and to feed into the development and manage the implementation of five new projects designed to stimulate development in the sector. This Forum consists of a broad spectrum of practitioners in the sector including musicians, dancers, teachers, broadcasters etc. and it is members of the forum who are managers of the five projects that have emerged. |
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| These five projects are - |
| 1. Traditional Arts Education (Primary Schools) |
| 2. Marketing of Existing Activities and networking of practitioners |
| 3. Performance Development |
| 4. Professional Development for Traditional Artists |
| 5. International Links and Contexts |
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| From this point the forum has gone on to initiate new projects within the sector such as the development of an instrument bank, an archive for traditional arts in Roscommon and the recording of a CD of Roscommon flute music. |
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| Liz Doherty is a musician, teacher and researcher from Buncrana, Co. Donegal. She has a BMus from UCC and a PhD from the University of Limerick and was a full-time lecturer in the Music Department, UCC from 1994-2001. |
| Her experience includes festival organisation, including accessing of funds (Éigse na Laoi, 1989 and 1993), Crossbhealach an Cheoil/The Crossroads Conference (1996), establishment of The Cape Breton-Ireland Musical Bridge, consultancy work with the Arts Council and the Traditional Music and Dance Development Network (Ireland). Recent research work includes A Needs Analysis of the Training and Transmission of Traditional Music at University and Professional Level throughout Europe for the European Network of Traditional Music and Dance. |
| As a fiddle player she has performed and recorded as a solo artist (currently promoting her second CD Quare Imagination, on her own label, Busy Lizzy Records) and with a number of groups, including Fiddlesticks, a youth initiative with students in Cork. |
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