Why did you decide to become a board member of Galway Music Residency?
I was delighted to have a chance to join the GMR board when Jane asked me a couple of yours ago. It's great to play a small part in the work we do here in Galway.
Why do you think the Galway Music Residency's work is important?
Here in the West we don't have the same level of infrastructure for music that they do elsewhere. To have full time professional musicians, fully supported by the fantastic GMR team is brilliant. Compared to somewhere like Germany, where a city the size of Galway would have it's own full time opera house and orchestra, we are lucky to be able to support professional music making in Galway.
What GMR series/project/education activity is your favourite?
I have loved the online concert series during lockdown. It can be hard to get into town for a live concert, so to have Con Tempo beamed into the living room, well that is an unexpected luxury!! Huge credit too to the GMR team Maeve and Julie, who have become sound engineers, video editors and film directors so that the music can keep playing - brilliant!
Do you recall the first time you saw ConTempo in action?
I remember it well! I lived abroad until 2018 so I hadn't had a chance to hear ConTempo live. I happened to be in Dublin in March 2017 and saw that the quartet were playing. It was a concert in the Kevin Barry Room of the NCH, so a lovely acoustic, and featured Bartok's 6th String Quartet. The performance was stunning, and I remember being struck by the special connection the musicians had with this music.
What is your hope for Galway Music Residency, and music in Galway in general, post Covid?
I would love to see the work of the GMR expand more into Galway County, to places not currently well served by concerts. This will take resources as we develop new relationships with communities, but how brilliant would it be for young musicians and local audiences in the county to have more access to such a high level of music making! As more people move to the West of Ireland, our potential audience is growing, so we need the means to provide meaningful performance experiences for that audience. I would love to see smaller venues developed and upgraded around the county, so that we could have monthly programmes of performances, not only from Con Tempo, but from many other musicians in all genres. COVID has taught us that life can be local. I would love to see local music and arts infrastructure developed so that professional musicians can have a viable future based in the west, and that all our lives can be enriched through music.
Sinead Hayes is a conductor equally at home working with choir, orchestra and in opera - find out more on her website. https://www.sineadhayes.net/