Summer school scholarships presented to Luke and Sinéad
AVONMORE Musical Society was delighted to present scholarships recently to two young members of the society who took part in their recent production of ‘Oliver!’
The scholarships are to the AIMS (Association of Irish Musical Societies) Youth Summer School in Thurles County Tipperary in the first week of July.
The worthy recipients this year are Luke Andrew Feeney and Sinead Byrne. The scholarship is issued in memory of Pat Hayes, a member of the Arklow society who sadly passed away 11 years ago due to illness.
Pat loved the Avonmore and was a treasured and very much loved member who appeared in many shows and was a com- mittee member. The awards were presented on the night by Sean Hayes, brother of Pat with Chairman Rob Donnelly and AIMS President Colm Moules was also present.
The two recipients were very popular winners and the week-long residential course in Thurles is designed to encourage, promote and advance further development in musical and theatre performance. The course is run by AIMS with director Peter Kennedy and musical director Mary Rose McNally.
As well as the two scholarship winners Avonmore have another 10 members attending. Former past participants of the AIMS Summer School are Amy and Leah Penston who just finished a West End Tour of Roddy Doyle’s ‘The Comittments’ and Jonny Holden who is currently appearing in the BBC/RTÉ programme ‘Paula’.
About 20 members of Avonmore will attend the AIMS Awards in Killarney next week when they will be cheering on Siobhan Fawsitt who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Widow Corney in the recent production of ‘Oliver!’ The AIMS Awards will be attended by over 1100 people at what is called the Irish equivalent of the Oscars.
The awards will be presented by the President of AIMS Colm Moules who is also a member of Avonmore Musical Society.