The IRISH YOUTH HARP ORCHESTRA is the training version of the Irish Harp Orchestra and is itself a unique concert group that in the short time since its launch in 2006 has performed nationally and internationally – in the UK, France, Belgium and Cypress. Since establishing Ireland’s first Harp College based at the Irish Harp Centre in Castleconnell County Limerick in 2002, orchestra director and trainer Dr Janet Harbison has been shaping up the orchestra’s accomplished musicians (age 10 upwards) to follow in the footsteps of her Grammy Award winning Belfast Harp Orchestra (1992-2002).
To date, the Irish Youth Harp Orchestra has featured at:
Brian Boru Millennium Harp Festival, Limerick 2014
St.Patrick's Day, Open Air Stage, Trafalgar Square, London 2013
The BBC Titanic Memorial Concert, Waterfront Hall, Belfast 2012
The Carolan and Belfast Harp Festivals 2012
National Tour of Ireland (10 concerts) 2011
St.Patrick’s Day Irish Ball & Festival Concert, Trafalgar Square, London 2010
FIMU Music Universities Festival, Belfort, France 2010
Megahertz Festival, Linz, Austria 2009.
Concert tour to Cypress, April 2008
O’Carolan IFestival Concert, Mohill, Co.Leitrim 2008
Journee’s de l’Harpe, Arles, France 2007
PanCeltic Festival 2006 (the launch of the Orchestra)