Baritone Aaron O’Hare is one of four talented young artists to receive the Young Musicians’ Platform Award by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and BBC Northern Ireland.
Presented every two years, the Platform Awards showcase and support the development of young musicians from the region by providing individual funding awards of £5,000. This enables recipients to spend a sizeable amount of time learning from a master musician, mentor, teacher or composer either in Northern Ireland or abroad.
In addition to the training opportunity, the awardees also receive two radio broadcast engagements, including one with the Ulster Orchestra, to be presented live on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle next year.
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, at the Arts Council, commented: ‘The Arts Council is committed to providing valuable, meaningful development for our artists. Congratulations to all four musicians on receiving this award which offers a unique opportunity for outstanding musicians to develop their musical skills, learn from the best and perform live with a professional orchestra. All of the previous recipients of this award have gone on to have successful careers in music and I’ve every confidence that the new recipients will benefit greatly from this experience.’
Fergus Keeling, Head of Radio, BBC Northern Ireland, added: ‘At BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle we are dedicated to providing our listeners with the best in specialist music and nurturing new talent is something we are extremely passionate about.’
Previous recipients of the Young Musicians’ Platform Award include celebrated Belfast classical pianist Michael McHale, soprano Laura Sheerin, violinist Michael Trainor and jazz drummer Ed Dunlop.
Aaron studied at the RNCM with Matthew Best and graduated this year. During his studies he performed the role of Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (pictured) and Demetrius in the award-winning production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
