Success in Northern Ireland Accordion Championships

A group of nine musicians from Wallace Hall recently braved Storm Ellen and travelled to County Antrim, N. Ireland to perform at the 23rd Northern Ireland Open Accordion Championships held in the Loughshore Hotel, Carrickfergus. The festival, which attracted over 200 entries mainly from N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, was held on Saturday 22nd February and featured Accordion Solo, Duet and Group sections. The young musicians competed in 18 different categories and were delighted to be awarded numerous prizes (details below). The Wallace Hall Accordion Group and the Wallace Hall Junior Accordion Group, which are both provided at Wallace Hall by the Youth Music Initiative, were invited to perform at the Gala Evening Presentation with both groups receiving a very positive response from an appreciative audience. The festival was extremely well organised, and our young players were offered a great deal of encouragement from the festival organisers and local musicians.

Scottish Traditional Group

1st - Wallace Hall Junior Accordion Group

Preparatory Solo (Own Choice)

4th - Skye Ross (P6)

Polka Solo (12 Years & Under)

1st - Aine O’Hara (P7)

Higher Preparatory Duet (Test Piece)

1st - Aine O’Hara (P7) and Kirsten Fergusson (S1)

Elementary Accordion Group

1st - Wallace Hall Accordion Group

Higher Preparatory Solo (Own Choice)

1st - Kirsten Fergusson (S1)

Higher Preparatory Solo (Test Piece)

3rd - Kirsten Fergusson (S1)

Scottish Traditional Solo (12 Years & Under)

1st - Euan Wilson (S1)

Elementary Solo (Test Piece)

2nd - Euan Wilson (S1)

Polka Solo (14 Years & Under)

1st - Daisy Arnold (S2)

Scottish Traditional Solo (13 - 15 Years)

1st - Daisy Arnold (S1)

Irish Traditional Group

2nd - Darroch Wood Group

Irish Traditional Solo (13 - 15 Years)

1st - Kyle Anderson (S3)

Sir Jimmy Shand Solo (Senior)

1st - Darroch Wood (S4)

Irish Traditional Duet

1st - Kyle Anderson (S3) & Fergus Bainbridge (S3)

Accordion and Another Instrument

1st - Darroch Wood (S4) & Fergus Bainbridge (S3)