Funding boost for local musicians as 20 professional artists awarded grants

Twenty awards have been made to individual musicians. The programme is one strand of The Musical Instruments Programme, with details of further grants allocated to bands and professional and non-professional performing groups to be announced later this month.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons met some of those awarded funding through the programme this week at the Ulster Museum. Commenting on today’s announcement, Minister Lyons said:

“It is great to meet some of the local musical talent who will benefit from these grants and to hear about how this scheme will support their careers. From classical musicians and composers for films to the unique sounds of Duke Special, this grant will help bolster the local music scene as it continues to stand out on the global stage. I look forward to the compositions to come and hope this funding will help inspire a new generation of musicians.”

Gilly Campbell, joint Director of Arts Development at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented:

“With much appreciated capital investment from the Department of Communities, the Arts Council is delighted to announce this funding today through the Musical Instruments Programme. This important scheme will help support the work and careers of individual artists with grants to buy or replace instruments.

“Northern Ireland is renowned across the world for its musical talent. This funding will help support that legacy, benefitting many performers across a broad range of genres including classical, jazz, traditional, contemporary and electronic music.”

The Individual Professional Artists strand of the programme was designed to provide funding for highly-skilled, exceptional, high-profile professional musicians, to purchase quality instruments that are central to their performing career. Among those awarded grants are:

Peter Wilson (Duke Special) is a composer and musician. His funding award will enable him to purchase a Mellotron M4000D (£5,033) which is an electro-mechanical musical instrument, preceding the synthesizer. It became popular in prog rock and The Beatles used it on tracks including the hit single "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967). The digital expansion cards with this instrument contain hundreds of additional sounds including drum loops and musical passages derived from the Optigan, a lesser-known vintage sampler. These unusual rhythm samples (together with the many iconic instrument samples) provide seeds of inspiration for Peter’s writing process.

Anne Harper is a musician and harpist. With her award from the Arts Council she plans to purchase a Dusty Strings FH 36 S Harp in Maple with Camac strings (£6,692.88). Anne is a professional musician and has worked across classical genres and traditional genres of music - both Irish traditional and Ulster Scots. Anne has worked for ArtsCare NI as a music facilitator and storyteller, based in County Down. She has worked widely as a professional clarinettist for more than 20 years, and also plays a number of other instruments including the harp, saxophone and piano. Anne has been designing and leading musical workshops since 2015 across a wide range of settings and is passionate about the ability of music to enhance everyone's well-being.

Chris Bateman is a guitarist, songwriter and musician from Ballymena, who has been awarded funding to purchase a high-quality acoustic guitar (£2,500) and to develop his composition and performance skills. Chris had been singing under the moniker Batesy, playing regularly in a cover band called Drum & Bates. Since obtaining a space in Vault Artist Studios last August he has worked to develop his musicianship and production to the highest possible standard

View the full details of awards made through the Musical Instruments Scheme