Major Minors Junior Orchestra was founded in 2013 by three local musicians who wanted to extend their own love of music to the local Bray community. We started small – with a few of our music students and our own children – and have grown in number and ability since then. Our 10th anniversary year – 2023 – will see our biggest ever performance on the stage of the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
This video from 2017 gives a little taste of how we began and why.
Major Minors’ first ever performance was in Christ Church in Bray and featured sing-a-long carols from St. Cronan’s School Choir and a selection of festive music from the former Bray Youth Orchestra. We recruited some of our youngest offspring to jingle some bells and tap out some drums – they then went on to join us officially first on percussion, then on clarinet, flute and cello. What a great way to start!
In November 2019 Major Minors Junior Orchestra was thrilled to win first place at the Kilcoole Music Festival. The festival is one of the oldest and most renowned music festivals in Ireland whose aim is to provide a platform for children and adults to perform in public. The orchestra performed as part of the Under 17s Junior Orchestra, Short Recital competition. Our orchestra was praised by the adjudicator for our musicality, our players’ attention to the conductor’s beat and how our repertoire was perfectly chosen for our ability.
We have played in many different venues including the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire and Belmont Demesne in Greystones. We have shared concerts with Greystones Orchestra, St Fergal’s Gospel Choir, The Music Educators Orchestra and The Frascati Singers to name but a few, and love collaborating with other musicians.
We have an annual social trip to Bray Bowl for bowling, games and pizza – we love to have a bit of craic in addition to making music.