Europe
The CBOI has also performed in many European countries such as Italy, England, Czech Republic and Finland.
European and International Links
Over the past sixteen years, we have witnessed great advances towards a peaceful Ireland. The CBOI is a celebration of this achievement and through the power of music, the Orchestra continues to empower the young people of Ireland to help their country heal, renew and transform. However, wishing to push its boundaries further, the CBOI has established many international links, and tours abroad extensively.
The CBOI’s first introduction to European partnerships was through the Socrates Programme. The Orchestra participated in the programme from1997 – 2000 establishing links with choirs from the Kallio Senior Secondary School of Performing Arts, Helsinki, Finland and Zpivsjiei Blechy, Liberets, Czech Republic. The project entitled “The Common Ground” was a hugely successful programme through which all groups examined and performed the folk music of each participating country. All groups travelled to their partner countries and joint concerts were performed in the National Concert Hall, Dublin; the Culture Hall, Helsinki and in the Czech Republic.
The social, cultural and educational aspects of the Socrates Programme were hugely beneficial to all the students involved but equally so for the directors and organisers. The experience gained in travel and trans-European cooperation paved the way for the later development of the CBOI’s transcontinental links with Asia and America. Crucially, the music education component of the Socrates Programme laid very strong foundations for the development of “Peace Proms” in Ireland and very ambitious multicultural music programmes in America and China which were to follow.
