At last night’s Chartered Institute of Marketing’s 2011 Ireland Marketing Excellence Awards at Belfast City Hall, the Ulster Orchestra won the Best Marketing and Sales Award in The Arts, Heritage and Creative Industries category.

Speaking at the Awards, which celebrated marketing at its best in Ireland, Lydia Gamble, the Ulster Orchestra’s Head of the Marketing and Development said, “This is a huge tribute to the hard work and creatively of the UO’s marketing communications team and our designers, Design Ethos.

“Each year the UO plays live to over 100,000 people across Northern Ireland and our talented musicians are supported by an equally talented team behind the scenes who provide the branding, marketing collateral, PR, direct and digital marketing to promote this quality cultural product,” Lydia said.

Explaining that the approach included a refreshing of the Ulster Orchestra’s brand and the development of a number of audience segmented marketing brochures, she said the new approach increased the Orchestra’s return on investment.

“The overall marketing mix produced significant results on the over-all return on investment for marketing spend. On the main season brochure, for example for every £1 invested, £30 was generated in sales,” Lydia explained.

“As Northern Ireland’s only professional symphony orchestra, like the Lyric Theatre and the Grand Opera House, the Ulster Orchestra is one of Northern Ireland’s cultural cornerstones.

“As such and given that we receive public funds, there is an increasing responsibility to generate a greater return on investment and a greater emphasis to reach out to more people. This Award recognises that we are working hard to achieve this,” she said.

This is the third award the Orchestra has received this year. In April at the Belfast Business Awards the UO picked up the Best Marketing Initiative Award. In January the Orchestra’s relationship with JTI UK was recognised at the Allianz Arts and Business Awards for a creative partnership and commitment that brought classical music to communities across Northern Ireland.

Youngsters in Lisburn and Lurgan will soon be saying ‘hola’ to a whole new set of skills.

Wee Amigos Kids Clubs are launching Spanish sessions at Lisburn’s Island Arts Centre and The Jethro Centre in Lurgan, starting next week. The clubs will teach a new language to children as young as one-year-old right through to 11-year-olds.

Group co-ordinator Kelly Parker said: “The Government is currently proposing to introduce learning a second language to the primary school curriculum and there is a good reason for that.

“Research shows that not only do you pick up a second language more easily at a younger age, it also helps you to learn your own language more effectively.”

Despite the plans to increase language teaching in schools, Kelly insists that Wee Amigos will be far more informal than the classroom.

She continued: “Our clubs will focus on encouraging learning through fun. We’ll be playing games, singing songs and telling stories in Spanish.

“As far as the children are concerned, they will just be enjoying themselves. But the language skills they are learning will stand them in good stead for secondary school and even their future employment prospects.”

Kelly has previously taught Spanish classes in primary schools in England and also taught English to Spanish pupilson Madrid’s bilingual school programme.

The experience of teaching in Spain reinforced her belief that learning a foreign language as early as possible is hugely beneficial to a child’s overall development.

She said: “In some Spanish schools, pupils as young as three are having up to half their lessons delivered in English.

“The effect this has on the child’s confidence in using a second language is clear to see.”

Clubs are running on Thursday evening in Lisburn starting on November 10. The Lurgan clubs are being held on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting on November 16. Places are limited and booking is essential. To register or get more information, please contact Kelly on 07749433394 or email info@weeamigos.co.uk.

Van Morrison is without a doubt one of the most original recording artists in musical history.

His live shows are always inspired and transcendental while some of his albums such as Astral Weeks, Moondance and It’s Too Late To Stop Now are widely viewed as among the best ever made. His songwriting has influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Bono, Damien Rice to Paolo Nutini, Elvis Costello to Jim Morrison… The list is endless.

Brown Eyed Girl, Madame George and Moondance were three of his songs that were included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Van Morrison has 6 Grammys and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The once off set list for the shows will feature a selection of his greatest hits and songs that have a particular resonance to his Irish roots. These shows are set to be one of the musical highlights of 2012. Many of his songs have a nostalgic yearning for his carefree childhood days in Belfast and it will be a special occasion to hear Van perform his songs in the neighbourhood of Cypress Avenue, Hyndford Street and Orangefield High School.

“Van Morrison is interested, obsessed with how much musical or verbal information he can compress into a small space, and, almost, conversely, how far he can spread one note, word, sound, or picture. To capture one moment, be it a caress or a twitch. He repeats certain phrases to extremes that from anybody else would seem ridiculous, because he’s waiting for a vision to unfold, trying as unobtrusively as possible to nudge it along…It’s the great search, fueled by the belief that through these musical and mental processes illumination is attainable. Or may at least be glimpsed.”
Lester Bangs

“It is at the heart of Morrison’s presence as a singer that when he lights on certain sounds, certain small moments inside a song—hesitations, silences, shifts in pressure, sudden entrances, slamming doors—can then suggest whole territories, completed stories, indistinct ceremonies, far outside anything that can be literally traced in the compositions that carry them.”
Greil Marcus

“Astral Weeks is about the power of the human voice – ecstatic agony, agonising ecstasy. Here is an Irish tenor reborn as a White Negro – a Caucasian Soul Man – pleading and beseeching over a bed of dreamy folk-jazz instrumentation: acoustic bass, brushed drums, vibes and acoustic guitar, the odd string quartet – and of course flute.”
Barney Hoskyns

“As a physical fact, Morrison may have the richest and most expressive voice pop music has produced since Elvis Presley, and with a sense of himself as an artist that Elvis was always denied.”
Greil Marcus

Van with The Band http://tinyurl.com/3w8eq5e

The Last Waltz 1976
Greil Marcus, in attendance at the concert, wrote: “Van Morrison turned the show around…singing to the rafters and …burning holes in the floor. It was a triumph, and as the song ended Van began to kick his leg into the air out of sheer exuberance and he kicked his way right offstage like a Rockette. The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left.” The filmed concert served as the basis for Martin Scorsese’s 1978 film.

Van teams up with The Band again at the Berlin Wall with Snowy from Lizzy on Guitar. Comfortably Numb http://tinyurl.com/yburh53

The Vanlose Stairway, with Georgie Fame http://tinyurl.com/68ms3ee

And the song that launched a million bands: G. L. O. R. I. A.
That wonderful Pirate Mick Green on Guitar, Jools Holland on piano http://tinyurl.com/6bw92zh

MCD are very proud to present Van Morrison in concert.

The Odyssey Belfast February 3rd, The O2 Arena Dublin February 4th 2012.

Tickets limited to 4 per person on sale Thursday 10th November at 8am.

Tickets for The O2, Dublin from €56, €65, €81, €86 to €115
Tickets for The Odyssey Arena from £55, £60, £75 to £100

To purchase tickets
In person: From 100 Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide
By Telephone (24 Hour):
ROI – 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55
Buy Online: www.ticketmaster.ie

www.vanmorrison.com
www.mcd.ie

With the MTV European Music Awards this weekend, hundreds of concertgoers will enjoy music of a different kind today (2 November) as part of Belfast Music Week, when Craigavon flautist Eimear McGeown makes her Ulster Orchestra début at the Orchestra’s popular JTI Lunchtime Concert in city centre’s Assembly Buildings.

This Season, the Lunchtime Concerts have a ‘Home Grown’ talent theme and celebrate local musicians who have established a growing international reputation. Eimear, who is from Drumglass in Craigavon, will play Ibert’s Flute Concerto in an all-French concert called Après-Midi, which takes place at 1.05pm.

Looking forward to the concert, the UO’s Head of Marketing and Development, Lydia Gamble said, “Our first Lunchtime concert of the new Season last month was one of the best attended. The Series itself, which began in 2009, has proved popular with regular concertgoers, shoppers, city centre workers and visitors from outside the city, especially since the cost is about the same as a cinemar ticket.”

Après-Midi is the first lunchtime concert not to take place in the Ulster Hall and Lydia Gamble hoped that concertgoers would remember that the concert is in the Assembly Buildings which was formerly known as the Spires Centre. “We had to make the Ulster Hall available to the organisers of the MTV European Music Awards, so the concert is now taking place at the Assembly Buildings, but will still start at 1.05pm and teh concert will last 50 minutes like always.”

Eimear McGeown was ‘Best Performer’ by unanimous vote at the Sir James Galway International Masterclasses in Switzerland in 2009 and has won many awards. “I love the energy that the piece has,” she said. “The first movement has such a great start; it captures everyone’s attention straight away and is so rhythmically exciting.

“Then the second movement is so beautiful and also quite sad in contrast to the first movement. Apparently it was written on the death of his father. Then the last movement is a great big ball of excitement with an explosive end!” Eimear explained.

The conductor for the Lunchtime concert is Christopher Wilkins from Boston, who makes his UK, Irish and Ulster Orchestra début’s all in the one day. “The Concert features wonderfully vibrant French music that lies just outside of the standard repertoire,” he said.

“The challenge for me will be to find what is unique about each piece, how it sets an individual mood or is suggestive of the place it describes. But I have always felt, the Ibert Flute Concerto to be one of the most entertaining of all 20th Century wind concertos.”

This year two Ulster Orchestra concerts are part of the 170 gigs and performances that make up Belfast Music Week. The second, with Nikolai Demidenko, takes place on Saturday 5 November at the Whitlay Hall when he plays Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in an all Russian concert – Russian Colours. Tickets are still available.

David Meade wants to give one lucky person a very special gift indeed – the opportunity to share some of his special powers!

YOU

COULD BE THE STAR OF

A DAVID MEADE T.V. SPECIAL

Note: all of the selection process will be filmed for broadcast

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and all you have to do is give us a shout with your contact number and email address, then we will be in touch!

Email  pickmedmp@wild-rover.com

or

phone 028 9050 0975.

Participants must be over 16 years of age

A wide and varied range of entertainment will visit Bardic with something to please everyone. From comedy and drama to musical theatre and country shows and everything inbetween.

Following the recent development of the Bardic Comedy Club, they have done their best to ensure that all tastes of comedy are catered for.  Keith Farnan (Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow) and David McSavage from RTE’s The Savage Eye will visit in November. Wrapping up 2011 for the Bardic Comedy Club will see a Christmas Special with Tim McGarry’s – Irish History Lesson visiting on Dec 29th.

Internationally Renowned Medium – Margaret Hurdman visits the Bardic Theatre on Wed 26th October. Margaret is known for
her ability to connect with the other side and plays to sold out houses all over Ireland.

Fans of more upbeat and energetic entertainment will enjoy the range of live music and musical theatre.  BEAM Creative Network stage their fantastic production of Punch! The Musical as part of Imagine Action project which features all young, energetic and enthusiastic local talent while renowned Belfast born opera and musical theatre singer Peter Corry will visit in December to perform a range of West End and Broadway hits in his Music Of The Night concert.

Die hard country music fans are even catered for with the arrival of Kenny Archer’s Old Time Country Show and are most certainly in for a Christmas treat when Bardic plays host to Ireland’s first Lady Of Country Music Susan McCann. Lovers of European pop group ABBA are infor a huge treat as Ireland’s top ABBA tribute – The Bjorn Identity visit on Sat 17th December.

All shows can be booked through Gene Stuarts, Dungannnon – Tel: 028 87 725286 while Punch! The Musical is available from BEAM exclusively on 028 87 769157.
For further info please visit www.bardictheatre.comwhere you can sign up to out mailing list.

Motorcycle legend and winner of 11 Isle of Man TT’s, Phillip McCallen, was on hand to personally congratulate the Adelaide Advanced Motorcyclists at the group’s inaugural AGM at the office of Adelaide Insurance Services in Belfast on 20th October 2011.

Road Safety is at the heart of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) – the UK’s leading road safety charity dedicated to increasing skills for all road users, raising driving and riding standards and helping to save lives on our roads. The Adelaide Advanced Motorcyclists is one of the 200 strong volunteer IAM groups throughout the UK. Since their official launch at the 2011 Adelaide Motorcycle Festival, the Adelaide Advanced Motorcyclists have ensured that 16 motorcyclists (and counting) have passed their IAM Advanced Riding Test, with no less than 16 qualified IAM Observers giving up their time to ensure that our roads are safer by ensuring that associates are more confident and capable by the end of their training.

As group President, Phillip along with members of the committee congratulated the members, associates and Observers for their efforts over the last year. Phillip McCallen commented on the group’s success:

“What this group has done in its fledgling year is outstanding! Our efforts in the second year will be to capitalise on the want and need for more advanced training. We must work together with all of the IAM groups in Northern Ireland to ensure that the road safety message is far reaching and not confined to one group… the potential here is huge and we need to be prepared to spread the word and let motorcyclists know that this facility is available to enhance their skills and maximise the whole riding experience by giving skills a boost and improving technique.”

The main focus of the Adelaide Advanced Motorcyclists is to help make riders safer and more responsible on our roads. Emphasis is on getting the maximum enjoyment out of the whole riding experience by boosting skills, improving technique & increasing ability and confidence. Once a rider passes the IAM Advanced Riding Test, they will be a more controlled, confident, and ultimately, a better rider. The group was set up to cope with the demand for more advanced rider training in Northern Ireland, the charity – Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has joined forces with a number of local interested parties i.e. BikeSafe, Phillip McCallen Motorcycles, the Quay Vipers Motorcycle Club, Top Dead Centre Motorcycle Club and Adelaide Insurance Services to form this new IAM Group. Road Safety is at the heart of the IAM, and the Adelaide Advanced Motorcyclists will continue to work with each of the IAM Groups in Northern Ireland to ensure that motorcyclists are aware that this advanced training exists.

Interested bikers should register their interest now in taking the IAM’s Advanced Riding by emailing the group: aam@adelaideinsurance.com or contacting 028 9044 2200
If they prefer to rather get involved in rider training & testing (Observing & Examining) please also get in touch.

Come along for a spook-tacular day of fun at Belfast Zoo’s ‘Boo at the zoo’ Halloween event on Saturday 29 October 2011.

Enjoy eerie activities, including a ‘hallzooween’ trail, creepy crafts, reptile displays and animal feeding times.  There will also be spooky story telling with Mr Hullabaloo and you can learn more about bats with the Northern Ireland Bat Group.

Children under 18 will get free entry to the zoo, on Saturday 29 October, if they are in fancy dress, and they can also enter our fancy dress competition (under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult)!  You can also bring along your carved pumpkins and enter them into the ‘pumpkin patch competition’.

The fun doesn’t stop there, as every day from the 24 to 28 October, Belfast Zoo will be uploading, photos, desktop wallpapers and videos of the animals enjoying their special Halloween treats to www.belfastzoo.co.uk.

So grab your broomstick and bring your little horrors to Belfast Zoo to celebrate ‘Boo at the zoo’ on Saturday 29 October.

For more information visit www.belfastzoo.co.uk/events.

Business Live tour to promote exporting, importing & cross-border trade

Previously untold stories of international business success will be shared with hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and aspiring entrepreneurs as part of a major events tour being organised by Ulster Bank in association with Small Business Can.

Business Live will feature 14 dates across the island – five in Northern Ireland – between November and March at which all types of business people will hear that trading outside of your home market is probably easier than many think.

Organised in association with Smallbusinesscan.com, the series will kick off on the evening of November 16 at Riddel Hall, Belfast and culminate in Cookstown’s Burnavon Arts Centre on March 5 – taking in key towns and cities along the way.

On stage will be entrepreneurs who are trading successfully cross-border and internationally to share and discuss their experiences, mistakes and accomplishments with the audience of would-be, emerging and established exporters, importers and cross-border traders.

The events, which are free of charge to attend, will centre around an informal panel discussion chaired by entrepreneur and co-founder of Smallbusinesscan.com Fionan Murray, and will feature the opportunity for questions, networking and the chance to engage one-to-one with experts from Ulster Bank and other organisations, including InterTradeIreland.

Emma Jones, the influential author of Go Global: How to Take Your Business to the World, and an adviser to governments on the subject of enterprise, will kick off the first event in Belfast and will participate in the discussion and Q&A.

Panellists will range from online entrepreneurs whose micro businesses are selling over the internet around the world, to larger manufacturing companies with a footprint in established and emerging overseas markets. Firms who have significantly increased their customer-base and turnover by selling across the border will also feature prominently.

Many of the panellists are companies whose inspirational cross-border and international trade stories are little-known, and sharing them at the events is intended to provide motivation to other SMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs, says Ian Jordan, Head of Business and Commercial Banking NI at Ulster Bank.

He continues: “When you can communicate with potential customers and suppliers across the island and around the world 24/7 at little cost through the internet, it opens significant opportunities. This is one of the reasons why more and more SMEs are able to widen their customer-base and enhance their business by trading outside of their home market”.

“Exporting and importing aren’t just for larger companies with significant resources and cash reserves; we also see lots of potential for small and micro businesses, particularly online. That will be a key message of Business Live.

“I would encourage all SME owners to come to the events, including aspiring entrepreneurs, as there will be something for everyone to learn from the discussion, and the potential to meet and network with a wide range of like-minded business people and experts,” Mr Jordan says.

“As an all-island bank, and as part of an international group with people on the ground in 37 countries, we feel that Ulster Bank is very well placed to help SMEs to explore and capitalise on their potential to do business outside of their home market,” Mr Jordan adds.

More information about Business Live is available from Ulster Bank branches or at www.smallbusinesscan.com/business-live-events

Local companies featuring on the panels will include:

• CDE Global
• Urbanpup.com
• MastIreland
• MetHealthcare
• HandDrawnCreative
• FollowYourBag.com
• Boozeberries
• Up and Running

Tour dates:

• 16^th November, 2011: Riddel Hall, Belfast
• 21st November: Olive Grove Restaurant, Athlone
• 22nd November Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge
• 23rd November: Kilkenny Design Centre, Kilkenny
• 28th November: Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena
• 29th November: Carrickdale Hotel, Newry/Dundalk
• 2^nd February: Verbal Arts Centre, L/Derry
• 6^th February: The Strand Hotel, Limerick
• 7^th February: Clayton Hotel, Galway
• 8^th February: The Model School Art Gallery, Sligo
• 20^th February: Cork BIC, Cork
• 21^st February: Waterford Crystal Visitors Centre, Waterford
• 22^nd February: Stillorgan Hotel, Dublin
• 5^th March: Burnavon Arts Centre, Cookstown