COLICO Sponsors Delegate to International Music Conference

COLICO, the cross-border and cross-sectoral committee on library co-operation in Ireland, provided sponsorship for attending the IAML International Conference and is delighted to announce that the delegate chosen to attend the event is music, and Music PAL, enthusiast Michael Lee.

The International Association of Music Libraries Archives and Documentation Centres is the international body that encourages and promotes the activities of these institutions to support and facilitate the realization of projects in music bibliography, music documentation and music library and information science at national and international levels. This year, for the first time, they have chosen Dublin as the venue for their International Conference, July 24 – 29 2011.

COLICO greatly values the development opportunity, presented by this conference taking place in Dublin, for the organisations that participate in the Music PAL scheme. The Music  PAL scheme is co-ordinated by COLICO with the purpose of facilitating access to music information and materials available across a broad range of libraries and archives throughout the island of Ireland.

Organisations participating in Music PAL range from public to academic libraries, special libraries to conservatoires all around the island of Ireland; a total of 33 institutions in all. Many of these hold broad collections of various sizes, while others (such as the Irish Traditional Music Archive and the Contemporary Music Centre) focus on specific musical genres. An overview of some of the collections and services available can be found on their website. Musicians, researchers, composers, or anyone with a specific interest in music can contact any of the participating organisations to get a Music PAL Access card, which will allow them to access music resources and services across the scheme.

COLICO’s sponsored delegate, Michael Lee is currently studying for a PhD at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen’s University Belfast, funded by a University Studentship, where he is researching a topic in opera studies entitled ‘The character of Armida and the processes of operatic adaptation.’ He comes from New Zealand, where he completed his Master’s degree in English at the University of Canterbury. Since moving to Ireland, he has performed as a singer with the choruses of Opera Ireland and Opera Theatre Company, and has also performed with other ensembles including the choir of Christ Church Cathedral Dublin and New Dublin Voices.  As a freelance broadcaster and speaker he has presented feature programmes, opera broadcasts and concerts for RTÉ Lyric FM, and also given courses on opera studies for the UCD Adult Education Centre.

Michael and attendees from around the world look forward to the IAML International Conference which will offer a wonderful opportunity to share and explore new ideas in the provision of access to music resources, and also to showcase music collections and services across the island of Ireland.