Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra Raises Funds for Ukraine

Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra Raises Funds for Ukraine with a beautiful fundraising video performance. Pictured above are the Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra/

Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra perform the beautiful ‘Melody’ by Ukrainian composer Miroslav Skoryk for Ukraine

By I Love Limerick correspondent Caoimhe Siochru

The Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra are raising funds for Ukraine through their music! They recorded a piece by a Ukrainian composer to collect money to help the relief effort in Ukraine.

In their fundraising video, Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra are playing the beautiful ‘Melody’ by Miroslav Skoryk who is a Ukrainian composer.

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This piece was recently performed by the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the University Concert Hall in Limerick and in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Oonagh Keogh, who is a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the director of Ceol na Mara, really loved the piece when she played it, and strongly felt it would suit her youth orchestra. She then came up with the idea of the orchestra recording a performance of it to raise funds to help Ukraine.

On Sunday March 20th, the orchestra met and during one rehearsal, recorded the piece. Ceol na Mara stated, “It was a challenge to get it together at such short notice, but Oonagh knew these young musicians would give it their very best effort and the result is a spike tingling rendition of this emotional yet inspirational piece.”

The chosen charity is the Limerick Redemptorists who have been raising money to bring in vital funds to directly support families trapped in the war zone in Ukraine, to keep a safe corridor open for those fleeing and to provide food and aid for the most vulnerable who cannot run from the bombs. 

Limerick Redemptorist Church has organised an appeal for Ukraine to aid refugees fleeing conflict in their country. The appeal aims to offer shelter, food, and medical support to those travelling away from the conflict and towards bordering areas.

The Redemptorists across Ukraine and the surrounding areas of the Ukrainian border are appealing for financial aid as the numbers of fleeing refugees are increasing daily. Limerick Redemptorist are urging the people of Limerick to donate to Limerick Redemptorist Ukraine appeal, which will be used to stock up essentials for the refugees fleeing Ukraine.

One of the main recipients of donated Limerick money is the Redemptorist monastery in Kharkiv, where 40 orphans, ten of their carers and more than 40 adult refugees are being cared for.

So far, the money raised by the Limerick appeal has bought more than 64 tonnes of medical supplies, shelter and food. 

But they need more as a big project this week is to get a container ship to bring specialised hospital equipment in to help treat the ill and wounded so every donation helps.

Ceol na Mara commented, “As of Tuesday morning 22nd March we are delighted to have already raised €1,855 and the appeal has only been posted a few hours. 

We are touched by people’s generosity so far and would love to keep the momentum going and raise as much as we can for this worthy cause.”

The Ceol na Mara Chamber Youth Orchestra is a youth string orchestra based in Limerick Ireland with 28 members ranging in ages from 8 to 18. Under the direction of Oonagh Keogh, the orchestra meets to rehearse every couple of weeks in the Irish Chamber Orchestra Studio in the University of Limerick. 

For more stories on Ukraine, go HERE

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