Welcome to the Thomond Wind Ensemble’s first-ever blog post! As the band becomes involved in an increasing number of activities, we feel the need to share our news in a more direct, comprehensive way.
We hope you enjoy!
As you probably know, the Thomond Wind Ensemble was formed in 2024 by Dr. Andrew Jordan to fill the need for a high-level community wind ensemble in the Mid-West region of Ireland, and it has gone from strength to strength since then: performing several concerts a year, collaborating with Irish and international ensembles, and picking up awards at each of its appearances at the South of Ireland Band Championships and the Irish Association of Brass and Concert Bands National Band Championships. And now we add one more item to our list of achievements: This summer, the Thomond Wind Ensemble made its international debut in Genzano di Lucania in the South of Italy when several of its members performed at the local Maria Santissima delle Grazie festival.
The TWE community’s friendship with Genzano’s band ‘Complesso Bandistico Fedele Zotta’ dates back to 2019, when nearby Matera was the European City of Culture. Among the events that year was a massed bands performance featuring bands from around Europe, each one partnered with a local band with the aim of establishing transcultural friendships and connections.
One of these international bands was the St. Patrick’s Brass Band of Galway, whose conductor Michael Dooley and trumpet player Andrew Jordan are both now members of TWE. Their generous hosts were Fedele Zotta and the Genzano band.
Our two maestri were particularly enamoured of the south of Italy, and made a point of returning to Genzano each summer to visit their friends in the Zotta band—sometimes with fellow Limerick musicians in tow. In 2022 the Boherbuoy Brass and Reed Band of Limerick, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Jordan, travelled to Genzano in August to participate in Genzano’s local festival alongside Complesso Bandistico Fedele Zotta. The following St Patrick’s Day, a small contingent of Genzano band members travelled to Limerick and Galway to participate in our local parades…and the cultural and musical exchange has continued ever since!
This year, two Irish groups travelled together: St. Patrick’s Brass Band, returning in its full complement for the first time since 2019; and members of the Thomond Wind Ensemble, many of whom have continued to return to Genzano every year since 2022 and many of whom travelled to Italy for the first time.
We enjoyed an action-packed week, performing concerts in Genzano and Pietragala and providing music for Sunday Mass—and a few brave souls even endured the scorching heat to march and play in the processions through the town as part of the religious aspect of the festival. But it wasn’t all work: we also did some sight-seeing, watched a stunning display of Southern Italian fireworks, and ate so much pasta and pizza that we probably won’t need to eat again for at least a week!
As Fedele Zotta was fond of saying, “Una nota apre un mondo”—One note opens a world. All these friendships and experiences happened because of music, and because of the unique way it connects people across cultures and languages. It’s incredible to look back and think that, seven years later, this cultural relationship is not only staying strong—but continuing to grow!