Devyn Fowles and Tessa Dalgety-Evans shared some wonderful Irish joy with a large audience at the recent Inter-college International Performance evening held at Knox College.
The special evening, held on Sunday, 5 August, was organised by Salmond College as part of the University's 2018 Inter-college Cultural Competition. Being the hosts, Salmond College warmly welcomed all present with a Maori waiata.
What followed was an amazing variety concert with 11 of the 15 Colleges participating. Items included a Middle Eastern belly dance, a Korean fan dance, a Samoan dance, an Irish dance and songs from Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, France and China.
St Margaret's was represented by Devyn (violin) and Tessa (cello and bodhrán) who masterfully played three incredible Irish items to a delighted audience.
I had never seen or heard a bodhrán before; it's an Irish framed drum with one side open-ended for one hand to be placed against the inside of the drum head to control the pitch and timbre. Together with the violin (Devyn), the bodhrán(Tessa) was amazing.
Their performance was of such high quality that Devyn and Tessa have been invited to provide the musical entertainment at the University's Inter-College Cultural and Sport Competition's Gala Dinner to be held at the end of September. They will play two Irish items on that occasion, under their chosen group name of 'Athenian Duo'.
St Margaret's has been very active this year in the Inter-college Cultural Competition and is doing extremely well as it is currently leading the points table. With the debating, literary and pool competitions yet to be decided, the College stands a very good chance of winning the overall cultural trophy this year.
(Story by the Master, Dr Charles Tustin)
