Michelle Fleming

With each concert, you grow in confidence and you grow as a musician. Whatever the amount of practice you have done in preparation, you learn so much more in front of an audience.

Michelle Fleming is married to Eoin Schmidt-Martin and they create half of the hugely successful Carducci Quartet. They are winners of various competitions and have played in some of the most prestigious venues around the world, such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London and at numerous festivals including the Cheltenham Music Festival. In 2013 their release of Alexander Raskatov’s Monk’s Music was listed as one of the top 5 classical recordings of the year by The Irish Times.

I think that there is a feeling of pride in being on the stage of the National Concert Hall and representing your county and your school. It makes you raise your game and is an important milestone and a memorable experience.

How did you become involved with youth orchestras and the festival?
I believe my first experience at the festival was with the Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra. I had begun studying the violin at the Cork School of Music at a young age and progressed through the various string orchestras there as I got older. When I was around 11, I had my first experience in a full orchestra – it was the Cork Youth Orchestra. I can still remember the excitement of being surrounded by so many fascinating sounds for the first time. At 13, I became a member of the Junior National Youth Orchestra and that was a huge thrill. To be performing a monumental piece like Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony with Ireland’s best young musicians was an unbelievable experience.

Can you remember the first time you played at the festival?
I remember being very excited to travel to Dublin with the CSMSO for the festival performance at the NCH. There was a great atmosphere, not only within our own orchestra, but amongst all of the young people there. I remember feeling a sense of pride in our playing.

What impact did the National Concert Hall have on you? Was it the first time you had played on such a big stage?
It wasn’t the first time for me, as I had played there as a member of the Junior National Youth Orchestra and then the National Youth Orchestra. However, it is a very prestigious hall, with a very special atmosphere and so it is always great fun. More recently, performing there in the Carducci Quartet, it has brought back very fond memories of my youth orchestra days.

Do you think this prepared you for future performances? How does the experience of performing then compare to now?
I think it is important as a student to grab every performance opportunity you can, wherever that is. With each concert you grow in confidence and you grow as a musician. Whatever the amount of practice you have done in preparation, you learn so much more on front of an audience.
Performing now is a little different, probably because I do it so often! In many ways, the confidence in what I am doing on the concert platform has come through years and years of being on stage. As a professional performing about 100 concerts a year I still feel excitement when I walk out on stage in front of the audience.

Did being part of the festival and youth orchestras in general help the transition from amateur to professional?
I think it definitely did. Any opportunity to perform at the National Concert Hall is extremely important for young players. In particular, I was very lucky to be invited by the IAYO to perform at the festival with the Quay Quintet after we won the Chamber Music Category of the RTE Millennium Musician of the Future competition. It was an absolutely fabulous experience for us to perform Vaughan Williams Phantasy Quintet to a full auditorium on such a special occasion. Having gone on to have a career in performing chamber music, I believe this was a unique and very valuable opportunity.

Are you still involved in the festival? If so, has it changed much since you played there?
Being based in the UK now we don’t have the chance to be involved directly these days, but I am honoured to be invited to be an ambassador for the IAYO and look forward to supporting the organisation however I can.

What was the best thing about being involved in the festival?
I think that there is a feeling of pride in being on the stage of the National Concert Hall and representing your county and your school. It makes you raise your game and is an important milestone and a memorable experience.

When you curated your first Carducci festival, did it bring back memories of being involved in youth orchestras and the festival when you were younger? Would your involvement have helped with your own festival at all?
The Carducci Festival doesn’t generally involve any orchestral concerts, though we do have an education project centred around the festival. We visit local schools in advance and prepare them to play in an orchestra of sorts, with all the schools coming together for a performance. Being part of a festival is a great feeling, whether that is as a student or as a professional.

You are heavily involved in youth work still; what would you say is the most important thing young players could get from involvement in music and youth orchestras?
There are so many benefits to young players from being involved in music and youth orchestras, I’m not sure where to begin! The experts have told us time and time again what a huge impact playing a musical instrument has on every area of a child’s learning. But being part of a group, large or small, has something very special to offer. There is so much to gain: children learn essential skills like leadership and responsibility, they gain confidence, they learn how to interact with others both on and off stage, how to take direction, how to give direction, how to accept a challenge and achieve a goal. And the best part is, they are playing music and enjoying themselves and will have a passion for music for the rest of their lives. On top of all that, they will most likely make friends for life.