Céad Míle Fáilte!
Animado Events wishes you a thousand welcomes to the Emerald Isle! Bands, choirs, and orchestras of all sizes are invited to take part in the Emerald Isle Elite Festival in stunning Limerick, Ireland.
Ensembles from around the world will come together in June 2025 for workshops and rehearsals led by some of the top conductors in the field.
The festival culminates with a performance at the University of Limerick Concert Hall.
The Emerald Isle Elite Festival Includes:
- 4 nights lodging
- 2 meals/day
- local cultural experience
- private workshop with clinician
- festival band or choir experience
- ensemble performance
- festival-related transportation
$949/performer $799/non-performer
Contact the Animado Events Team for More Information
About Our Guest Conductors
Dutch composer and conductor Johan de Meij (Voorburg, 1953) received his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, where he studied trombone and conducting.
His award-winning oeuvre of original compositions, symphonic transcriptions and film score arrangements has garnered him international acclaim and have become permanent fixtures in the repertoire of renowned ensembles throughout the world.
Symphony No. 1 The Lord of the Rings was awarded the prestigious Sudler Composition Prize and has been recorded by myriad ensembles including The London Symphony Orchestra, The North Netherlands Orchestra, The Nagoya Philharmonic and The Amsterdam Wind Orchestra.
His Symphony No. 2 The Big Apple, Symphony No. 3 Planet Earth, Symphony No. 4 Sinfonie der Lieder as well as his solo concertos, T-Bone Concerto (trombone), UFO Concerto (euphonium) and Casanova (cello) have been enthusiastically received at many of the world’s finest venues.
Before devoting his time exclusively to composing and conducting, Johan de Meij enjoyed a successful professional career as a trombone and euphonium player, performing with major orchestras and ensembles in The Netherlands.
He is in high demand as a guest conductor and lecturer, frequently invited to speak about and perform his own works. In 2010, he was appointed regular guest conductor of the Simón Bolívar Youth Wind Orchestra in Caracas, Venezuela – part of the celebrated Venezuelan educational system El Sistema.
He currently maintains posts with both the New York Wind Symphony and the Kyushu Wind Orchestra in Fukuoka, Japan as their principal guest conductor. Johan is founder and CEO of his own publishing company Amstel Music, established in 1989.
When not traveling, Johan divides his time between his Hudson Valley home and Manhattan- and Amsterdam apartments with his wife and muse Dyan, cats Lenny, Gustavo, Tosca & Lulu and doggy Lucy.
Alex Gartner serves as the Artistic & Executive Director of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus. This organization impacts 25,000 individuals each year throughout Northwest Florida, including over 5,000 youth.
In this role, he also serves the American Choral Directors Association as the Children’s and Youth R&R Coordinator for the Southern Region. He is also an all-state coordinator for the Florida Music Education Association. Mr. Gartner previously served on the national arts education council with Americans for the Arts.
An active clinician, guest conductor, and composer, his arrangements are available through many reputable publishers.
Follow Gartner on social media if you want to see pictures of his dog, knock-off Cincinnati chili recipes, and repostings of his wife’s “viral” food blog @ShirstAteThat.