School Awards

Abigail McDonagh won the Catherine Judge Memorial Award for 2014.

Isobel Howard-Cordone (16), student of Ronald Masin, has been awarded the Phillip F Walsh Memorial Prize for Ireland for her Grade 8 results. This award is conferred to candidates who obtain the highest marks in each of Grades 7 and 8 amongst all practical subjects. Her name will be published in the ABRSM's Annual Review for 2013.

At the Festival of Youth Orchestras, organized by the IAYO and held in the Auditorium of the National Concert Hall on the 4th of February 2012, the YES School of Music received a 'Special Award' Prize to celebrate the launch of Third Edition, a CD recorded by the Young European Strings Chamber Orchestra (YESCO) under the baton of Ronald Masin. Third Edition was released in December 2011.

David Tobin (15) has been awarded a Gold Bursary by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, in acknowledgement of his success in the Grade 8 Violin examination in 2010. Congratulations to David for this well-deserved accolade.

For the second year in a row, Isobel Howard-Cordone (13) has been selected for a Gold Bursary by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, this time in acknowledgement of her success in the Grade 7 Violin examination in 2009, in which she obtained one of the highest marks throughout the UK and Ireland. Well done to Isobel for this outstanding achievement.

Isobel Howard-Cordone (12), student of Ronald Masin, has been awarded the Phillip F Walsh Memorial Prize for Ireland for her Grade 7 results. This award is conferred to candidates who obtain the highest marks in each of Grades 7 and 8 amongst all practical subjects. Her name will be published in the ABRSM's Annual Review for 2009.

Maria Kelemen being conferred the 'Businesswoman of the Year Award' by the Irish-Hungarian Business Association in Trinity College, Dublin, June 2009.

Isobel Howard-Cordone (12) has been selected for a Gold Bursary by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, in acknowledgement of her success in the Grade 6 Violin examination in 2008, in which she obtained one of the highest marks throughout the UK and Ireland. Isobel is a student of Prof. Ronald Masin at the YES School of Music.

Claire Austen (12) received the Silver Bursary for the same Grade 6 Violin examination. Claire is also a student of Prof. Masin.

David Tobin has won the Second Prize offered by the National Concert Hall for an upcoming young talent, presented by Anne-Sophie Mutter.

David Tobin started playing the violin at the age of four and began studying with Maria Kelemen at the age of eight at the Young European Strings (YES) School of Music. Since September 2006, he has been studying with Prof. Ronald Masin at the YES.

His biggest achievement in Ireland has been to win all four junior age group categories at Feis Ceoil in four consecutive years. Internationally, he has enjoyed success as well. In May 2005, he won Third Prize in the under 10 category of the Jeunesses Musicales International Competition in Bucharest, Romania, and he won a special prize in the under 14 category of the Noor Muusik, International Young Musician Violin Competition in Tallinn, Estonia in April 2007.

David has performed as a soloist in Spain, Hungary, Italy and Belgium as part of the YES School of Music tours. He was the leader of the YES Intermediate Orchestra before joining the YES Chamber Orchestra in September 2006.

In 2007, David was the recipient of the Associated Board Silver Bursary as a result of attaining one of the highest marks in his Grade 6 exam.

He has appeared on RTÉ radio and television (Seoige & O'Shea, News2Day, Nationwide and The Eleventh Hour) and has performed at áras an Uachtaráin as a guest of President McAleese.

In summer 2008, he was invited to give solo recitals at the Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon festivals in Ireland. In April 2010, he was invited to give three concerts as part of the International Young Stars Festival in Valka, Latvia.

Since December 2008, David has been a member of the NYOI Junior Orchestra where he became the leader of the second violins in his first year of membership. He was awarded a MIFI (Musical Instrument Fund of Ireland) violin for the purpose of study for a three-year period in 2006 and is performing on this instrument presently.

At the occasion of his recent state visit to Ireland, President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Ferenc Mádl, awarded Ms. Maria Kelemen, Director of the Dublin-based Young European Strings (YES) Music School, the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. Hungarian-born musician and music teacher Maria Kelemen founded the Young European Strings Music School in Dublin in 1988 with the aim of developing early musical education of children and providing professional instrumental coaching to young students with the approach based on the famous Kodály-methodology (Zoltán Kodály: Hungarian composer, music researcher and teacher, 1882-1967). Since its foundation, YES has developed into one of the most renowned private music schools in Ireland. Over the years, Maria Kelemen has taught music to hundreds of Irish and international students and many have since become professional musicians. President Mádl granted Ms Kelemen one of the highest Hungarian state awards as a recognition of the latter's decade-long dedicated work and enthusiasm promoting Hungarian music and the Kodály-methodology abroad.

The YES School of Music has received the prestigious IAYO/PENNEYS Youth Orchestra Award for 'ORGANISATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT' in recognition of our tour of Hungary.