Our students range in age from three to eighty-something. While we welcome those who study music for enjoyment (and offer a variety of instrumental, singing, theory and music technology courses for beginners), we provide training for those who want to make a career of music and offer tuition in many instruments, voice and music theory to performance or teaching diploma level and beyond. And amateur and professional musicians and performing groups from all over the world have used our practice facilities.

In addition to the tuition that we offer in our city centre facilities and online, the New School has four external programmes bringing music to the broader community:

• An Outreach Programme of interactive music and cultural workshops and longer-term courses that since 2001 have taken place at several hundred schools, youth centres and other organisations in Dublin and around the country. The goal of our Outreach Programme is to provide opportunities for music tuition and active music making that may not otherwise be available in schools or the local community. Our intention is to expand young people’s musical knowledge and encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image and a respect for their own and others’ cultural heritage.
• A Music at Work Programme, providing convenient and affordable music courses taking place in Dublin-area workplaces. We have extensive experience running group music courses for adults, both inside and outside the New School, and we have provided group tuition to well over 20,000 adult learners since the school’s founding.
• The Waltons World Masters Series, which has, since 2003, brought to Ireland some of the world’s most extraordinary musicians and performing groups for concerts, workshops, masterclasses and public interviews.
• The annual Waltons RTÉ lyric fm Music for Schools Competition, a national competition and celebration of music in Irish schools. Open to all Irish primary and post-primary schools, this non-profit initiative is designed to support and reward music-making in schools and at the same time encourage schools to develop their music programmes and make music accessible to as many young people as possible. The Competition culminates each year with a Finalists Concert in the National Concert Hall. Since the Competition began, schools from every county in the Republic of Ireland have participated in it.

Collaboration with leading music, arts and other organisations in Ireland is an important aspect of what we do. The New School has worked on several projects – either directly or through our Outreach Programme, the Waltons World Masters Series or the Waltons Music for Schools Competition – with such organisations as:

Musical promise and achievement are rewarded at the New School through substantial scholarships and prizes, including three full-year tuition scholarships – Young Student of the Year, Mature Student of the Year and Most Promising Beginner – awarded annually. We are also the only music school in Ireland offering scholarships specifically for mature students and beginners. See Scholarships • Prizes for more information.

If you want to prepare for a career in music; if you want to learn to play an instrument or sing (or to become a better instrumentalist or singer); if you want to understand and appreciate music, in all its varieties and forms, more deeply; or if you simply want to participate in the joy of music-making, Waltons New School of Music is here to serve you.

John Mardirosian
Director