On The Town: Madeleine Dolan (aged nine), from Athenry, Co Galway, dressed as a doll with red cheeks and an elaborate hairdo, was the first to perform. "What do you see, you people gazing at me?/ You see a doll on a music box that's run by a key," she sang in a pure, clear voice.
The opening number in the Permanent TSB High Achiever Awards Gala Concert cast a spell on all those gathered in the Katherine Brennan Hall of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin on Tuesday night.
The talent of some of the participants "would put contestants in The X Factor to shame," said Denis Casey, chief executive of Permanent TSB.
Almost 40,000 young performers were screened at centres all around Ireland this year, said Dorothy McCauley, supervisor of the RIAM office, which organises this annual event. Five regional concerts were held to give the finalists a platform to perform, then a shortlist of 350 was drawn up. These were auditioned and the final 20, "the crème de la crème", as described by John O'Conor, director of the RIAM, were asked to perform at the gala concert, attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern.
According to Patrick Holloway (17), from Crosshaven, Co Cork, who wants to study drama when he finishes school, performing at the concert "gives you an extra boost of confidence". Other performers included Aisling Quaid (11), from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, who performed Allegro Brilliant, by Willem Ten Have, on the violin, and Órlaith Kent (12), from Dundalk, Co Louth, who recited the lady-in-waiting's speech to the Wicked Queen from the Brothers Grimm story. There wasn't a trace of nervousness.
"You remind me of my own childhood," said Ahern. "I started playing the piano at a very young age. I was a very reluctant pupil." Giving up the piano at the age of 16 was, he added, "a huge regret".