Music students are going Gaelic

The house was packed at Kulturní dům Vltavská on a balmy evening this past August. Intense lights forced sweat to bead on the brows of those moving to and fro arranging chairs onstage for an Irish music and dance concert sponsored by Country Radio and Jameson. Flautists, whistlers, pipers, guitarists and banjo players set up in front of an 18-strong bodhrán (Irish drum) half circle, myself among them. Nervous hands, some of which had only just started playing their instruments a week prior, strummed, banged, plucked and keyed their way through a jig, a reel, a ballad and even a not-exactly Irish polka.

The concert, the culmination of a week's intensive study, which also saw performances from some of the greats of the Irish dance and music world, took place thanks to dancer, teacher and confessed Hibernophile Václav Bernard. He's the founder and director of Bernard's Summer School and Irish Music School, the music school having just launched this fall offering year-round tuition and on-demand courses.

The summer school has been around since 2001, however, though it was first focused on dance lessons only, with the music lessons introduced four years later. Over the years, the summer music classes have grown to include whistles, banjo, uilleann pipes, button accordion and harp, as well as sean-nós singing (sean-nós means "old style" in the Irish language).

"Enthusiasm for Celtic culture and music is very high at the moment," said Roman Kozák, a drum instructor at the school and a member of the Slovak band Keltieg. "And bodhrán playing is now very popular in the Czech Republic and Slovakia."

In fact, the percussion class is the by far the most popular of the music classes. 

Having learned the basics of Irish dancing through a class offered at the British Council 15 years ago, Bernard, along with his wife and daughters, soon started his own dance group, Rinceoirí. "[In 2001,] I opened the first school for Irish dancing in the Bohemian village of Sloup v Čechách as a means of recruitment for the dance group," Bernard said.

While only 35 dance enthusiasts joined the first course, year on year attendance grew, as did the instruction offered. By the second year, Irish dance professionals from Dutch and German schools were leading the Irish step, set dancing (a type of folk dance) and, more recently, sean-nós dance classes. 

"As public interest in the different dance styles grew," Bernard explained, "the more we needed to collaborate with Irish musicians." At the time, players of Irish music were not easily available in the Czech Republic. This shortage of musicians inspired Bernard to offer musical instrument instruction at the school as a means to promote traditional Irish music starting with the violin, flute, guitar and bodhrán. 

Longtime dance student at the school Katka Báňová says the addition of music has been invaluable. "Today, I can't imagine the course without [the musicians]. They bring another kind of passion and flair to the school, and they help create a real atmosphere," she said. "The feeling is indescribable when the musicians and dancers meet for a session."

As amateur musicians began to demand further instruction, Bernard decided to offer select lessons during the full academic year.

"Often is the case that after the summer, one's drum or flute ends up collecting dust on top of the wardrobe," Bernard said. "I wanted to create an institution that would maintain the 'pressure' on keen players." 

Bernard is not a man to sit still for very long and is always thinking up ways to improve his school. The recent addition of Irish-language classes and plans to introduce further instrument instruction, such as the bouzouki, a sort of long-necked mandolin, are just a few of the developments planned.

This semester, the evening and weekend workshops focus on the tin whistle, fiddle and bodhrán, and there is also the possibility for interested students to learn the low whistle, banjo and guitar, if requested. Course instructors all hail from highly acclaimed Irish-style bands and are able to teach in Czech and English. Running until June 30, new students may enroll at any time at a cost of 250 Kč for three or more students and 350 Kč for one or two students per hour. 

James Gogarty can be reached at
features@praguepost.com