Katie Doyle, Brooke Rea and Ellie Brennan participating in the St Leo’s College jazz improvisation masterclass

ST LEO’S College, Carlow was delighted to welcome Issie Barratt, a leading UK jazz musician to the school recently. Issie is an internationally active award-winning composer, musician, producer and educator.

Ranked by BBC Radio 4’s Power List as one of the 40 most influential women in the music industry, she led a group of brass and woodwind players in a really engaging improvisation session in the school hall. Her visit was facilitated by Music Generation Carlow, which aims to make music and the learning of music accessible to all students.

The masterclass was a unique and inspirational opportunity for creative young musicians in the college to take their creative music-making to the next level. Issie worked with the group, helping them to explore their creative ideas and develop their compositional skills, thus enabling them to form their own signature musical style.

Trisha Bowe, Katie Doyle, Brooke Rea, Ellie Brennan, Issie Barrett, music teacher Carrie McCarthy and Gavin Barr from Music Generation at the jazz improvisation masterclass

The music department in St Leo’s College is very much looking forward to collaborating with Issie and Music Generation Carlow again in the near future.