In April this year, Duke Special joined the UCC school of music & theatre to perform with their Gamelan ensemble, a concert of new music, dance and traditional Javanese music at the Cork Opera House.

This Thursday at 6pm you will be able to find out how you can take part in the Gamelan as part of a course offered by the school of music & theatre. Whether you are an aspiring musican, a closet composer or just someone with a keen interest in music who would like to develop your knowledge, a course beginning soon at UCC Music Department provides a far-reaching perspective in the many facets of one of life’s more enjoyable pursuits.

Since it was first established in 2002, the course has not only included students hoping to go on to study the music degree at the university, but also tradespeople and professionals. The course also welcomes adults, who wish to re-discover their passions for music or who may now have a little time aside to try something new.

Initially a one-year certificate, the course's popularity has since extended to a two-year diploma with further credits towards entering the degree course. Starting in September, classes take place at the UCC Music Department in Sundays Well every Tuesday night over 24 weeks.

The course offers an inspired and exciting mix of subjects with modules from the history of music, aural recognition, music criticism, to performance. The performance area of the course encompasses some fascinating types of music; from Indonesian Gamelan through to African and Indian traditional music.

It doesn't matter whether you have a high level of music proficiency or you are starting from the beginning, everyone will be in the same boat when it comes to trying out and performing on the only full Gamelan set in Ireland!