August 4, 2022
Support the Center for Irish Music's Expansion and Improvement Project and help us make room for the next generation!
Irish music has the power to bring people together, in the best of times, and in the worst. During the height of the pandemic, the Center for Irish Music saw its student enrollment grow by an astonishing 35 percent, with more than 125 new students who took advantage of our quick pivot to online lessons and virtual workshops. Now that we’re back in the classroom, we’re bursting at the seams with growing demand for ensemble programs, performance spaces, instrument storage and more.
That’s why we’re “Making Room for the Next Generation” with a major classroom improvement project at our long-time home at the Celtic Junction Arts Center. Fueled by more than a decade of steady student growth, a supportive community, an exceptional faculty of 23 teaching artists, seamless in-person and virtual programs, and our largest-ever student ensemble groups, the next phase of the Center for Irish Music has been nearly 20 years in the making. Now is the time to invest in the future of Minnesota’s Irish music tradition.
Over the last 18 years, the support of our volunteers, donors, students, and friends has helped turn our community music school into the heart center of the Twin Cities’ thriving Irish music scene, handing down the tradition to a whole new generation of music makers through accessible programs, exceptional teaching, and an extraordinary network of friends and fans who’ve helped us to grow along the way.
![Lobby 1 Lower level lobby](https://www.centerforirishmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Lobby-1.jpg)
![Recital Hall Updated Rendering Recital Hall / Multipurpose Classroom](https://www.centerforirishmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Recital-Hall-Updated-Rendering.jpg)
We invite you to join us on this journey with a capital contribution to support the beautiful new classrooms and community gathering spaces we have planned at the Center for Irish Music. Thanks to the commitment of several generous donors and our Board of Directors, we’re already half-way toward our $300,000 project goal! Your gift can help us start work on this transformative project and help us meet our community's needs for years to come.
If you are interested in learning more about how your support for the CIM's next phase can help us connect the Irish music community in new and meaningful ways as we meet our mission of “handing down the tradition", contact Norah Rendell.