Home News Sibling quartet pull off string of amazing successes

Sibling quartet pull off string of amazing successes

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

A SUPREMELY talented string quartet of musical siblings from South Dublin is celebrating after notching up an incredible succession of wins in various competitions both here and abroad. In a truly amazing turn of events each of the four young children of Glenn and Susan White from Rathfarnham achieved first prizes in a number of national and international competitions within the space of 10 days earlier this year. At the beginning of March, three of the White children took first prizes in different categories in one of the country's most highly esteemed music competitions - the Feis Ceoil. Carla (16), who plays solo violin, managed to win first prize in no fewer than four categories in the under 18 section of the competition. Rory (14) who plays cello achieved first prize in the trio ensemble category while Killian (9) came first in the cello competition for under 11s. But incredibly, to cap off what had been an amazing trio of wins in domestic competition, their 12-year-old sister Phoebe won first prize in the under 14 section of the violin category of the Noor Muusik Young Musician competition held in Estonia. As well as being the only Irish competitor in the widely acclaimed event - in which she had to compete against other musicians from Eastern Europe and beyond - Phoebe was also the youngest person to compete in the final. The young musician told Southside People how she initially had to contain her excitement about the win. “I was absolutely delighted,” she enthused. “When I found out [that I'd won] I was in a room full of people and I wanted to scream but obviously I couldn't. All the family was delighted for me.” Phoebe's proud mum Susan, who was formerly a music teacher, told how she was getting a connecting flight in Denmark on her way to Estonia when she learned of the success of two of her other children, who had managed to win first prizes in the Feis Ceoil on the same day. “We got a text first of all to say Carla had won the Terry O'Connor [trophy],” Susan said. “Then I got a text from Killian to say he had won the under 11s. I knew they were both capable of finishing in near the top but it seemed amazing that they both won. “It was a bit surreal when Phoebe won,” she added. “I really couldn't believe it. They have been doing competitions for years and there have been a lot of disappointments along the way. I knew when she played her first round in the competition it was stunning. She played her best ever.” Dad Glenn revealed how all his children had instinctively wanted to play classical music from a very early age. Citing the example of his eldest daughter, he said: “Carla told Susan one day out of the blue when she was three years old that she wanted to take up violin. She was in the back garden one day and she was playing with two sticks and her mother asked her 'what are you doing?' and she said 'I am learning the violin'. “We don't really know where it came from, so we did our research and ended up sending her to the Young European Strings (YES) Music School in Templeogue. When Carla started she took to it so well we just thought it was natural to get the rest of them involved when they started showing interest as well.” Phoebe also started at the prestigious music school at the age of four. Both she and her eldest sister are currently students of renowned Irish violinist Fionnuala Hunt at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).