Press Releases
BREAKTHROUGH BURSARY WINNERS ANNOUNCED
21 September 2012: At a special gala concert broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1, the winners of the 2012 RAAP | RTÉ Radio Breakthrough Bursary music competition were announced.
The competition, which was launched in Dublin in June by official supporters Christy Moore and Ryan Sheridan, saw hundreds of entries from musicians of all disciplines.
The RAAP | RTÉ Breakthrough Bursary competition is divided into four categories which aim to encompass all musical genres and ensure that musicians of every discipline are in with a chance of winning.
The overall winning acts, who were awarded €5,000 each in prize money as well as guaranteed air play during RTÉ Big Music Week in October, are as follows:
Neon Wolf
Pop | Rock | Dance Category
Hidden Highways
Country | Roots Category
Wayne Brennan
Traditional Irish | Folk Category
Carmen Browne
Classical Solo | Jazz Category
Nine runner-up prizes of €500 were also awarded.
Submissions were be judged by an extensive panel of some of the most highly respected figures working in the music industry today: Mary Black, Fiachna Ó Braonáin (Hothouse Flowers), Niall Byrne (Nialler9.com) Ciarán Tourish (Altan), Richie Buckley, Priscilla Kotey (Warner Music), Paul Walsh (RoySeven), Cormac Battle, Jenny Huston, Rick O’Shea, Cathal Murray, Jacqui Carroll, Liz Nolan, Neansaí Ní Choisdealbha, Seán Ó hÉanaigh, Gerry O’Connor, Eamonn Lenihan, Niall Carroll, Liz Nolan, Celia Donoghue and Gail Henry. A full list of judges’ biographies is available on www.rte.ie/breakthrough.
For full details please visit www.rte.ie/breakthrough
For more information on Recorded Artists Actors Performers please visit www.raap.ie
To join the conversation on Twitter use #BreakthroughBursary
Last night’s gala concert featuring performances from all 12 finalists is available to listen to via the RTÉ Radio Player