Monday 28th July - Friday 1 August 2025 | 10am – 1pm | Ulster University, York Street, BT15 1ED

Use EARLYBIRD-2025 to avail of the Earlybird discount and save over £50 on selected masterclasses. Discount ends 1 April 2025.

We have a fantastic Summer School accommodation offer starting at only £349 for 7 nights in Belfast City Centre, click here to find out more.

Mick McAuley is an Irish musician, composer and songwriter who has recorded and toured internationally for many years alongside being a long-time member of Irish-American ensemble SOLAS. While his music is rooted firmly in the Irish tradition, he has been part of a movement which continues to push the musical boundaries of that tradition to bring Irish music to a wider and more diverse audience around the world. 

Dervish co-founder and accordionist Shane Mitchell hails from a family steeped in tradition. He grew up surrounded by Irish traditional music and dance with his father Jim a fiddler, his maternal grandmother an accordionist and mother, Sheila, a well-known Irish dancing teacher.  In his younger years, Shane formed Poitin, traditional music group, with Liam Kelly while still at school. The level of success and media attention Poitin received was remarkable but their young age prevented them from capitalizing on their success. Since then, Shane has travelled the world over performing with Dervish who received a Lifetime Achievement award from the BBC, and the band has been described by the BBC as “an icon of Irish music”.

The Summer School’s team of tutors is made up of internationally renowned performers with proven track records as teachers and educationalists. The primary means of teaching and learning will be ‘by ear’ with an emphasis in the less experienced classes of assisting pupils to develop oral/aural skills in addition to instrumental competency and developing core repertoire. All classes are designed for intermediate to advanced (minimum 2 years instrument experience) adults and children over 6 years of age except beginner instrument classes, whistle and sing, set dancing, sean nós dancing, traditional singing & sean nós singing which are suitable for all levels including beginners.