Protected time: Sorcha McCague reflects on her Navigator Residency at Tinahely Courthouse

Being awarded an IMC Navigator residency in Tinahely Court House, Co. Wicklow was a huge honour for me. Having isolated, protected quiet time to create is one of the most rewarding and satisfying feelings for an artist. Ahead of the Navigator Residency I had the opportunity to have meetings with Aoife Concannon (IMC) and Kieran O'Toole ( Director of the Courthouse) which gave me additional support to know what to expect, and what other previous artist had spent their time doing.

They both motivated me to use this time in a way that would benefit my daily artistic practice - developing some of my ideas that I wanted to expand, as well as meeting with local artists and inviting some community involvement.

Based on this, I had some residency goals in mind which included:

• Finishing writing my first composition for a jazz quartet (with harp as the main instrument of course!)
• Meeting with a previous IMC Navigator artist (vocalist and creator Ríona Sally Hartmann ) and having the opportunity to deliver a workshop for local children
• Dedicated practise time with my instrument, focusing on use of electronic sounds with harp

On my first day of the residency I was greeted by Kieran from the Courthouse and Caitriona from the IMC team - we had a nice chat about the days ahead.

The village itself is a quiet and friendly place with beautiful unspoilt surrounding nature. Every morning and evening included walks despite the weather warnings to break up the schedule a little for the fresh Wicklow air!

Kieran O'Toole, director of the Courthouse, was so helpful from start to finish throughout my time there.

He kindly set up a nice sound system for me on my first day which meant I could spend some time working on experimental electronic sounds with the harp - something I had wanted to do so I could develop the role of these different sounds as part of improvised performances on the harp.

I had never had so much time to experiment with this type of equipment which was fantastic, and something I will continue to explore and develop in my creative path.

The highlight of the residency for me was meeting with the very talented Ríona Sally Hartmann who was previous Navigator artist in Tinahely.

She has a wealth of experience in conducting and curating workshops with children in particular with complex needs. Her active work shows the powerful therapeutic role of music with children and also how the language of music can bring such joy to the most vulnerable.

I had little experience in this type of work, but it was something I wanted to gain confidence in alongside an established artist in this field.

Towards the end of the residency, Kieran helped us organise a workshop with one of the local schools and we had a group of around 16 students who attended with varying levels of complex needs.

We played and sang some songs (harp and voice) with some interesting improvisation games led by Riona, which invited all the students to participate. It was a huge success, and we were delighted with the feedback from the teachers and the students which was truly heartwarming for me.

I was delighted that during this residency I had the opportunity to put the final touches on an original jazz composition I wrote for harp, flute, and drums which I hope to write as part of a suite over the next year. I look forward to bringing this new music to future audiences.

Overall I was so happy that for the most part all of my personal goals of the residency were achieved - the feeling of satisfaction was unmeasurable on the final day! Tinahely has a special place in my heart for life now.

A huge thank you to all of the IMC team and Kieran O Toole for their support . I look forward to returning to the Courthouse in the future, especially to see the completed renovation work.