The best and the bravest performers were the youngest. They stole the show. The senior infant class of Ballysax National School, which is on the Curragh in Co Kildare, opened the gala performance concert in the newly restored Dagg Hall of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
They performed Zoo Street by Larry O'Loughlin and afterwards chatted away like seasoned professionals to the President, Mrs McAleese.
Yvonne Lai (8), from Clondalkin, Dublin, who played the piano, also wowed the audience. And Kerry Stamp (10), a soprano from Carndonagh, Co Donegal - in ringlets and a gorgeous Gone with the Wind-style dress - who sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow, was another star, along with Shannon Biondi (11), from Oughterard, Co Galway, who played the violin. The 14 performers at the concert were chosen from more than 300 Irish Permanent High Achiever Award winners this year.
Of course, the older performers were brilliant too, just not as cute. Dominic Mulvany, father of two from Greystones, Co Wicklow, played Beethoven on piano, and Jonathan Ferris, baritone, from Killorglin, Co Kerry, sang Bring Him Home. With performances also from Elizabeth Carville (16), Mary Connaughton (14), Hazel McGarrigle (17) and Edel Heverin (17), the evening was deemed a success.