He has yet to sit his final Leaving Cert exam but an 18-year-old student from Cork has received the single largest annual classical music in Ireland.

Listening, especially listening live, to a symphony orchestra moving through waves of music at full sail is to be borne by sound to another world, writes Gerard Howlin.

An independent report has recommended that neither of RTÉ’s two orchestras be closed, despite the severe financial constraints faced by the public service broadcaster.

A musician who died along with his partner as he tried to save him from drowning has been remembered as a talented and treasured colleague.