70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS IN THE MUSIC BUILDING! 
05 July 2019
Krista Gallagher, Student Recruitment Officer for Music at Queen’s (and BMus graduate of the Class of ’99), reports on the Music Department’s 70th birthday celebrations.
‘Thank you for organising a really wonderful evening! Brought back so many lovely memories!’ (AMcG); ‘what a great walk down memory lane for us all!’ (DS); ‘an incredible night – one we’ll never forget!’ (KS) – just some of the many comments from alumni following the recent ‘BMus@70’ event.
The BMus degree in the Music Department turned 70 this year, so, we decided that this was a great excuse for a party!
It was agreed that we should have a reunion dinner on Saturday 29th June open to ANY graduates of ANY music degree over the past 70 years. The idea behind the evening was not to have concerts or performances, but to catch up, reminisce and renew acquaintances and friendships.
The ‘BMus@70’ event was advertised via social media and through the vast network of the Development and Alumni Relations Office who emailed out to all the Music graduates on their database.
Tickets for the dinner were sold online via Eventbrite. In total there were 90 past students and staff in attendance.
The old McMordie Hall was the venue for the arrival drinks reception from 6.30pm. There were notice boards all around the room with photographs of past concerts, formals, graduations and groups of students throughout the years.
Many of these delightful photographs were sent to us in the lead up to the event by former students! They really did bring back many memories and were great talking points throughout the evening.
Lovely background music during the reception was provided by current undergrad student Sophie Giraudeau, who sang and played keyboard up on the balcony of the hall.
After the reception everyone gathered on the front steps of the building for a group photo, in tribute to the time-honoured tradition of taking class graduation photos on the same steps.
At 7.30pm it was time for the main meal which was held in the beautiful Harty Room. The venue – with its a splendid hammer-beam vaulted roof, beautiful oak beams and a stunning stained glass window – had been decorated in a grand style and really looked spectacular. Quite apt having the meal here as when the Music building was the Students’ Union in the 1920s, the Harty Room was used as their Dining Room.
Head of School Professor Wil Verhoeven welcomed everyone to the dinner on behalf of the School of Arts, English and Languages. After the meal there were wonderful speeches full of nostalgia and funny stories from the likes of past pupil John Toal (BBC), Professor Emeritus Jan Smaczny and ending with Professor Piers Hellawell.
Some alumni and former teaching staff expressed regret that they were unable to attend due to ill health, living abroad, work commitments or being on holiday but sent their very fond regards and asked to be remembered on the evening.
It was a fabulous and fun evening full of reminiscing and re-connecting with old friends, teachers and colleagues! Several groups from the evening have now arranged to meet up with each other again, and we hope that those music department connections and networks will continue to re-unite past classmates and friends for years to come.
Advice and guidance on organising class reunions can be found on the Development and Alumni Relations Office website or by contacting Alumni Relations Officer, Natasha Sharma.
To submit graduate news items, or for general enquiries about this story, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queen's University Belfast or telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.
A wide selection of photographs from the BMus@70 event – taken by Declan Roughan of Press Eye – can be found on the QUB Music Facebook page.
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