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Mostly Cloudy College student to film Irish documentary
Mervosh to highlight how music prompts acceptance, change
If you think that one person can’t make a difference, think again. Emily Mervosh, a 20-year-old junior at Boston College, was watching a documentary in music theory class when she had an idea.
After hours of research, fundraising and planning, Mervosh, a W.T. Clarke graduate, will travel to Ireland next month with college friend Hunter White and film a documentary highlighting the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland.
Established in 1995, the Cross Border Orchestra is a peace initiative that brings together 120 young musicians from throughout the country – north and south.
Protestant and Catholic Irish have a long history of violence and animosity which once deeply divided the isle. This friction has eased greatly since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but the formation of the orchestra brings together children from these different backgrounds to work as one, an idea that led to international recognition as “one of Ireland’s flagship peace initiatives.”
Mervosh isn’t Irish, but she grew up playing music, particularly orchestral percussion and piano, and is interested to see how music can bring people together and inspire change.
“I’ve always believed that the arts, and specifically music, has a purpose beyond just entertainment,” she said.
Mervosh said she became interested in Irish culture because her college has an extensive Irish studies program, and after learning about the Cross Border Orchestra, contacted Dr. Ciaran Grant, co-chair for the orchestra who lives in New York.
Grant grew up near Dundalk, the birthplace of the orchestra, and said of the program, “I think this is a massive undertaking people need to know about. There’s nothing like it.”
He helped Mervosh establish contacts in Ireland and a plan to create the documentary was formed.
Later, Mervosh told White about the project and he also developed an interest.
White, who lives in Florida, took a basic cinematography class in college and is of partial Irish decent. “I really wanted to do a little more outside the classroom with film,” he said about joining Mervosh’s project. “It’s also like going to see the homeland.”
