FOR decades musician Felix Meagher has been bringing the joy of Celtic music and dance to upcoming generations, and for that he has been recognised with a coveted Order of Australia Medal.
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Music has always run in the veins of Mr Meagher, the co-founder of the Lake School of Celtic Music and Dance Koroit, but it wasn't until later in life that he discovered the music of his Irish heritage.
"I was always a musician and studied at university but I didn't really really know about my Irish background until I heard the music after growing up around classical and pop," he said.
"I wasn't raised in a conscious Irish family for a variety of reasons and when I heard the music I became a devotee, I learned to play it, joined bands and the rest is history."
Mr Meagher is a Melbourne-based composer and musician and is the manager and performer in the band Bushwahzee, which which has toured its one-day productions to nearly 2000 schools around Australia.
Mr Meagher became linked to the south-west area after marrying a local and raising four children in the area.
He co-founded the Lake School in 1999, has worked on thirty Port Fairy Folk Festivals in a variety of roles and recently has written and composed Barry Versus Kelly - a dramatic musical set around the hanging of Ned Kelly.
In 2009-2012 he wrote and composed the musical The Man They Call The Banjo with Dennis O'Keeffe, a dramatisation of Dennis's Allen & Unwin publication Waltzing Matilda, The Secret Life of Australia's Favourite Song.
In 2008 he worked with Baz Luhrmann and Angela Little on additional music for the movie Australia and in the 1980s worked as resident composer in Alice Springs, Geelong, and in Rockhampton where he wrote Crocodile Creek with Luhrmann, who was then a little-known 23-year-old director.
He has recently finished writing two new shows - The African Prince, and Runaway Priest - and is currently embarking on a comedy Adventure Before Dementia.
As a musician the gig lifestyle took him and his family to Melbourne, where he continued to be heavily involved in the Lake School, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the Koroit Irish Festival.
"We wanted our kids to learn Irish music and dance and so we started up the Lake School 21 years ago and it's just grown from there to be what it is today," Mr Meagher said.
He hoped the OAM, recognising his service to Celtic music and dance, would bring due recognition to the south-west.
"I hope whatever is reflected in this achievement will be good for the town of Koroit," he said.
"During lock down and with issues with mental health we are increasingly recognising the value of music and dance. It's possibly one of the most valuable things you can give yourself or anybody as an occupation or hobby.
"If it makes you happy it's good for you and it's good for the world."
Mr Meagher hopes to go ahead with the Lake School's 22nd anniversary celebration, with tickets to go on sale August 1.
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