Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, agreed in March to become sole Patron of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Making the announcement, Séamus Crimmins, Executive Director, RTÉ Performing Groups, said: ‘The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is delighted that President Higgins has agreed to become the orchestra’s sole Patron. The President’s passion for the arts is well known, admired and respected and his advocacy of inclusiveness and creativity in communities chimes well with the work of the RTÉ NSO. The RTÉ NSO has been to the forefront of symphonic music since its formation in 1948. It has engaged with innumerable national and international performing artists and composers and its link with broadcasting is robust and indelible both at home and abroad. More recently the RTÉ NSO has forged creative partnerships with a wide range of communities ranging from schools, third level institutions and advanced young musicians to older people and community groups at local level. In the times ahead, the RTÉ NSO will, in the spirit of President Higgins’s inaugural speech, continue to support and celebrate creativity, resourcefulness and musical talent. It is with pride that the orchestra looks forward to its association with Michael D. Higgins as President of Ireland.’ Recognising Higgins’ lifelong contribution to, and support for, the arts, the Musicians’ Union of Ireland also welcomes this development. It was Higgins who established the independent PIANO (Provision and Institutional Arrangements Now for Orchestras and Ensembles) Review in the mid-1990s which, among other things, led to the enhanced re-positioning in RTÉ of the performing groups, including the NSO