L TO R: Firstsource employees Sharon White, Aoife White and Nate McCartney have been selected to showcase their talent at the ‘Music City!’ festival in Derry~Londonderry on June 21

FIRSTSOURCE Solutions, one of Northern Ireland’s largest private sector employers, is set to showcase local talent as part of its sponsorship of City of Culture’s ‘Music City!’ festival celebration event in Derry/londonderry later this year.

The global Business Process Outsourcer, who employs over 2,000 people in Belfast and Londonderry, is sponsoring the singer-songwriter stage at the ‘Music City!’ festival on June 21st.

And three talented Firstsource employees have been selected following a competition judged by music industry experts to perform alongside other professionals on the stage at the event.

The two joint winners were Nate McCartney and Aoife White, with Sharon White in third place, who have all secured their place in the Music City festival.

“City of Culture is very important for the local area and is a good platform to give Firstsource colleagues the chance to develop their musical talent. We are encouraging our employees to get involved with a number of activities with Firstsource throughout the year to mark the City of Culture,” said Fraida Silver, Marketing Director of Firstsource Solutions.

The Firstsource music competition had a huge response from aspiring musicians and also included a series of workshops with singer/songwriter Paddy Nash to boost confidence, inspire and develop skills further.

The judges of the Firstsource music competition were Charlotte Dryden, Oh Yeah centre, Paddy Glasgow from well known Glasgowberry music festival and Stephen McCauley, BBC Radio Ulster and 6 music, who were all very impressed with the standard of Firstsource musicians.

The Firstsource finalists have also received an extra prize boost from Arts and Business NI worth over £5,000, including instrument vouchers, studio recording sessions, CD production, additional gigs during the City of Culture and mentoring sessions with industry experts- all which will put them firmly on the road to performance success.

Brona Whittaker from Arts and Business, Northern Ireland commented: ”This event is just the type of partnership between the business community and the City of Culture events that we at Arts and Business Northern Ireland want to encourage.”