Allin studied classical guitar at the Cork School of Music, where he graduated with an honours BMus in 2000. "It took a bit of getting used to," he says, "particularly since I was quite slow at reading music, but I found it to be a great experience." If it seemed that Allin was moving further and further away from his first love, "noisy punk", his passion for music of that nature was to be reignited in the most unlikely of sources.

"Well I've always like noisy music, and my passion was satisfied while studying at the Cork School of Music by early 20th century classical music such as Shostakovich. He's very hard to define. There's an edge to his music and it's not just about being pretty. He excels at expressing the chaos and anger that marked his time. His music seemed to have a deeper meaning."

Allin is presently on scholarship at the Cork School of Music for an MA in editing, compiling and editing the first phase of the Complete Works of Aloys Fleischmann, a project he says he has been unable to finish due to the demands of his position with the IAYO and his own commitments to his young family.

"I've been involved with the IAYO for a number of years in various capacities," he says. "Previously I was the Director of the Cork Children's Chorus, which was a social integration project. It involved a lot of work, including one concert tour of Japan in 2006, probably my best day on the beach by all accounts, and while I had a great time, I made the decision to move on.

"When the position at the IAYO came up I applied and got the job. Its been very busy since I became involved with the organisation of the Irish Aviation Authority 13th Festival of Youth Orchestra's, the annual festival at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. It involves two performances with four groups of Irish youth orchestra's. It's quite a logistical feat, but it's such a worthwhile experience, giving these young players a sense of a big occasion. For many of them it's a once in a lifetime experience. That's the real pay off – seeing kids working on a project and then seeing the whole project come together."