Nevertheless, it immediately began to lobby government for greater financial support for live performances, particularly those given by the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra[3] In 1950 the MAI undertook its greatest challenge to date when it organised a festival of concerts and lectures to commemorate the bicentenary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach.
[7] When the MAI celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 1968, membership had risen to 600 and founder-member Brian Boydell expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the association in the fulfilment of its objectives.
[8] Under the enthusiastic leadership of Olive Smith, who chaired the association's management committee until 1978, the MAI undertook a variety of initiatives to promote classical music in Ireland.
[8] Members could avail of reduced rates for tickets to concerts and recitals and within a few months 800 young people aged between fourteen and twenty five had joined the new body.
[14] When, by 1973, no progress had been made, the association collected 10,000 signatures in support of a new concert hall and submitted a petition to the Department of Finance.
[15] Finally, in September 1981, the association's efforts were crowned with success when the country's new National Concert Hall opened in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin.
In 1987, the Arts Council cut its subvention to the MAI substantially, citing a lack of confidence in the way the association managed its affairs.
[25] Although the association continued to organise concerts and lectures into the early years of the third millennium, its overall impact on Irish musical life has been considerably diminished.