The National Concert Hall reaches out to primary schools with their fourth ‘Music in the Docklands’ series.

Primary School Children from Scoil Uí Chonaill/O’Connell’s Primary School on North Richmond Street, Dublin 1 and the Westland Row CBS have been chosen to participate in the Music in the Docklands Series, which began on Monday 6 February 2006. The joint initiative between the National Concert Hall and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, now in its fourth year, sees school children getting in tune with their musical talents in five weeks of music workshops.

The team of musicians, chosen by the National Concert Hall’s Education and Community Outreach Department, will work with the two chosen schools separately over the five- week period to help them write their own lyrics and compose music before their final performance. Workshops are led by London-based musician Tim Steiner and Irish musicians Aingeala de Burca (violin); Susan Doyle (flute); Mary Curran (horn) and Paul Maher, percussion.

The Music in the Docklands Series, which began in 2003, has developed into a successful series enabling school children in the Docklands area of Dublin to benefit from music workshops and expert tuition. The Business2Arts award-winning programme has proved enormously successful with teachers and students alike in providing access to music at local level and to developing lasting relationships between schools and the National Concert Hall.

The series culminates in a final performance in the National Concert Hall on 10 March 2006 at 6.00 pm when students from both schools will join together to perform their own compositions to parents, teachers and the wider public.

Pupils from the following schools have participated in the project: St. Matthew’s National School, Ringsend; St. Vincent’s Junior School, North William Street; St. Laurence O’Toole’s CBS, Seville Place; St. Patrick’s Boys National School, Ringsend; Star of the Sea Boys Primary School, Sandymount; St. Laurence O’Toole’s Senior Girls Primary School; Larkin Community College, Dublin 1 and St. Joseph’s Primary School East Wall Road.

Posted: 13 February 2006