Cultural Ireland - Discovery of Music & Sound

Welcome to the second music program in a series of collaborations between the schools in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the US. This program takes both children and teachers on a journey through the "Discovery of Music and Sound".

Since the beginning of time, an endless symphony of music and sound has played in our world and our universe. This symphony reaches all the way out to the stars in our universe and all the way in to the sound of the heartbeat of a child sitting in class in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, or the USA. It is present with us every moment of every day.

Our human ears cannot of course hear the symphony in its entirety - but with a little imagination, each of us can get a sense of its vastness.

Imagine Nature's rhythmical sounds playing together: stars colliding and burning, rocks falling, planets turning, the sea rolling and rivers flowing, birds chirping and fish swimming, trees and plants rustling and swaying, rain pouring and storms roaring, gurgling tummy, sneezing, coughing, cheering, laughing, talking, singing, clapping, dancing, stamping, tapping, crying, playing and of course breathing - in and out.

Is this a chaotic world soundscape or does it follow an order? Just imagine having a volume control for the world symphony. That would help us get a sense of what we like or dislike, what sounds we would like to include in our personal compositions and which we would leave out.

This world symphony can inspire all of us to create our own sound and music compositions - but only when we have mastered the art of listening and have become aware of what sounds are playing in our own immediate world.

In this program, children and teachers have the opportunity to explore their musical and sound environment, select what appeals to them and use it to create a wild and wonderful soundscape - or a musical composition like the ten-minute music composition 'World Symphony' created specially for the Music Program by one of the participant teachers, Ronan Doherty. Finally they will create a collaborative composition based on "The Children of Lir" which will be broad/web-cast in celebration with all schools and the public. The Discovery of Music and Sound program is an educational creative experience for all involved.

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