Sing Out With Strings

Mid-Term Break and still busy!

2012-02-17T14:29:00.000Z

Even though it's mid-term break, things are still busy here at Sing Out HQ! Each of the schools are learning each others songs now, so there are lots of lyrics to learn over the break! We're starting to get very excited for our May Concert, which will take place in the Ak Ilen Wooden Boat Building School! Just think! As we sing our sea shanties and sailor's ballads, we'll be surrounded by real boats!

In other news, we just received a fantastic video from the University of Limerick, showing our visit with Mr Howard Crosby, Bing Crosby's nephew! It's never quiet here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S3NzQxaelo

And the word of the week is...?

2012-02-08T15:36:00.000Z

What is so special about music … what do you need if you want to write lyrics to a song … what makes the difference between different songs?
Now we can answer some of these questions, with our new word … RHYTHM!!
As an example for Rhythm this week we listened to the piece “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sang by the London Community Gospel Choir.
They change the rhythm of the piece and therefore the song sounds completely different. Amaaazing!!

Now whenever we perform at a concert, we know that one of the most important things to remember is, we must all practise and feel the same rhythm in order to perform the piece of music together as a big group!

Galvone's Violin Bootcamp

2012-02-02T19:20:00.000Z

A special WELL DONE to Miss Drew's 4th class in Galvone, who successfully completed a TWO WEEK violin bootcamp! That's 20 lessons in 10 days! On Friday they gave a special in-school performance for their families and they were fantastic!

Thumbs up 4th class! We're all really proud of you!

Word of the Week....... JOY!

2012-02-02T19:17:00.000Z

This week we've been chatting about one little word - JOY! We can practice, practice, practice, but if we don't remember to enjoy making music there's just no point!

So this week, as we continue to learn new songs, we took some time out to listen to one of the most joyful singing groups Kathleen could find - The Soweto Gospel Choir. They sing with loads of energy and enthusiasm, and you can tell that singing makes them happy! So we're taking a leaf out of their book. Whether we're singing in class or working hard to prepare for our next big concert, we're remembering that the most important thing in music is to ENJOY it!

Awesome Listening = CAKE!

2012-01-24T16:25:00.000Z

Well done to Senior Infants and First Class at St Mary's! They were the best listeners of Autumn 2011 and their violin teacher, Gillian, baked them a very special cake to celebrate!

Word of the Week..........

2012-01-24T16:21:00.000Z

This week's Word of the Week was....

Determination - Making a decision to do something well, and seeing it through, even when it's not easy!

We talked about the different kinds of people who have determination - olympic athletes, students studying for exams, doctors, teachers. And we thought about how we need determination in music. It's not always easy learning or writing a new piece of music, but we work together and have determination to see it through. One great example of this is Only Men Aloud's version of 'What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?'
Even though it's quite a simple song, their version is really complicated! You can tell that they worked really hard to make it sound so good!

Our song of the week is 'The Sea Tragedy,' a ballad written by 6th class in St Mary's Boys. It's a great song, and everyone is really enjoying learning it!

Satellite program started in Presentation Primary School

2012-01-13T16:37:00.000Z

Based on the ever increasing popularity of the Sing Out with Strings program in Limerick, Presentation Primary has decided to join in on the act and start their own program funded by the school itself.

Under the guidance of Lisa Grosman, their resident violin teacher Ciarán Collins, began a three week boot camp to give the children in the school the best possible start to their music playing. The boot camp was such a success that Lisa invited the children to play in the University Concert Hall along with the other participating schools and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. This was a fantastic experience for the children, many of whom only began to play in September and they were a credit to their school on the day.

The program will be continued in the school into the New Year, but only on a much smaller scale due to lack of funds. One can’t doubt the success of the program in the other participating schools and Presentation Primary would hope that the funding may be made available so they could also gain from the benefits of having Sing Out with Strings too!
Ciarán Collins, Presentation Primary School

Words of the Week

2012-01-10T17:01:00.000Z

Every week in Sing Out with Strings, we meet a new word that helps us to be better musicians! We've had loads of new words so far, like Listening, Pitch, Melody, Creativity, and Courage. This term we'll keep you updated on all of our new words, and what we're learning in our music workshops.

Our first word of 2012 is.... BEAUTY! When we think about music, beauty comes into lots of things. Beautiful lyrics, beautiful sounds, beautiful pictures to go with our songs, a beautiful feeling for the audience when they hear our music. So this term we'll be thinking about beauty in everything from practicing our songs to painting pictures for our stage, so that when we perform in May we'll be ready for a BEAUTIFUL concert! :)

A Very Busy Year

2012-01-06T12:10:00.000Z

It's been a really busy year at Sing Out with Strings, and in all our excitement we neglected our blog! So in 2012, our New Year's resolution is to keep you posted on all our activities!

2011 was a fantastic year for everyone involved in Sing Out. So many things happened so here are our highlights!

Pupils from Galvone National School, Presentation Primary School and St Mary's Boys School composed a special song for the Dalai Lama, entitled 'Forgiveness is a Gift.' We had the huge honour of performing this for His Holiness when he spoke at the University of Limerick in April. This was one of our best moments so far, and since the performance, our song has been requested by schools as far away as India! You can hear the song by clicking here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7AxefQXvo
St Mary's Boys School began their school orchestra and have been meeting every Thursday after school with their teachers. They're doing really well and we're very proud of their commitment.
In December we gathered together to perform 'Jingle Bells' with the Irish Chamber Orchestra at the University Concert Hall. Pupils, teachers, orchestra members and parents all joined in to make this a fantastic way to end our year.

2011 was brilliant, but we think 2012 will be even better! We've been working hard on our theme 'Oceans, Adventures and New Worlds', to compose songs about the sea. These songs will be featured at our next big concert in May 2012. Watch this space!

Well Done St Mary's Boys!

2011-02-04T16:36:00.001Z

Congratulations to the boys of St Mary's 5th Class. They graduated from Violin Bootcamp today, after taking 20 lessons in 10 days! Their teacher, Gillian, was so proud she even baked them a cake!

Here's a little taster of what they've been learning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riTrAP_1r54

Well done boys, from everyone at the Irish Chamber Orchestra!

Busy Busy Busy!

2011-01-19T16:04:00.000Z

It's all go as all three of our schools get started with a new part of 'Sing Out with Strings.' This term we'll be thinking about Story Telling. Each class will be reading a book together, and we'll use these stories to inspire us when we write our songs. So far, Roald Dahl has been the most popular choice. The BFG, Matilda and the Witches are all on our list! Each week we'll read together in our classes, chat about the stories, collect ideas for our songs and eventually put together our new compositions. The count down begins for our next concert on May 24th and we hope to see you there!

Our Project Makes the Irish Times!

2010-12-22T10:42:00.003Z

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/1222/1224286069491.html

Photograph by our friend, Maurice Gunning.

Practice Makes Perfect! Our best concert yet!

2010-12-22T10:41:00.000Z

After weeks of songwriting, learning words and practicing our new tunes, we were finally ready! We had a great concert in Southill Family Church with all three schools, Galvone, Southill Juniors and St Mary's Boys. It was hard work but it was worth it! We sang our brand new songs, and played our violins. This was the first time that Southill Juniors and St Mary's Boys School played in public. We were really proud of everyone involved! Thank you to all our teachers and Lisa, Yuki, Gillian, Tony, Niamh, Aine and Rachel.

Kids record their own CD!

2010-10-18T15:52:00.000+01:00

Galvone National School recorded a CD of some of their songs and, to celebrate, had a launch party at their school on Friday 15th October. It was a great celebration, with guests from the community including the Deputy Mayor and friends of Sing Out, Size 2 Shoes! We were even on the 9 O'Clock News!

Check out the link below at 21:56.

http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2010/1015/9news.html#&search=nine%20news

Elise Griffin interviews 'Sing Out' Violin Teacher, Lisa Grosman!

2010-08-27T16:47:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Sing Out With Strings!

2010-08-09T13:36:00.000+01:00

Sing Out with Strings is about to enter its third year! To celebrate, we have decided to set up this blog so that children taking part in the project can communicate from school to school, choir to choir, orchestra to orchestra and they can share what they are learning about music!

The blog will officially begin in September 2010 so keep your eyes peeled!