Funding from the Philip Bates Trust has directly benefited over 353 children in rural areas of Derry-Londonderry through The Ulster Orchestra’s Inspirational workshops series.
Children from both Holy Child Primary School and St Therese Primary School (Lenamore) where selected due to their lack of current Arts/ Music education provisions with both schools having little/no arts education within their curriculum or after school offering. Both schools were also chosen for being in remote and rural areas with high levels of deprivation, ranking in the bottom 10 of 795 Primary schools in Northern Ireland facing socio-economic depravation and low family income.
The Inspirational Workshops took place on the morning and afternoon of the 19th of February 2025 and were facilitated by the Ulster Orchestra’s Learning and Community Engagement team, led by Community Liaison and professional music facilitator Nigel Ireland. Activity focused on supporting the children’s access to quality music education through familiar songs, films and imagery, increasing enjoyment and encouraging participation amongst the children involved.
The children were presented with an introduction to the arts and orchestral instruments through live demonstrations from professional musicians, opportunities for exploration of musical instruments, group and individual practical music making, group composition and a final Q and A session for further support of pupil/teacher musical curiosity.
During the project the children gained knowledge on how the Orchestra works, each section, the instruments involved, how they sound and how to play a selection of these instruments. Children were offered to hold and play instruments and work together in group settings boosting their teamwork and listening skills. The children were exposed to sounds of orchestra through live performance and music making promoting creativity and musical expression. Some students were also given the opportunity to ‘become the conductor’ and lead the musicians- which they thoroughly enjoyed. The pupils were also given time for discussion with Nigel and the team through the Q and A sessions, allowing for further musical interest and understanding.
Teacher Feedback
“Our children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. The variety of music, educational content, how the musicians delivered the workshop and the mini games throughout. It was a fantastic experience for our children, especially those who may not have seen live music before. Our staff also throughly enjoyed it and came away with some excellent ideas for classroom teaching.”
“I was teaching P7 children for music in the afternoon after the concert and the amount of information they picked up from the workshop was amazing. They answered lots of questions and it opened up enough discussions that we took up the whole music lesson talking about the workshop. The staff really enjoyed it and learned lots and the children all gave very positive feedback.”
Thank you
On Behalf of the Ulster Orchestra we would like to the Philip Bates Trust for your generosity and support of our Inspirational Workshops series which has enabled us to expand our offering, providing disadvantaged children from isolated rural areas of Northern Ireland with free and inclusive access to quality music education. Thank you!
Recent Comments