Cross Culture Irish School Bands to Welcome Conference Visitors

The Federation of Music Services’ annual conference in Belfast from 16 – 18 June will be the first occasion that the conference has been held in Northern Ireland and it comes at a time when the future level of government support for music education after 2011 is still uncertain.

On the first full morning of the conference at the Belfast Hilton hotel, delegates will be greeted by a youthful Irish musical extravaganza in the form of ‘Celtic Fusion’. The band has a meld of talent from across the province including drummers and dancers are from St Cecilia’s College (Western Education and Library Board) and the Southern Education and Library Board (SELB), and traditional musicians from Our Lady’s Grammar School (SELB).

Said Caitríona Ruane MLA, Minister of Education, in welcoming the FMS to Belfast, “Music has a very important role to play in the curriculum as it forms an essential part of a balanced education; it is a powerful and distinctive form of communication and expression, as well as enhancing young people’s self-esteem and confidence.”

The boys and girls performing are aged from 14 – 17 years. ‘Celtic Fusion’ consists of sixteen drummers and seven instrumentalists including fiddlers and whistlers and one keyboard player. They will be playing an assortment of instruments including violin, tin whistle, harp and concertina. Percussion will be provided by Lambeg, Bodhran and African drums. This exciting combination of instruments and styles will provide the accompaniment for their own ‘river dance’ as they are joined by traditional dancers performing jigs, reels and horn pipes.

John Witchell, FMS Chief Executive, said: “What better Irish welcome could we have with the magic and mystery of a traditional fiddle, whistle and drum band to play us into our conference? The spirit of creative cross-school collaboration is an inspiration to all music teachers and demonstrates children making music at its best.”

There are a series of other musical highlights throughout the conference from the Province’s schools including A-Freek-A, 25 players of African drums, Codetta, City of Derry Civic Choirs who will sing in Belfast’s City Hall on Thursday evening at a drink’s reception, St Malachy’s College Senior Traditional Group, a Jazz Ensemble and a Harp Ensemble.

The FMS conference speakers include Sir Tim Brighouse, educational guru and former London School’s tsar and Roy Leighton, motivational speaker and education, learning and enterprise specialist. It is anticipated that all five of Northern Ireland’s regional Education and Library Board Chief Executives will be in attendance. The conference is also hosting a variety of workshops covering such diverse subjects as Music and Special Educational Needs, New Business Modeling and Music Camps.

Download the complete Press Release.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 5:45 pm and is filed under News, conference.

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