The pupils of 2nd to 6th class in Scoil Fionntáin Naofa, Shanahoe were very fortunate this year to have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Primary Ensemble Project’.
This was in conjunction with the National Concert Hall and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Following an application to participate in the project that was submitted by school Principal Barry Whelan last Autumn, the school was one of nine schools nationally to be chosen to take part.
All pupils from 2nd to 6th class in the school (42 in total this year) form the school band which participated in the project.
The school band has been in existence since the early 1990s and was founded by former Principal David Brickley and former Deputy Principal Miriam Brickley.
In more recent years, the band has been taught and conducted by teacher in the school Kristina Cahill who has a strong background in Music. Pupils in the band play accordions, tin whistles and various percussion instruments.
Down through the years, the band has played at various community events, Christmas Concerts and St. Patrick’s Day Parades, wearing their iconic red capes and hats.
Having not marched and played in St. Patrick’s Day Parades for over four years due to the hiatus created by the COVID-19 situation, the Scoil Fionntáin Naofa Band was delighted to be invited to lead this year’s Mountrath St. Patrick’s Day Parade, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of its inception.
The entire school marched in the Mountrath Parade with pupils in the Junior Classes (Junior Infants to 1st Class) waving flags and shaking ‘pom-poms in time with the music and the remainder of the pupils playing instruments.
The school was even more delighted to be subsequently bestowed with the accolade of ‘Best Overall’ following this year’s parade and they were presented with a fabulous trophy in recognition by Chairperson of the Mountrath St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee Councillor James Kelly in the week preceding the Easter Holidays this year.
Over the course of the last six months, the pupils in the school band in Scoil Fionntáin Naofa had the opportunity to work with different specialist tutors from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin to further hone and develop their playing skills, as part of their participation in the ‘Primary Ensemble Project’.
Tutors from the Royal Irish Academy of Music that visited the school to facilitate engaging and participative workshops for the pupils included Hilda Milner (Programme Director), Brendan Breslin and Fergus O’Carroll.
During these workshops, the tutors assisted the pupils to further develop aural and technical skills alongside ensemble performance and improvisation techniques, and the members of the band really benefitted from the expert tutelage that was provided in this regard.
Teacher in the school Kristina Cahill also did an inordinate amount of work with the school band over the last number of months in preparing them to participate in the ‘Primary Ensemble Project’ particularly as the vast majority of the band’s previous accordion players had moved through the school and on to pastures new in local post-primary schools and could not be replaced until this year, due to the limitations imposed on band practices caused by successive lockdowns in recent years.
This meant that an entirely new cohort of accordion players had to be ‘trained up’ from scratch since last Autumn and those that put themselves forward to learn the instrument displayed highly commendable levels of enthusiasm and commitment to the new task at hand.
Participation in the ‘Primary Ensemble Project’ culminated in all of the schools who were involved in the project coming together in the magnificent surroundings of the National Concert Hall on Dublin’s Earlsfort Terrace on Tuesday, March 28 for a large-scale performance in front of a capacity audience of parents, family members and invited guests from across the nine school communities that were involved in the project.
The members of the band from Scoil Fionntáin Naofa performed two individual pieces namely ‘The Dawning of the Day’ and ‘Roddy MacCorley’ on the main stage of the National Concert Hall.
They were ably accompanied on piano by their teacher Kristina Cahill and supported on stage by student teacher Aisling Mulhall from Trumera who had being doing her school placement from Marino Institute of Education in the school during the month of March.
In addition to this, the pupils of Scoil Fionntáin Naofa, performed a collaborative piece- ‘Britches Full of Stiches’ with one of the other participating schools namely Gaelscoil Uí Riada from the outskirts of Cork city and this particular piece had been arranged for the occasion by the aforementioned Fergus O’Carroll from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
The two schools were under the baton of Fergus O’Carroll when performing this particular musical piece on the main stage.
The collaboration with Gaelscoil Uí Riada necessitated a trip for the pupils of the band and their teachers Kristina Cahill, Aisling Mulhall and Barry Whelan along with Special Needs Assistant Lisa Walsh to Cork in early March for the two schools to practise performing the collaborative piece together.
Scoil Fionntáin Naofa received a ‘royal welcome’ in Gaelscoil Uí Riada and were treated to a wonderful reception of food and refreshments organised by the staff and parents of the school.
The associated travelling costs to both Cork and Dublin respectively, were heavily subsidised by very generous donations provided by local County Councillors Oliver Clooney and James Kelly and through the support of local singer, musician and past pupil of the school Damien Bowe, who in fact happened to be one of the original members of the school band when it was founded over thirty years ago.
5th Class pupil Nathan Cuddy was interviewed on the main stage of the National Concert Hall by project director Hilda Milner from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and he was asked to outline how the school had found participation in the project.
In addition to giving the project a very positive endorsement overall, Nathan went on to outline that following the day’s events and the euphoria surrounding same, the school would then be turning its attentions to all things sporting related and specifically to rising through the ranks in the Cumann na mBunscol hurling league this year.
The school community was delighted to have great friend of the school Mikey Hyland from Aghaboe in attendance in the National Concert Hall on March 28 to support the band and provide last minute guidance and the school is most grateful for the vast musical knowledge and expertise that Mikey has shared with the band over many years.
It was also wonderful to have the founders of the school band David and Miriam Brickley in attendance in the audience on the day.
The overall performance on the day concluded with a grand finale which was a rousing vocal rendition of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ sung by all in attendance.
Principal Barry Whelan said: “The members of the school band did both themselves and the school very proud in the wonderful performances that they staged in the National Concert Hall on March 28.
“Their memories of playing on the main stage in the salubrious surrounding of the National Concert Hall in front of a large audience are something that they can carry forward with them into the future with both immense pride and distinction.”
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