Presented by the National Concert Hall in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy of Music and supported by Walkers, the Primary Ensemble Project made a welcome return post-pandemic to rekindle and support the revival of ensemble music playing in classrooms across Ireland.
Following the completion of Walkers very successful three-year Photographer-in-Residence Programme with visual artist Kate Nolan and the students of CBS Westland Row, our CSR Committee together with our staff, looked at a range of different community projects and early last year, the Primary Ensemble Project was selected.
The Primary Ensemble Project is aimed at developing key areas of early ensemble playing in a vibrant and holistic programme with participating schools and students benefiting from a series of engaging and participative workshops led by specialist tutors from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Over the course of 2022 and 2023, 300 young students, 10 conductors and 9 schools from all over Ireland, participated in 36 workshops during which the young students were coached in developing aural and technical skills alongside ensemble performance and improvisation techniques.
All of the participants then came together at the end of March to perform in a finale concert on stage at the National Concert Hall, for a packed auditorium of 1,200 guests. Through this partnership, we have had fantastic engagement from over 80 of our staff who joined a series of music based workshops running in parallel to the school based ensemble workshops.
World-renowned conductor David Brophy led the first Walkers staff music workshop on the theme of the power of communicating without words. In one short lunchtime session last October, David had 80 staff members singing in 3 part-harmony and for much of this time, he didn't need to use words. David demonstrated how communication, leadership and teamwork skills can be developed through the medium of music. Following the workshop, David spoke about the importance of the Primary Ensemble Project and the benefits for the participating students.
Two further workshops were held with staff last November and earlier this year in late January and these included a percussion based workshop in the Kevin Barry room at the National Concert Hall and a singing based workshop held in our IFSC based offices. Our staff also thoroughly enjoyed sitting in on two rehearsals hosted by St Joseph's School for the Visually Impaired in Drumcondra and this made their performance alongside the other 8 participating schools, even more special for those who attended the finale in the National Concert Hall.
Walkers is delighted to have supported the Primary Ensemble Project and to see first-hand the impact this important music education programme has had for the students, conductors, tutors and schools involved as well as for our staff. During several months of hard work and commitment, the programme enabled collaboration, creativity and musical discovery through guided ensemble participation.
It was fantastic to see the commitment to the project of the 9 participating schools from Cork, Dublin, Kildare and Laois and we are grateful to Hilda Milner and Fergus O'Carroll along with the specialist tutors from the Royal Irish Academy of Music for their expert partnership in this wonderful initiative.
Thank you to Robert Read, Nigel Flegg, Helen Carroll, Sinéad Doyle, Ciara Cuffe, and Aisling Kennedy from the National Concert Hall for leading on this project and for making it happen. We have a shared passion for music, not just as an artistic output but as an important part of our everyday life.
This project is part of an active CSR programme for us at Walkers where we participate in a range of initiatives during the year across charitable, social and environmental projects. Culture is incredibly important to us and our CSR and DE&I programmes enable us to live the values that we promote in the workplace, while making a difference in the community in which we live and work.
If you would like to watch a 6 minute video on this project,please clickon the image below.
