Musical collaboration puts children in the spotlight

The Carnival of the Animals is one of the most entertaining and popular musical compositions of all times.

And now, hundreds of schoolchildren in Galway City and Country are getting an opportunity to get up close to Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1886 score in advance of it being performed at Baboró International Arts Festival for Children next week.

Six city schools and six from the county are involved in an educational outreach programme, the result of a collaboration between Baboró and Music for Galway in partnership with the music school, Maoin Cheoil na Gaillimhe (MCnG).

MCnG, which caters for more than 1,000 children from the city and county, was founded by musician and teacher Hugh Kelly. He also runs the non-profit Adventures in Music, which promotes family-oriented musical events.

The Carnival of the Animals outreach programme, which has been running for five weeks, combines both organisations, explains Hugh, who initiated this project.

It originally began eight years ago when Adventures in Music produced an educational pack for schools on The Carnival of the Animals. That scheme ran over two years, culminating in a performance at the Black Box.

But lack of resources meant it couldn’t be developed any further, says Hugh, explaining that The Carnival of the Animals is ideal for introducing young audiences to musical instruments.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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