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Well,
the answers to all these questions are held in this article, written
by the 6th Class pupils of Room 2 in Corpus Christi School.
A musical director by the name of Sean Creamer founded
the National Children's Choir in 1985. Sean Creamer had a vision
of children from all over the country singing together. He founded
it because he wanted to promote a love and appreciation of choral
music amongst children- Initially the concerts were to be a one
off project, but after the first one, the N.C.C. was such a phenomenal
success it has been kept going for the last thirteen years. It
happens every two years and children from 5th and 6th classes
are welcome to join.
The choir took a lot of hard work and dedication.
Learning twenty-four songs is not easy. The 5th and 6th classes
of Corpus Christi met every Wednesday after school for an hour.
Our brilliant teachers, Ms Gurry and Ms Ward helped us in preparing
for practices and concerts. Every month the choir travelled to
Larkhill to practice the newly learnt songs with children from
different schools in the locality, The N.C.C. is a great way to
make new friends and get a day off school.
In
the Dublin region seven concerts were held between March 22nd
and March 27th. Our concert took place on Tuesday 23rd March at
8pm in the Basket Ball Arena in Tallaght. Our Parents' Association
and school sponsored the cost of providing buses to and from the
concert for the choir and their parents. The following schools
joined together for this wonderful performance:
Corpus
Christ G.N.S. - Drumcondra.
Scoil Padraig, - Clane.
Scoil Na Mainistreach, - Celbridge.
St. Brigid's G.N.S. - Celbridge.
Scoil Mochua - Celbridge.
Holy Child G.N.S.- Larkhill.
St. Malachy's N.S. - Finglas.
St. Laurence O'Toole S.G.S. - North Wall. Gardiner Street
N.S. - Dublin 1.
Pembroke School - Ballsbridge . |
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Our
regional concert began with a piece of music called the 'Land
of the Counterpane', which consisted of ten songs, a prologue
and an epilogue. The 'Land of the Counterpane' was composed by
Howard Blake. He put the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson to music
in this enchanting piece. Howard Blake also composed the music
for the animated film 'The Snowman'. This year's repertoire was
a mixture of religious, classical and Irish music, here is the
programme.
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PART
ONE
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PART
TWO
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The Land of Counterpane
Prologue
Windy Nights
Where Go The Boats?
Marching Song
From a Railway Carriage
Night and Day
The Swing
Young Night Thought
Looking-glass River
The Land of Counterpane
Epilogue
************
First Class Choir
Wookey Hole
Tá Dhá Ghabhar
Keep Dreamin' Baby
The Birdcatcher's Song
The Ugly Duckling
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Scenes That are Brightest
Sweet Spirit Hear My Prayer
Turn On Old Time
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Tá na Báid
Óró Mo Bháidín
Mo Cheallaín Fionn
An Mhaigdean Mhara
Báidín Fheidhlimidh
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Salve Regina
Hear My Prayer
Alleluia
The Lord is My Shepherd
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
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The
concert was structured in two parts. The interval gave a chance
for the 1st class choir from some of the schools to sing and show
off their talent. Singing in front of such a large audience was
both terrifying and exhilarating, but it was an experience that
I think every pupil who is interested in singing or music would
enjoy.
(Irish Independent) Hazel and Ruth
A
small percentage of our choir sang in the National Concert Hall.
Auditions were
held in May and the following girls were selected to sing in that
very special concert.
Congratulations to Ruth, Emma, Louise, Tara, Miriam, Lisa, Nicola,
Hazel, Sandra.
The National Children's Choir is a wonderful idea and well worth
the six months of hard work. So, if you have an opportunity in your
school to participate in the N.C.C., I would fully recommend it.
This is an experience that will never be forgotten and brings with
it some very fond memories.
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