A UNIQUE Southside initiative is asking members of the
public to donate unused musical instruments to local schoolchildren.
Dublin City Council has teamed up with two primary
schools on the Southside with the objective of providing each pupil with a
musical instrument and weekly music lessons.
The project will see every pupil at St Patrick’s Boys
National School and St Patrick’s Girls National School on Cambridge Road in
Ringsend offered a weekly practical violin or cello lesson and musical
appreciation classes during school hours.
The Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Maria Parodi
(Lab), launched the Strings Project at the Ringsend and Irishtown Community
Centre on Thorncastle Street in conjunction with musicians Mickey Joe Harte and
Don Baker recently.
Bobby Neill, the Senior Community Officer at Dublin
City Council, said the local authority had already been involved in
establishing the Strings Project at St Enda’s Primary School on Whitefriar
Street, Dublin 8.
He said that community development staff at the
council’s south east area office and both national schools had come together to
set up another Strings Project that will introduce children of primary school
age to musical theory, practice and performance.
In addition, he said summer programmes will be held in
the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre.
Mr Neill said community staff had applied to the local
authority for grant assistance that would go towards funding the payment of
music tutors who would teach music at the schools.
The Strings Project is appealing to people from all
over the country to donate their unused musical instruments to the scheme, so
that local schoolchildren can learn to play.
“We are going to go into the classroom where music
would become part of the curriculum,
? Mr Neill said.
“We are hoping that music
will be taught at the schools for a minimum of one hour a week for a period of
at least 18 weeks. The idea is that you would work with the children from first
class right up to sixth. It’s a five year programme.
“We would be grateful if people turned around and said
they had an instrument in the house that is not being used anymore. We would
put these to great use in the Strings Project.
?
Mr Neill was keen to point out that instruments and
tuition will be provided free of charge.
He said the project will seek to make a viable and
positive impact on the local community through traditional concerts,
performances and by seeking to collaborate with other performing arts
organisations.
Deputy Kevin Humphreys (Lab), who was instrumental in
initiating the Strings Project when he was a Dublin City councillor, said he
hoped the scheme would be rolled out right across the Southside.
“This is one of the first initiatives of its kind,
? he
said.
“We are going to develop this right across the south inner city.
“This would allow children to participate in an area
of musical education that they wouldn’t have had the chance to become involved
in before.
?
Anyone who would like to donate musical instruments to
the String appeal can contact Bobby Neill on 01-2223516.
Alternatively, contact the Carmelite Community Centre
on Whitefriar Street on 01-4754673 or the Ringsend and Irish Community Centre
on 01-6604789.