This article is from page 30 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
“THAT Sounds Like Music’ is the project being proposed by a Killaloe after school group who are hoping to scoop the €10,000 which is up for grabs from the AIB Better Ireland aN VETO e
The project aims to make a real dif- ference to the music experiences of the children of Killaloe.
The Killaloe Out of School Project has been operating since August 2006. It started life as a pilot initia- tive and received short-term funding from the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme.
More than 30 children attend the project, the focus of which is “to provide high quality care and crea-
tive learning opportunities for each child,” according to the organisers. Over thirty children attend the after school group each week. During the after school sessions, the youngsters get to listen to classical and world music which they’ve grown to like. “Using music in this way can help children to learn as it helps to focus their attention. How easy it is to learn off Westlife lyrics or the rap tune – so why not the maths tables? Compos- ing music can help with a child’s self-expression, while at the same time improving listening and pro- moting creativity. Learning a musi- cal instrument can help to build con- fidence and to increase self esteem,” a spokeswoman for the project said. If they get the funding, the project
plans an initial ten week period, dur- ing which the children will be in- structed by two members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra to compose and to learn to play music.
Both music facilitators have previ- ously worked on successful children’s music projects. The funding pays for music tuition, and the purchase of musical instruments, computer, computer software, and recording equipment.
‘That Sounds like Music’ aims to uncover untapped musical talent in the young students and to allow the children themselves to learn about reading, writing and playing their own musical compositions.
“The after school team believes that offering children this intensive,
fun, creative, way of experiencing and expressing themselves through music is something that will surprise them and is something that will en- rich the community. The team will use this initiative as a building block for future programmes and will of- fer the use of the music equipment to other community groups work- ing with children in Killaloe,” the spokeswoman said.
The AIB will award the cash to the group which gets the most votes in a text vote. Each group voted for will get a contribution for every text sent. Texts cost 60 cents each.
To help the Killaloe youngsters to make beautiful music, supporters should text the word ‘Killaloe’ fol- lowed by the letter °C’ to 53099.