Photo above – Pupils from Harberton Special School and Jordanstown School at Belfast Cathedral last year when they took part in a Come and Sing Day part of the choir of the year competition
Anne Hailes writes in The Irish News –
QUESTION: What can you put after the following to conjure up a picture – community, ladies, male, youth, mixed, and gospel? Answer: choir.
Choirs are big business these days. Making a joyful noise on to the Lord used to be in church and chapel but today it’s everywhere and joining such a group gives health and happiness to the thousands who are singing in Northern Ireland.
I asked 10 people at random if they’d ever sung in a choir. Eight did; one young woman who had arrived from Sweden a couple of months ago told me the first thing she did was find a choir to join.
The two doubters just weren’t sure… Maybe yes, they said, but they would have been very young. And that’s the key – very young.
I remembered singing The Ballynure Ballad under the Christmas tree at Belfast City Hall when I was about 10. It’s a memory that’s imprinted on my mind. Undoubtedly singing in a group is a really happy thing, good for confidence, self-esteem, making friends and realising the joy of entertaining.
Although there are plenty of adult choirs, what about the little ones? It’s vitally important they learn the discipline of being one of a number, all depending on each other to do the right thing at the right time. It’s also important for primary-school children to experience the excitement of a group venture, mixing with children from other schools – then add the element of competition – and they get all of these in a choir.
In recent years St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast were finding it difficult to recruit choristers and a plan was devised to attract both boys and girls into music with the hope that this would stimulate interest and the cathedral would end up with a full choir. And so in 2014 the St Anne Trust Belfast Primary School Choir of the Year competition was born.
But it was more than simply encouraging children to come forward to sing – this was an important cross-community venture with an outreach programme originally targeting schools in north Belfast with the view, in time, to expanding the catchment area.
So in January the trust wrote to every school in the Belfast and the greater Belfast area inviting them to become involved. There was a good response and those schools showing interest are now receiving details of the competition which takes place on May 19 and 20. Already seven have signed up. with room for four more.
Although organisation of the competition is going ahead, the problem of the coronavirus is never far from the organisers’ minds.
Each school will choose and rehearse two songs before arriving at the cathedral and this year there will be two Irish-speaking schools taking part and special-school pupils are also involved.
The schools will also be given another number which they will all sing together when the adjudicator, conductor Lynsey Callaghan, director of the Belfast Philharmonic children and youth choirs, is busy marking.
As Joe Watson, chairman of the trust explained: “A piece of music that’s suitable for children from five to 12 to learn will be chosen by the adjudicator and the director of music will liaise with the workshop facilitator to plan the content and format of the communal singing session. The cathedral is a perfect place for such an event with a natural amphitheatre, piano and organ and room for a huge audience.”
Can you imagine more than 500 little voices raising the roof and the look of delight on family faces? It’s interesting that teachers supporting the competition feel such an experience is beneficial to the families and to boys and girls from different areas and backgrounds to meet in such a happy situation.
Even when Lynsey makes her announcement it’s not over as everyone is invited to a carol service in December at which three chosen schools will sing and a parent from each school will join in the readings.
Two pilot projects last year offered the opportunity for children to spend the day in St Anne’s receiving vocal tuition, learning music, making new friends and experiencing what it is like to be a chorister in a working cathedral.
Over 60 children attended, 60 per cent of whom came from areas of multiple deprivation. There’s a very vibrant programme of events and opportunities throughout the year but all this comes at a cost and looking for sponsorship has been difficult because so many organisations are forbidden to give money to faith-based organisations.
Another drawback is not having a charity number. Apparently when the charity commission came into being all existing charities had to re-register so there are 17,500 waiting. St Anne Trust, after five years, are still to receive what they need to go to funders for support, although Belfast City Council, the Arts Council and the Black Santa Appeal have all given their support, as have Investec and Gallagher.
Despite this, the aim of St Anne Trust – ‘enriching lives through music’ – is being well met.
:: More at[ thestannetrust.org ]. At the time of going to press the competition is going ahead but please check closer to the date.
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