National Childrens Choir at The Royal Theatre

The National Children’s Choir is a school-based choral experience for primary school children. Affiliated pupils from 4th, 5th and 6th classes in Irish primary school learn a common repertoire of songs. The repertoire challenges the pupils to perform a broad range of songs from Bach to the Beatles. The choir enables young people to experience the sheer joy and involvement in music and song.

The aims of the National Children’s Choir are:

· To foster a love of choral singing among primary school pupils

· To enhance the musical education of those involved

The choir has its roots in European Music Year 1985. Seán Creamer (then a music inspector with the DES) wanted to celebrate this exciting event in a unique way. His idea was that large groups of children from 4th, 5th and 6th classes in primary schools would learn and perform a common repertoire in public. He approached a number of teachers with this vision and they willingly supported him. This was the birth of the National Children’s Choir.

Since 1985 over 90,000 children have enjoyed the experience of singing with the National Children’s Choir at local level. This is a tribute to the dedication and commitment of teachers all over the country.

This year 300 children from Mayo will perform in a Regional Concert in The Royal Theatre, Castlebar.
Participating schools for 2015 are:

St Patrick’s De La Salle Boy’s N.S. Castlebar
Breaffy N.S. Castlebar
Brackloon N.S. Westport
Carrakennedy N.S. Westport
Gaelscoil na Cruaiche, Westport
St Patrick’s N.S., Louisburgh

The NCC is much more than large groups of children singing magnificent music to adoring parents, families and friends on local stages and in the National Concert Hall. It is a philosophy, a way of thinking about and celebrating the children’s musicality. As a movement it absorbs their energy and gives it back in multiples.

This year we are honoured and privileged to have local group ‘Coda’ performing at the concert. Recent headliners at the Temple Bar Trad Fest they have very kindly offered to support this initiative. It is rare to find a group of singers and musicians who can combine strong backgrounds in Irish traditional, folk and contemporary popular music with an acapella style developed through classical choral music. Coda offer an exciting new perspective on an eclectic mix of musical styles.