Music for life at Scoil Mhuire
A ‘MUSICAL Extravaganza’ took place in Scoil Mhuire last week as pupils, past and present, wowed the local community with renditions of classics old and new.
Opening the show, the 3rd and 4th class pupils sang a variety of numbers, including the Lumineers song ‘Ho, Hey’, in which the children assisted in re-writing the lyrics. The pupils from 5th class band then delighted the crowd with the Queen classic ‘We Will Rock You’, while the 6th class band performed two pieces called ‘Band Rocks’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Rocks.’ Also, featuring in this section were the pupils from Scoil Mhuire’s recorder consort, who had many singing along with their take on the popular song ‘Havana.’
Adding to the night’s entertainment were Wexford’s Junior and Senior Holy Family Confraternity (HFC) Band, the former of which consists of many ex-Scoil Mhuire pupils. And, according to band leader Alan Mahon, the school has developed a mutually benefical relationship with the HFC Bands.
‘They have a thorough music class there, particularly in fith and sixth class, they do a lot of wind instruments,’ Alan said.
However, when pupils move on to secondary school, and away from Scoil Mhuire’s comprehensive music programme, the risk of them being lost to music altogether arises. This is where the HFC Band comes in. ‘We have a Junior Band and we give individual lessons to children who have left Scoil Mhuire. The school is a huge contributor to our bands, for example we have 25 members in our Junior Band and 15 are from Scoil Mhuire.
‘What helps us is we’re getting ready made musicians, we don’t have to teach them how to read music or show they how to play an instrument as the school has already shown them.’
And Alan believes that all children with an interest in music should be encouraged to pursue it: ‘Music is for life. In sports there does come a time when you have to give it up, but with music you could play into your nineties, forever.
‘Also, it’s a way of getting away from the troubles and worries of life, you go down to rehearsal and play in a concert and you forget about everything that’s going on around you.’