Soundwaves II delivers another big success
The achievements of the Soundwaves project in Donegal have been underlined after another stunning performance by young musicians at the end of Soundwaves II at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. After just three days, the twenty-eight musicians and singers showcased four original songs in small groups, an improvisation led in turn by two young conductors, and two remarkable new ensemble pieces.
Those involved were aged between 12 and 18 and came from a range of different musical backgrounds, including classical, traditional and contemporary. Instruments ranged from concertina to sax to electric guitar. Soundwaves II was organised by the Donegal Music Education Partnership, delivered by Wall2Wall Music and funded under the Arts Council/ Music Generation partnership.
Martin McGinley, Music Development Manager with DMEP, said he was left open-mouthed by the ‘informal sharing’ performance.
“Seamus Devenney of Wall2Wall Music described what the young people were doing as ‘crazy’, and you could only agree. To deliver such ambitious songs and pieces after just three days together was a remarkable achievement. All credit to the musicians and singers and to Wall2Wall Music.”
Soundwaves II took place from Monday 15th February to Wednesday 17th at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. The aim of Soundwaves is to develop the skills needed by a 21st century musician. The three days included learning around collaboration, music creation, improvisation, leading and creating online resources. Check out one of the many jammin sessions in the video below.
The Wall2Wall Music team, who delivered in spades, was led by artistic director Sarah Murphy and included Seamus Devenney, Feargus Murphy, Jeremy Howard and Cheylene Murphy.
The general reaction at the end said it all: “Is it on again this summer?”
You can check out the Soundwaves 2016, blog here!
The Music Generation/Arts Council Partnership enables children and young people to engage actively with high-calibre professional musicians from all genres of music.
