Music in the Classroom with the National Symphony Orchestra

David Brophy conducts Musical Adventures: Fun concerts for children aged 8-12 Presented by Jessie Grimes Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate Music Guide concerts Presented by Tom Redmond

Media Release Wednesday 18th January 2023

Music in the Classroom, the National Symphony Orchestra’s education programme, returns to the National Concert Hall with bespoke concert presentations for primary school children aged 8-12 and for Junior and Leaving Certificate music students. Six daytime concerts, all conducted by David Brophy, will take place in the February to April period. All concerts are now on sale.

Musical Adventures, fun concerts for children aged 8-12, will be presented and led by Jessie Grimes, the London based Irish clarinettist who balances a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player alongside work as a teacher, presenter and workshop leader. The internationally praised presenter and animateur Tom Redmond, who devises and presents interactive concerts for schools and families for orchestras and festivals including Hallé, CBSO, Edinburgh and Hong Kong Arts Festivals and the Royal Albert Hall, makes a welcome return to present and lead the Junior and Leaving Certificate Music Guide concerts. 

Dinosaurs, Darth Vader, a magical bird made of fire, bone-shaking storms on land and sea, and a joyful singalong celebration of friendship are all part of the mix for Musical Adventures. Music by Beethoven, Britten, Stravinsky and Florence Price all feature alongside extracts from Star Wars, Jurassic Park World Dominion and a great big audience singalong to ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from Toy Story. 

The Junior and Leaving Certificate Music Guides are tailored around the needs of the curriculum. The Junior Certificate Music Guide has been built around the new Junior Cycle Music Learning Outcomes. These will be explored through works by composers including Beethoven, Sibelius, Lili Boulanger, John Williams and Terry Riley. The Leaving Certificate Music Guide presents a step-by-step guide to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture and concludes with a full performance.

Ticket prices for all concerts are €10 with accompanying teachers going free.
Booking: www.nch.ie / 01 4170000  
See full details in Notes to Editors.   

National Symphony Orchestra 2022–2023 Season
Tuesday 28 February 2023, 10.30am & 12.15pm, National Concert Hall

Music in the Classroom: Leaving Certificate Music Guide

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture 
Presented by Tom Redmond
David Brophy, conductor

The internationally praised music educationalist Tom Redmond and the National Symphony Orchestra under David Brophy present a step-by-step guide to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. Highlighting key themes and sections and presented with big screen musical illustrations, this will conclude with a full performance.
Concert duration: 1 hour (approx.)

TICKETS: €10 student. Accompanying teachers go free.
Booking: www.nch.ie / 01 4170000  


National Symphony Orchestra 2022–2023 Season
Tuesday 21 March 2023, 10.30am & 12.15pm, National Concert Hall

Music in the Classroom: Junior Certificate Music Guide
Presented by Tom Redmond
David Brophy, conductor

Programme includes
Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps 
Timothy Jackson Passacaglia 
Florence Price Symphony No. 1 – Juba Dance 
John Williams Rey’s Theme from Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
Grieg ‘Aase’s Death’ from Peer Gynt 
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 – Allegretto 
Terry Riley In C  
Sibelius Symphony No. 5 – Finale

This year’s Junior Certificate Music Guide concert has been built around the new Junior Cycle Music Learning Outcomes. 

Using some of the greatest orchestral music ever written, the National Symphony Orchestra, presenter Tom Redmond and conductor David Brophy will explore live how music can be written in response to stimulus (Lili Boulanger D'un matin de printemps); how music can depict a character and their relationships (John Williams Rey’s Theme from Star Wars); how incidental music can be used to change mood (Edward Grieg ‘Aase’s Death’); how to interpret, rehearse and perform a piece of music (Beethoven Symphony No. 7 – Allegretto); hear how short musical phrases and ostinato can be used to create a much bigger work (Terry Riley In C); how different musical styles can be fused (Florence Price Symphony No. 1 – Juba Dance); how environment can influence a composer (Sibelius Symphony No. 5 – Finale). 

Concert duration: 1 hour (approx.)

TICKETS: €10 student. Accompanying teachers go free.
Booking: www.nch.ie / 01 4170000


Tuesday 25 April 2023, 10.30am & 12.15pm, National Concert Hall

Music in the Classroom: Musical Adventures
Fun concerts for children aged 8-12
Presented by Jessie Grimes
David Brophy, conductor 

Kabalevsky Colas Breugnon Overture 
John Williams Imperial March from Star Wars 
Beethoven Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastoral’ – Thunderstorm 
Britten ‘Four Sea Interludes’ from Peter Grimes – Storm 
Florence Price Symphony No. 1 – Juba Dance 
Stravinsky Infernal Dance from The Firebird 
Grace Williams Sea Sketches ¬– Sailing Song 
Randy Newman ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from Toy Story (Singalong)
Michael Giacchino Jurassic Park World Dominion

Musical Adventures, the National Symphony Orchestra’s fun concerts for children aged 8-12, return with inspirational clarinettist Jessie Grimes and conductor-extraordinaire David Brophy as engaging guides to a world of musical excitement, fantasy, romance and vibrant colour.

The March concerts boast dramatic appearances (musically speaking) by dinosaurs, Darth Vader, a magical bird made of fire, bone-shaking storms on land and sea, and a joyful singalong celebration of friendship.

Highlights include the daunting ‘Imperial March’ from Star Wars announcing the arrival of the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader and the magnificent and majestic dinosaurs as depicted in Michael Giacchino’s Jurassic World Dominion; two tempests with the thunderstorm that splits the skies in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and the ocean-churning ‘Storm’, one of the ‘Four Sea Interludes’ from Britten’s Peter Grimes; the infectiously lively ‘Juba Dance’ from Florence Price’s First Symphony and the ‘Infernal Dance’ from Stravinsky’s The Firebird, and a great big audience singalong with the jaunty, hug-your-BFF warmth of Randy Newman’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from the hit film Toy Story.
 
Concert duration: 1 hour (approx.)

TICKETS: €10 student. Accompanying teachers go free.
Booking: www.nch.ie / 01 4170000 

(ENDS)

FURTHER INFORMATION  
Assumpta Lawless, Marketing & Communications Manager, National Symphony Orchestra / M: 087 290 4168