BACKSTAGE PASS: TARA BRADYdiscovers a cultural revolution in full swing watching Crumlin's Community Orchestra
SR BERNADETTE SWEENEY is a woman on a mission. The irrepressible principal of St Agnes’ Primary School and the heartbeat of Crumlin’s Community Orchestra wants you – yes, you – to start making music.
“I still hear stories about kids who never get the chance,” she says. “The other day, we heard another heart-rending story about a little boy who used to stand outside the Royal Academy loving the beautiful sounds but not having the money for lessons. Yesterday, a 79-year-old gentleman called to say ‘I’ve always wanted to learn the fiddle.’ People get very intimidated. We want them to know we’re here.”
By now, you’ve almost certainly happened upon the extraordinary tale of Crumlin’s musical miracle. For six years, the programme at St Agnes has ensured that 400 local students receive weekly violin lessons at school. Instruments and tuition, often the preserve of a privileged few, are provided entirely without charge.
“Every society must be judged by how it treats its vulnerable people,” says Sr Bernadette. “Music reaches out and gives you a lift. It goes far beyond these walls. We are all about inclusion. We want everyone to feel valued. There’s no stress here. There’s no pressure. We have only one rule in the school and the orchestra: respect.”
The results of this grassroots manifesto have transformed an area that was once written off. A genuine community-based endeavour, St Agnes’ ensembles have played hospices, centres for senior citizens, schools, nursing homes and shopping emporiums.
“Music should always be about playing,” says Sr Bernadette. “We need to rethink the system and how we teach creativity in schools. Years ago, I started teaching a grade-four piano class. The teacher they had was so rigid, she used to make them cry. I got them to learn ads and songs at home by ear and they were suddenly interested again. Performing gives you pride. We learn how to speak before we start analysing language. We should learn how to play music first, then think about the theory. We need a living music in our schools.”
Not content with one 400-strong string section, the St Agnes initiative has blossomed into a full-scale creative revolution, replete with a gospel choir, a pre-school group, and since February last, a parents’ orchestra.
“It’s constantly evolving,” says project co-ordinator Joanna Crooks. “There are always new ideas and new ways to grow the project.”
In this spirit, the parents and grandparents have just joined forces with the Sounds Wind Ensemble to perform a benefit concert in aid of Haiti. Today, as we catch up with Ireland’s newest symphony orchestra, they’re running through their Haydn.
“As a musician, I can tell you the adults sound wonderful,” says Sr Bernadette. “They were rehearsing the other day and this Caribbean sound was carrying out through the kitchen windows. The sisters couldn’t believe what they were hearing.”
Can these people really be novices? “A year ago, I had never picked up an instrument,” says violinist Margaret McCabe. “I still consider myself tone deaf, and my kids tell me I can’t sing a note. To think how far I’ve come after just a year of coming here every Tuesday night. It’s amazing.”
We might speculate on the relationship between music and neurochemistry. We could even cite dozens of studies demonstrating the happy effects a musical education seems to have on the brain. But talking with the folks at St Agnes, what we can say as a lockdown certainty is that the family that plays together, stays together.
“The kids love that we’re here and come in and practise beside us,” says McCabe. “It’s a very happy interaction. Nobody is ever late for violin. Everyone in the parents’ orchestra says the same thing: I live for Tuesdays.”
Ngozika Chuwuewuzie, a novice violinist and the mother of three promising string-playing daughters, agrees: “My eldest leads us all off to practice everyday,” she says. “She’s ahead of everyone. She composes on keyboards as well. It’s something we all do together.”
Terence Clancy, the conductor of Sounds Winds Ensemble, has been more than happy to sign up to the project’s vision of an inclusive, toe-tapping society.
“There’s no reason why adults can’t become musicians,” he says. “You never stop learning music anyway. I still read scores. I’m still working out little things all the time. There’s nothing holding you back except a lack of confidence. We have two players on sax and clarinet who are visually impaired. There’s no bar.”
So who’s better, the grown-ups or the little people? “Oh, the kids are,” says Margaret. “But that’s only because they are absolutely brilliant.” And with that, a rousing, beautifully polished version of Thank You for the Music strikes up in the background. Quite.
The Sounds Wind Ensemble and St Agnes’ Parents String Orchestra play Beatles to Beethoven in St Agnes’ Primary School Hall, Dublin 12, tonight at 7.30pm. Proceeds to Concern Worldwide for Haiti
