It is said that ‘music is the great uniter – an incredible force’ and that was well demonstrated when 73 members of the Clongowes orchestra and 80 members of the Holy Family, Newbridge choir, as well as their newly formed orchestra, came together in performance on Tuesday afternoon last, 26th May. Dan Lumb (Poetry) takes up the tale…
The Clongowes orchestra, under the baton of Mr Philip Thomas, started the performance with the ‘James Bond Theme’ followed by a piece, written by Old Clongownian Kieran Quinn (OC 1998), accompanied on piano by Mr Noel Mason, entitled ‘The Wild Atlantic Way’. This was followed by Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Dance of the Tumblers’ and the ‘Star Wars Theme’.
Then it was the turn of the choristers of Holy Family, who were joined by the members of their orchestra and performed ‘Óró sé do bheatha ‘bhaile’ and ‘Ripples in the Rockpools’ under the baton of Ms Anne Marie Lawlor, accompanied on piano by Ms Eimear O’Brien (late of Clongowes) and on Irish Harp by Ms Mary Keenan. This was followed by the grand finale as the Clongowes orchestra and Holy Family choir joined forces for a splendid rendition of Karl Jenkins’ ‘Adiemus’ to finish off the concert.
Following this, a wide array of cakes, prepared by students of Holy Family, were served in abundance and gratefully received, as pupils of both schools mingled to conclude a wonderful afternoon.
As Holy Family are in the early stages of setting up their orchestra, the main purpose of this concert was to demonstrate to the students what can be achieved with time, practice and guidance. A special ‘Thank You’ to Mr Thomas and Ms O’Brien for organizing the event and also to the expertise of Ms Lioba Petrie, Mr Martin Smutny and Ms Theresa Thomas for getting us to this level of performance.
MORE PICTURES OF THE EVENT ARE AVAILABLE HERE
Dan Lumb (Poetry)
