Today our Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils visited the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh and experienced the magic of the Ulster Orchestra. The theme for today's showcase was ‘Our Wonderful World' and our pupils were brought through some wonderful and interactive music and activity with the orchestra and host Cath Arlidge.
An Alien (the children named 'Bobby'), took the children on a musical adventure around the world. The children learned lots of important information on their musical journey, including the importance of saving our planet!
- The Alien arrived in a forest in Finland first. The orchestra played a piece called 'Finlandia' by the composer Sibelius (1865-1957) The Brass section featured prominently in this piece. The children learned that there are lots of forests in Finland and that trees are essential for life on earth, providing many benefits including purifying the air and providing habitats for wildlife. Hundreds of countries are pledging to end deforestation by 2030.
- Next we learned that the Orchestra record music for video games. They played a piece called 'Grasswalk' from the video game 'Plants Versus Zombies'. The composer of this piece is Laura Shigihara.
- After that Bobby the alien travelled to Africa. The children learned about the many endangered animals including Gorillas, Elephants, the White Rhino and Orangutans. The children were then introduced to the woodwind section. The Orchestra then played a piece by composer Debbie Wiseman, entitled 'Carnival of the Endangered Animals- Orangutan'.
- Next the Orchestra introduced the children to the Percussion section and they played 'Trust in Me', 'The King of the Swingers' and 'The Bare Necessities' from 'The Jungle Book' and written by Richard and Robert Sherman.
- Bobby the Alien headed on his travels again and arrived in a place with very wet and rainy conditions.
We were introduced to David the Conductor who gave us a conducting lesson and showed the children how to create rain effects by rubbing their palms, clicking their fingers and clapping their hands.
The children took part in conducting warm up exercises and were encouraged to do different conductor poses! The fifth piece of Orchestra music was composed by Johann Strauss (1825- 1899) and was called 'The Thunder and Lightning Polka'. The children helped David to conduct this piece of music.
- After that, Bobby the Alien headed on his travels again and arrived in an Ocean. At this point the children were introduced to the Strings section of the Orchestra. The Orchestra played a piece called “Storm” by composer Benjamin Britton (1913- 1976)
- Next, Bobby the alien went off on his travels and landed in a Rubbish Dump. The Percussion section led by Sam Staunton, played 'Bin Bongo' a piece composed by Sam himself.
- After that, Bobby the Alien went off to Space and enjoyed looking down at Earth, saying to himself 'What a Wonderful world!' At this point we were introduced to Shane on the Keyboard and 'What a Wonderful World' composed by Bob Thiele and sang by Louis Armstrong, was played by the Orchestra. The children enjoyed singing along to this amazing tune!
- Finally, a member of the Ulster Orchestra, Usman Peguero, was introduced. Usman composed a piece of music called 'En La Feria' which was played by the Orchestra. The children loved dancing along to this piece!
Today the children learned important lessons about how to protect and save our planet Earth by following the 5 Rs. Rethink, Reduce, Recycle, Repair and Reuse!
We loved our day with the Ulster Orchestra. They are world class and it was a privilege to attend their concert!
