PLAY - Music in the Schoolyard 2022

From the womb, children are exposed to sounds. They may be sung to sleep, or have a favourite song from a movie, or hear music on radio in the kitchen, or in the car. There is not always the opportunity for the same exposure to live professional musicians and performance. To see instruments and to hear them played live.

PLAY - Music in the Schoolyard makes that possible, by bringing the musicians, their instruments and a range of genres and styles right into the playground with the children. Music can be a wonderful stimulus in the classroom and is a natural starting point for children to observe closely, think critically and share their thoughts and reactions through their own words to what they have seen and heard.

Following a highly successful pilot project in December 2020, PLAY was developed in direct response to the schools' Covid-19 restrictions, as Draíocht continued to seek meaningful, sustainable, innovative ways of engaging with our local schools. This highly interactive and fun programme ran in 5 Dublin 15 schools across May and June 2021.
Now in 2022, 3 more schools have been offered the opportunity to experience PLAY, with visits from established musicians directly to their schoolyard over 4 days,.

How does it work?
A different solo brass instrumentalist visits the schoolyard on a Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, playing music live in the yard, giving the children the freedom to dance, play, respond, or even ignore if they wish. Then on a Friday, a surprise Brass Quintet pops up to perform for the final day for pupils, showcasing a range of musical genres from popular to traditional to contemporary, with well known tunes from pop, tv and movies.
Teachers receive a support video from The Mobile Music School and a downloadable guide from Draíocht in advance for use in the classroom after our PLAY musicians perform.


Musicians
Solo Saxophone – Dave McGauran
Solo Trumpet – Niall O’Sullivan
Solo Trombone – Colm O’Hara
Brass Quintet - Niall O’Sullivan (Trumpet), Dave McGauran (Soprano Saxophone), Peter Mullen (French Horn), Mick Marshall (Trombone), Conor O’Riordain (Tuba)