PRESS RELEASE
PEACE PROMS TEACHERS’ DEVELOPMENT COURSE
DUBLIN & KILKENNY July 2nd – 6th.
Peace Proms Teachers are having a wonderful week in Kilkenny and Dublin as they work with our amazing tutors Ross Scanlon and Fiona Sweeney in preparation for Peace Proms 2019. HUGE THANKS to Directors and all the staff at the Kilkenny and Dublin Education Centres for facilitating our courses.
The purpose of this course is to enhance Music and Arts Education in Ireland by:
- 1. Engaging teachers in practical music making so that they can engage children in music and enrich their lives through exceptional musical experiences and performances.
- 2. Developing teachers’ confidence, expertise and enjoyment of music through performance, so that they can involve their school in Peace Proms and other performance based activities with self-assurance.
- 3. Introducing teachers to music from different cultures, so that the ‘Peace Proms’ programme can be used to help to raise awareness of issues surrounding Racism, Peace and Reconciliation; Multiculturalism; Diversity and Inclusivity.
- 4. Equipping teachers with the skills they need to deliver Peace Proms within their school, so that they can give children the once in a lifetime opportunity to:
· Sing with a choir of up to 2,500 children
· Perform with a full symphony orchestra
· Work with leading professional conductors and musicians
· Perform in premier venues
· Develop vocal technique, presentation and performance
· Experience a variety of musical styles and genres and develop an appreciation of them.
Teachers will be taught the Peace Proms choir programme to performance level and also engage in choreographing the songs for the coming year. Teachers actively participate in the production of a DVD of choreographed moves to accompany the songs. Teachers are also trained in:
- 1. Techniques to teach children to read music and improve music literacy – including notation and rhythm
- 2. Techniques for engaging children in music education in a fun and interesting way e.g. using music focus games and response games
- 3. Techniques to improve presentation and performance
- 4. Basic Conducting
- 5. Interesting ways to introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra
The course also focuses on leadership. The teachers who participate in the course will be the team leaders for Peace Proms within their school. They will be advised on managing their team, and delegation of roles, as well as managing their school group outside school.
This year, the Peace Proms Preparatory Course will be given by Fiona Sweeney and Kilkenny and Ross Scanlon in Dublin.
Fiona Sweeney holds a Post Graduate Professional Diploma in Choral Conducting, with distinction from St Patrick’s DCU. Fiona undertakes professional development continually. Examples include: Kodaly Summer School St Patrick College; Vocal technique with Martina Niernhaussen; Stagecraft, Gaiety School of Acting; Vocal Production and Staging withAnúna/Michael McGlynn; TOSINI – The Singing Teacher with Prof Paul Deegan; Conducting and Vocal workshop with Alan Leech; Vocal workshop with Martin Barrett; Music Generation’s Let’s Get Singing with Mary Amond O’Brien and Niall Crowley; Aural and Sight – reading techniques with Orla Flanagan; Barbershop Bootcamp – IABS; The King Singers workshop, NCH; Mark Delisser/AMC Gospel Choir Sing Out Sunday; Derry Choral Festival Choral workshop; Tenebrae – Nigel Short Rachmaninov Choral Workshop, NCH; Percussion for Music Teachers, National Concert Hall, Chamber Choir Ireland open rehearsal NCH; Choral Leaders Development Day DCU/AOIC; Eric Whitacre Choral Workshop, UL.
Fiona currently leads four CÓRus choirs. In addition to leading and rehearsing the choirs Fiona trains and mentors CÓRus leaders/teachers and delivers workshops in conducting and teaching methods. Fiona also manages all aspects of staging and logistics for massed rehearsals and concerts involving up to 800 choir members. CÓRus has performed on RTE’s Late Late Show, TV3’s TVam, RTE Radio’s John Murray Show. They have performed in many of Ireland’s leading venues including the Helix, National Convention Centre and RDS, Dublin and were honoured to perform as part of the RTE Centenary Concert 2016 with the RTE Concert Orchestra at the Bord Gais Theatre.
Fiona has conducted choirs at numerous events including the Aviva Stadium for the Rugby International with the Army Band and various charity events for Dublin Simon, Laura Lynn, St Vincent de Paul, The Hospice Foundation, Darkness into Light – Pieta House, Alzheimers Association, Temple Street Hospital, Crumlin Hospital, CF Ireland, Peter Mc Verry Trust, The Red Cross, MS Ireland, and the Caroline Foundation, Tallafest.
Fiona has taught many school choirs groups and her choirs have performed in Peace Proms for the last 4 years. She is experienced in rehearsal planning for Peace Proms: fitting around a busy class timetable and curriculum demands; working with the target age group; as well as devising programs and techniques for engaging children and ensuring that their choral and musical experience is fun and enriching.
Irish born Tenor Ross Scanlon trained at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama where he was awarded the Michael McNamara Gold Medal of excellence in performance and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He continues his studies with Philip Doghan.
At the Royal Academy of Music, his roles included Lurcanio Ariodante, Masino La vera costanza, Monostatos Die Zauber öte and Scaramuccio Ariadne auf Naxos.
Elsewhere, he has performed in ‘Le Thérière L’Enfant et Les Sortlièges’ with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; ‘Hot Biscuit’ by Paul Bunyan for Welsh National Youth Opera, Male Chorus; ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ for Irish Youth Opera; The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Karl Weill, for Opera Theatre Company, Dublin; ‘Carmen’; for Lyric Opera, Dublin; ‘A Hand of Bridge’ by Barber; ‘Carmen’ and ‘Die Zauber öte’ for Glasthule Opera.
Ross sings widely in concert, his engagements have included Alexander’s Feast, Messiah and The Creation with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; Messiah at the Halle Festival, Germany; Messiah at the Handel Music Festival, Dublin, and with the Irish Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed with choral societies through the UK and Ireland and in oratorios including Britten’s ‘Saint Nicolas’; Dvorák’s ‘Stabat Mater’; Handel’s ‘Alexander’s Feast’ and ‘Coronation Anthems’; Haydn’s ‘Die Jahreszeiten’; ‘The Creation’ and ‘Missa in Tempore Belli’; Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’ and ‘St. Paul’; Stainer’s ‘Cruci Xion’; Mozart’s‘Vesperae Solemnes de Confessore’ and ‘Coronation Mass’; Schubert’s ‘Mass in B flat’;Jenkins’ ‘The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace’ and Goodall’s ‘Eternal Light
– A Requiem’ (Irish Premiere).
Recent engagements have included ‘Ed’ in ‘A Belfast Opera’ conducted by David Brophy in association with Northern Ireland Opera; a sold out recital of The John McCormack Songbook at the National Concert Hall; a gala recital for the British Embassy at Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid; a guest artist for Minerva Cruise Ships in Athens and Istanbul, and Tenor soloist for The London Concordia Foundation Christmas Gala, at St. Paul’s, Covent garden.
