And The Music Just Grows and Grows

Beyond Skin are proud to announce the arrival of the WOMAD Foundation’s Growing Music Project to Northern Ireland.

Supported by Arts Council NI, Lloyds TSB Foundation, Mid Ulster Council and Mid & East Antrim Borough Council through Ballymena Inter-Ethnic Forum, workshops will take place in Ballymena and Dungannon with children & young people

Exploring the links between culture, climate, science, music and our environment - this project brings opportunities for children & young people to actively engage with the ideas and processes involved in cultivating plants, making them into musical instruments, investigating how sounds are made and changed  and actually playing music.

We live in an increasingly disconnected world where the provenance of everyday products is often an unknown for young people. This lack of awareness can lead to a disregard of our natural resources, a neglect of the environment and miss-understanding of how dependant we all are on the resources and cultural skills of other countries.

This project will engage children & young people in a cycle of planting, growing, investigating, making and playing which will clearly illustrate the connections between environment, culture, science, creativity and quality of life. The legacy for young children of ‘growing their own music’ – going back to the source, will stay with them and be passed on to future generations highlighting how science, music, culture and our environment are intrinsically linked.

This first Growing Music programme in Northern Ireland will revolve around bamboo as the resource and will be facilitated by Mauricio Velezsierra (Colombian Musician) & Annie Menter from the WOMAD Foundation.

Promotional Video: https://youtu.be/4sbVDWHDC3g

Annie Menter said:

“The WOMAD Foundation are very excited to be heading over to Northern Ireland in a couple of weeks with lead artist, Mauricio Velasierra to deliver our Growing Music Project. Young people will be making music with bamboo in the Colombian tradition. Everyone who takes part will make a set of tuned pipes from scratch and learn how to play them…..we can’t wait”

www.womadni.com