On Thursday 1st of June at 1pm, a new suite of songs ‘Bicycles, Boomerangs and Blue Macaws’ will be premiered in The Malthouse, Stradbally, Co. Laois, performed by young composers from Cloneyhurke, Paddock and Rath National Schools in County Laois, directed by Sarah Murphy, Lorna McLaughlin and Music Generation Laois Lead Musician, Nuala Kelly, and supported by the Music Generation Laois House Band.
‘Bicycles, Boomerangs and Blue Macaws’ is a suite of six original songs inspired by ‘The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.’ Composers Sarah Murphy and Lorna McLaughlin were commissioned by Music Generation Laois, with funding from Creative Ireland Laois and The Arts Council’s Young People, Children and Education Award Commissions Series, to facilitate a collaborative song-writing project with one hundred primary school children aged 7-12, in five classes across three schools: Cloneyhurke NS; Paddock NS, and Rath NS.
Song-writing took place between November 2022 and March 2023, with children exploring various articles from the convention alongside their rights and responsibilities as global citizens, with the children brainstorming themes they wanted to explore. The new suite of songs emerged organically from this process, with every child contributing ideas, words, sentences, musical lines, and working with Sarah and Lorna to shape the ideas, and make decisions together.

Tickets to the premiere are available on musicgenerationlaois.ie, €10/€5.

Music Generation Laois is part of Music Generation, Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, funded by U2, The Ireland Funds and the Department of Education. Music Generation Laois is part of Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board and supported by Laois County Council.