The National Concert Hall's outreach programme is bringing music to the young masses, thanks to the support of star musicians such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, writes Arminta Wallace
"Fine words, beautiful melodies, along with true rhythms . . . all flow together down the road which leads to clarity of thought and soul. Are these not the properties which youth must pursue if they wish to take their place in life?"- Socrates
Well, yes. But money helps too. At least it does when it comes to an involvement in classical music. There's an instrument to buy, lessons to pay for, masterclasses, you name it. It's a tough calling for any young person, and for anyone from a disadvantaged background, it's next to impossible. Between the mellifluous idealism of Socrates' words and the often grim realities of music education, there is a pretty major river to be crossed.
People in the classical world are, however, busy building bridges. One such person is the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who will play at the National Concert Hall (NCH) on March 8 to raise funds for the NCH's education and community outreach programme.
Mutter is donating her fee to the hall, and will be joined by a chamber orchestra from Norway, the Trondheim Soloists, who are also giving their services for free. They will play three Bach concerti, as well as Tartini's extravagant Devil's Trill sonata - in itself a lesson as to what can be done if you put a violin in the right hands.
Funds raised from the benefit gala concert will be invested in building an instrument bank for use at children's workshops at the NCH. The money will also provide tuition to talented children who might not otherwise have access to music lessons - worthwhile aims if ever there were any. But why would a top-flight celebrity violinist interest herself in such things? According to the chairman of the NCH board, David Byrne, such an interest is not unusual. "Many top musicians who come to the concert hall are prepared to give masterclasses to young musicians while they're here," he says.
"Barry Douglas has done it. So did the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Maxim Vengerov and the Dresden Staatskapelle, who were here a couple of weeks ago. They've all participated in this programme."
Even so, for an artist of Mutter's stature to offer an entire concert for fundraising purposes represents something of a coup for the concert hall. "She has a good regard for the NCH and for Ireland," says Byrne. "When she heard about our outreach programme she was excited about it, and offered this opportunity to come back and provide her services free of charge. Naturally, we followed up on it very strongly."
Mutter, it transpires, is particularly tuned in to activities such as this, as she organises her own programme to help young musicians. Called the Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation, it is restricted to string players, and the selection of candidates is supervised by Mutter herself. It offers wide-ranging support for budding musicians, from contact with instructors and well-known soloists, to help with auditions and the loan of instruments. "I think it is more productive to provide each promising young musician with what he or she really needs, rather than to subject them to inflexible programmes with fixed rules," Mutter explains on her website.
ALL OF WHICH is fine and dandy - in fact, probably way above the call of duty - for a celebrity violinist. The NCH, of course, is a national institution, so its remit in terms of education and outreach is dauntingly wide. In 1998 the National Concert Hall Education and Community Outreach Programme was founded. It takes its cue from article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no less, according to which everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community. What does this mean in an Irish context?
"The outreach programme aims to provide a programme of events for people in Ireland, regardless of age or background or geographical location, so that they can experience music within an informal environment," explains Byrne.
In 2006 some 11,000 people participated in the NCH programme, whose activities (see panel) range from music workshops in inner-city schools, through parent and toddler sessions, to music residencies in schools around Ireland. "We feel that there's a strong demand for this programme, and we feel we're only skimming the surface of it as yet," says Byrne. "This is clear from our contact with youth leaders, teachers, arts officers, parents and the kids themselves.
"We get a strong response from all our workshops - from parents, particularly." He quotes one parent who got in touch with the concert hall after the parent and toddler sessions last March. "Just to let you know," she wrote, "that my four-year-old attended the workshops last week. She thought it was, in her own words, 'brilliant'. That's the first time I have heard her use that word so it must have been great." Brilliant it may be, but the work of any music and education outreach programme is limited by the availability of suitable instruments - a notorious black hole in the Irish education system. By and large, if Irish parents can't afford to buy instruments, Irish children don't learn to play them, which is where Mutter comes in. It is hoped that the benefit gala will bring fundraising for the programme to a new level.
The NCH has identified several key areas that it hopes to target over the coming years. The instrument bank is the first of these. It will make instruments available on loan, not just to individuals but also to projects and ensembles.
Next comes tuition, with a plan to send musicians to primary schools countrywide to work with, advise and train teachers who wish to run music projects. Talented children, once identified, will be offered scholarships at music schools and third-level institutions. Ultimately, the hope is to develop a National Concert Hall children and youth orchestra.
So far, the projects have been focused on children from culturally disadvantaged areas, but there is also, potentially, a huge amount of work to be done in the healthcare sector. Many day-care centres and rehabilitation groups would run music programmes if they could afford them - research has shown that music therapies of various kinds can help to improve memory, coordination and personal development. However, in this area, as an NCH research document notes somewhat glumly, "funding can range from the generous to the non-existent".
At a time when the folks at the NCH are about to get stuck into the nitty-gritty of an enormous capital-building project, one might think they have enough to be doing without extending their education and outreach work. Why, therefore, are they doing it? "The primary objective is to create an interest in music," says Byrne. "To attract the attention of children to the joys of music and to inspire them. We want to swell the audiences of the future, but, more importantly, we believe the concert hall should be involved in the promotion of the arts in general and music in particular. We want to expand the interest in music to as many people as possible."
• The Anne-Sophie Mutter Benefit Gala, supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers, will take place at the National Concert Hall next Thursday
A cast of thousands
In Tune residencies:One of the National Concert Hall's earliest outreach projects, In Tune residencies were sponsored by the ESB between 1999 and 2001. Musicians visited schools around the country and spent a week preparing a piece to be performed both locally and at the NCH. Some 27 residences took place with more than 4,000 children involved.
Family workshops:These encourage parents to make music with their children, and are held at the NCH and at various festivals around the country. They involve children from six months to 12 years and parents of all shapes and sizes.
Up the Tempo:A collaborative project with Ulster Bank and the Ulster Orchestra which rolls workshops out to primary schools in areas where there is otherwise no access to classical-music tuition. They encourage children to both compose and listen. In phase one of the project (2006/7), more than 2,000 children will participate in the scheme.
Masterclasses:Ostensibly aimed at more accomplished music students, these are free and open to anyone, and can be immensely entertaining and informative. The classes are given by a range of visiting musicians to the concert hall, from classical superstar violinist Maxim Vengerov through hip stringsters The Brodsky Quartet to the Indian composer and percussionist Trilok Gurtu.
