Music in St. Michael’s
Music in the form of singing and playing instruments is an integral part of daily life here in St. Michael’s. The school has a long and proud history of choral singing and musical performance. All 1st, 2nd and TY students take part in class choir every week. They learn songs from various genres and perform them in harmony together. This means we have over 400 girls singing in school every week.
Currently there are two performance-based choirs in the school. The Junior Choir is made up of students from 1st - 3rd year. They rehearse every Wednesday at lunchtime. The Junior Choir were worthy winners of the Junior Choral Competition at Navan Choral Festival in 2019, a mere 6 weeks after they were founded and began rehearsing. All students from 1st - 3rd year are welcome to join the Junior Choir, there is no audition required.
Ceola Senior Choir is made up of students from 3rd - 6th year. It is an audition-based choir. Ceola performs at all school events such as the Opening of the School Year Mass, the annual Christmas Carol Service and the 6th year Graduation Mass. Most of the rehearsal time is taken up with preparing for competitions around the country. Ceola have enjoyed much success at Arklow Music Festival and Navan Choral Festival. Ceola rehearses twice a week both after school and during lunchtime. The choir prides itself on modelling student leadership with two choir captains and four sectional leaders.
As well as singing, there are many instrumentalists in the school. Every Friday, our Irish Traditional Music group meets at lunchtime to play together. The Trad Group is student-led and is made up primarily of 1st and 2nd year students. They share different tunes with each other. They perform at various locations around the school during Seachtain na Gaeilge.
The school Orchestra meets weekly at lunchtimes. It is primarily made up of wind and string instrument players, but new players are always welcome. The Orchestra rehearses each year for the Christmas Carol Service and the annual St. Michael’s Melodies concert held in May.
Students in St. Michael’s are also welcome to take up a new instrument. Ms Mulvey teaches piano lessons each week and Mr Browne teaches the guitar and ukulele. These lessons are available to all students and there is no previous experience required.