Play Me a Story

How do you tell a story through music? Máire has been finding out exactly that with a little help from her friends in the Ulster Orchestra. First of all, musicians Ralph Tartaglia and Jonathan Simmance composed and performed music for Máire’s book ‘Rita Wants a Robot’, illustrated by Andrew Whitson.

After that, however, it was the children’s turn! Máire received a wonderful feast of stories and illustrations from children in answer to our call, in both English and Irish. The winners are the talented young writers Mimi Page (8) and Canice Doran (5) who wrote and illustrated their own imaginative stories. Mimi and Canice had a wonderful time re-telling their stories to the accompaniment of specially composed music by the Ulster Orchestra’s Jonathan Simmance and Megan Royce.

Author Máire Zepf had this to say:

"Children's own imaginations were the starting point for this project. It was a joy-filled process to present their stories and illustrations to the orchestra's musicians and to see the children's creativity inspire these extraordinary musical compositions."

 These delightful musical videos are available on Cultúrlann’s Facebook and YouTube channels as well as below. Please see Mimi Page’s An Crann Bíol and Canice Doran’s The Octopus and the Key.

 This project is a collaborative venture between Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, the Ulster Orchestra and Quotidian – Word on the Street. It is supported by the Arts Council of NI.