Tipperary school scoops top prize in national music competition
Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan took home the top prize from Walton's Music for Schools competition
A Tipperary school has scooped a top award this week for their musical interpretation of the key of life.
Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan from Nenagh took home the top prize from the Walton‘s Music for School’s competition in association with RTÉ Lyric FM, which took place in the National Concert Hall.
The local school sung Cyndi Lauper's True Colours before breaking into REM's Shiny Happy People, representing this year's theme of the key of life.
As a Gaelscoil the school's originality with this piece is to translate the lyrics to Irish that maintain the meaning, rhythm and flow of the piece and add layers of harmonies, instrumentals, dynamics and choreography to create a moving piece.
The school said that Cindi Lauper’s song True Colours "is an uplifting story of loneliness, and salvation through the support of friends who will notice the troubled and burdened person, pick them up, scaffold and support them and help them see the inner beauty and value that lies within each of us," the school said.
The local school continued, saying that "REM's Shiny Happy People is the most infectious, contagious, feel - good song of all time. This song spreads joy, smiles, inspires spontaneous movements, dance and singing in a communal shared experience. This piece demonstrates the sheer power of music, of joy and of happiness and this, in our opinion, is ultimately ……the key of life".
As winners of the competition, Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan will take a €2,000 prize back to Nenagh, which will be invested back into the school with some new musical instruments.