A National Competition and Celebration of Music in Schools
Calling all schools and their musical talent!
The first annual Waltons Music for Schools Competition will award a total of €10,000 worth of vouchers for musical instruments, accessories, books, music technology or PA equipment from Waltons Music, to be divided among six winning primary and post-primary schools, including two first prizes of €3000 vouchers, and music groups from twelve finalist schools will have the opportunity to perform in the National Concert Hall!
Waltons Music for Schools Competition - Poster
CONTENTS
Introduction
Prizes
Eligibility
Entry
The Competition
Presented by
Entry Forms
Important Dates
Terms & Conditions
Introduction
The value of music and music education is undisputed. Numerous international studies* have shown that music instruction and active music making supplies intellectual, emotional and physical components critical to young people’s development, and more specifically:
- Provides unique and distinct modes of learning
- Promotes higher order thinking skills and self-discipline
- Fosters creativity and self-expression
- Encourages teamwork and cohesiveness
- Develops perceptual and motor skills
- Is a major source of joy and achievement
Despite the acknowledged results of these studies and the recent Department of Education and Skills music curriculum guidelines for primary schools, Ireland still has a school system where many young people have little exposure to music making of any kind. The Waltons Music for Schools Competition thus offers a unique opportunity for primary and post-primary schools to kick-start or develop their own music programmes.
(*For more information and specific studies on the benefits of music education, see the Why Music? page on the Waltons New School of Music website.)
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Prizes
The following prizes will be awarded each year to three primary schools:
- 1st prize: €3,000 voucher (may be applied towards musical instruments, accessories, books or recording /PA equipment) for Waltons Music, as well as advice and assistance in setting up and/or developing the school’s music programme.
- 2nd prize: €1,500 voucher for Waltons Music
- 3rd prize: €500 voucher for Waltons Music
The following prizes will be awarded each year to three post-primary schools:
- 1st prize: €3,000 voucher (may be applied towards musical instruments, accessories, books or recording /PA equipment) for Waltons Music, as well as advice and assistance in setting up and/or developing the school’s music programme.
- 2nd prize: €1,500 voucher for Waltons Music
- 3rd prize: €500 voucher for Waltons Music
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Eligibility
All primary and post-primary schools, as well as special schools, recognised by the Department of Education and Skills in the Republic of Ireland, are eligible to enter this competition. It is not necessary for schools to have existing music programmes in place to enter, and we encourage schools without programmes to participate.
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Entry
Participating schools should submit:
- A completed entry form.
- A CD or MP3 recording and, if possible, a DVD or MPG recording of a single ensemble piece or song (no more than seven minutes long) performed by an instrumental, vocal or mixed group, all of whom must be current students at the school. The piece or song can be in any musical style (classical, traditional, rock/pop, musical theatre, jazz, world, etc.) and can be existing or original, but it should in some way address the theme of ‘Why Music?’ – that is, the importance of music in our lives. Possible groups include: choir (with or without instrumental accompaniment), instrumental ensemble, band, traditional group, school musical, etc.
- A JPG photograph of the performing group.
Entries will be judged in two areas:
- Ambition, imagination and clear goals/intentions for starting and/or developing a music programme in the school.
- Musicality, presentation and originality of their performance. Special attention will be paid to the inclusiveness of the performance – how many students and/or different ages are involved.
Entry forms are available to download below and from the following websites: www.waltons.ie, www.newschool.ie, www.rte.ie/lyricfm, www.nch.ie and www.localmusic.ie.
Email or post your entry form (email preferred), along with all additional information and materials, to:
musicforschools@waltons.ie
or
Waltons Music for Schools Competition
Waltons New School of Music
69 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2
Entries must arrive by 5 pm on Friday, 20 January 2012. Late entries will not be accepted.
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The Competition
After all entries are received, a shortlist of twelve finalist schools (six primary and six post-primary) will be chosen by a judging panel consisting of representatives of Waltons Music, Waltons New School of Music and RTÉ lyric fm. The twelve finalist schools will be announced by Liz Nolan on RTE lyric fm’s Classic Drive programme on Friday, 23 March 2012. Music groups from the twelve finalist schools will perform in the National Concert Hall on Monday, 16 April 2012, and the six winning schools will be announced at the concert. Tickets for the concert are free, and each finalist school will have an allocated number of tickets.
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Presented by
The Waltons Music for Schools Competition is presented by Waltons Music, Waltons New School of Music, RTÉ lyric fm, the National Concert Hall and localmusic.ie.
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Entry Forms
The following forms are in pdf format and require Adobe Reader. The first set of forms (Regular Forms) can be printed directly and filled out by hand. The second set (Fillable Forms) are opened on the website of PDFescape, a free online pdf form filler.
REGULAR FORMS
Waltons Music for Schools Competition - Primary School Entry Form
Waltons Music for Schools Competition - Post-Primary School Entry Form
FILLABLE FORMS
These pdf forms will open on the website of PDFescape. It is not necessary to register in order to use the website and save or print a form. When you have completed the form, you can either download and save it as a pdf file to your computer (be sure to use the green double downward-pointing arrow button in the left column) or print the pdf directly. If you choose to download and save the pdf, it will automatically save to the 'Downloads' folder on your computer. please rename it using your school's name for reference purposes.
Waltons Music for Schools Competition - Primary School Entry Form
Waltons Music for Schools Competition - Post-Primary School Entry Form
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Important Dates
Friday, 20 January - Entry deadline
Friday, 23 March - Finalists announced by Liz Nolan on RTE lyric fm’s Classic Drive programme
Monday, 16 April - Concert and prize-giving
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Terms & Conditions
- All primary and post-primary schools, as well as special schools, recognised by the Department of Education and Skills in the Republic of Ireland are eligible to enter this competition.
- All entries must include a contact name (school principal, music co-ordinator or teacher) for all correspondence relating to the competition, and must be signed by the school principal.
- Prizes will consist of vouchers for purchases of products from Waltons Music, as follows:
a. Primary schools: 1st Prize €3,000, 2nd Prize €1,500 and 3rd Prize €500
b. Post-primary schools: 1st Prize €3,000, 2nd Prize €1,500 and 3rd Prize €500 - Vouchers are non-exchangeable and non-transferable and may only be applied towards musical instruments, accessories, books, recording or PA equipment from Waltons Music. Vouchers will not apply to products already on sale or at special discounts, and may not be exchanged for cash.
- All students performing in submitted recordings must be current students in the entrant school and available to perform, if the school is chosen as a finalist, in the National Concert Hall on Monday, 16 April 2012.
- Other audio recordings, videos and/or photographs of music activities that have taken place at your school will also be accepted as part of the submission but are not essential.
- All shortlisted schools will be asked to provide evidence and verification of such activities.
- Participating schools and their entries may be used by Waltons and/or RTÉ lyric fm in publicity relating to the competition. Their names, entries, recordings and/or photographs may be featured on RTÉ lyric fm, the competition web pages, and/or other media.
- The judging panel will consist of representatives of Waltons Music, Waltons New School of Music and RTÉ lyric fm. The judges' decisions will be final.
- Although 2nd and 3rd Prize winners are eligible to enter the competition again next year, future competitions will not be open to previous 1st Prize winners from the last five years.
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