A National Competition and Celebration of Music in Irish Schools

Waltons Music for Schools Competition YouTube Channel

CONTENTS

• The Competition
• Background
• Prizes
• Eligibility
• Entry
• Sending Your Entry
• The Process
• Presented by
• Entry Forms
• Important Dates 2013-2014
• Terms & Conditions
• 2012-2013 Competition

The Competition

The annual Waltons Music for Schools Competition is a national competition and celebration of music in Irish schools. The competition awards 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 €3,000 vouchers, and music groups from twelve finalist schools have the opportunity to perform in the National Concert Hall!

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Background

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. Yet 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:

• First Prize: Trophy and €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.
• Second Prize: Trophy and €1,500 voucher for Waltons Music
• Third Prize: Trophy and €500 voucher for Waltons Music

The following prizes will be awarded each year to three post-primary schools:

• First Prize: Trophy and €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.
• Second Prize: Trophy and €1,500 voucher for Waltons Music
• Third Prize: Trophy and €500 voucher for Waltons Music

All performers in the Finalists Concert will also receive Certificates of Participation.

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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 must submit the following materials:

1. A completed entry form (see below).
2. Either a DVD or an MPG, AVI or MOV video recording* of a single ensemble piece or song (no more than five 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. (Please note that audio recordings, while they may supplement your school's entry, are not acceptable for your entered piece or song.)
3. A JPG photograph of the performing group.

(*While some schools have adequate video recording equipment to create their video entries, others may not. For this reason Waltons Music is offering all schools participating in this year’s Competition a 20% discount off Zoom Q2HD and Zoom Q3HD Video Recorders, purchased either from Waltons or from participating retail shops around the country (see table below). If you would like to avail of this discount for your school, please contact us and we will send you a voucher to use when purchasing your video recorder. Only one voucher per school.)

Entries will be judged in two areas:

1. Ambition, imagination and clear goals/intentions for starting and/or developing a music programme in the school.
2. Musicality, presentation and originality of their performance. Special attention will also be paid to the inclusiveness of the performance – how many students and/or different ages are involved – and how well it addresses the ‘Why Music?’ theme. 

Entry forms are available to download below and from the following websites: www.waltons.ie, www.rte.ie/lyricfm and www.nch.ie.

Sending Your Entry

Since video files can be quite large to send by email, we strongly recommend that you use a file sharing service such as wetransfer to send them, although they can also be emailed directly to:

musicforschools@waltonsmusic.ie

Although file sharing or email is preferred, we also accept entries and materials posted to:

Waltons Music for Schools Competition
Waltons New School of Music
69 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2

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The Process

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 RTÉ lyric fm's Classic Drive programme (4-7 pm). Music groups from the twelve Finalist schools will perform in the National Concert Hall, and the six winning schools will be announced at the concert. Tickets for the concert are free, and each Finalist school will be given an allocated number of tickets to distribute.

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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, and the National Concert Hall.

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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, 2013-2014

Dates to be confirmed, but the entry deadline will be in February, the announcement of Finalists in March and the Finalists Concert in late April/early May.

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Terms & Conditions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Prizes will consist of trophies and vouchers for purchases of products from Waltons Music, as follows:
   a. Primary schools: First Prize €3,000, Second Prize €1,500 and Third Prize €500
   b. Post-primary schools: First Prize €3,000, Second Prize €1,500 and Third Prize €500
4. 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.
5. 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, 8 April 2013.
6. 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.
7. All shortlisted schools will be asked to provide evidence and verification of such activities.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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 three years.

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2012-2013 Competition

Selection of Finalists

RTÉ lyric fm Classic Drive presenter Liz Nolan announced the twelve Finalist schools in the first annual Waltons Music for Schools Competition on the show on Friday, 8 March 2013.

It was a very difficult task for our team of judges to choose the twelve Finalists from among the many excellent entries, and the students and teachers of every single school that participated should be very proud of their achievements.

We not only received a large number of entries, but it was also gratifying to see how different schools – small and large, rural and urban – had worked imaginatively to develop fantastic music programmes, often with limited resources.

We would like to thank the many schools around the country that participated in this competition for their wonderful effort and creativity.

See profiles and entry videos of the six Primary School Finalists.

See profiles and entry videos of the six Post-Primary School Finalists.

Finalists Concert

Well done to all of the twelve great performing groups that travelled from the four corners of Ireland to perform in the Finalists Concert at the National Concert Hall on Monday, 8 April 2013, warm congratulations to the winning schools!

In the Primary Schools category, the winners were:

• First Prize: Kilbrittain National School, Co. Cork
• Second Prize: Gaelscoil an tSlí Dala, Borris-in-Ossory, Co. Laois
• Third Prize: Knockanean National School, Co. Clare

In the Post-Primary Schools category, the winners were:

• First Prize: Presentation College, Headford, Co. Galway
• Second Prize: Crescent College Comprehensive School, Dooradoyle, Co. Limerick
• Third Prize: Castleknock College, Dublin 15

We would like to thank Liz Nolan of RTÉ lyric fm, our MC; Dónal Lunny and Ellen Cranitch, our adjudicators; and Solomon Ijigade, our interval performer. But most of all we would like to thank all twelve school groups that participated!

See Finalists Concert Videos & Photos.

See the Finalists Concert Programme.

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Participating Retail Shops Stocking Zoom Video Recorders

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