The Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition 2010

Congratulations to Old Columban Benjamin Russell who took part in the final concert of the 6th Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, 2010, last Tuesday evening. The evening was a very prestigious occasion boasting performers from all over the world and audience members such as her Excellency, President Mary McAleese. Benjamin gave a great performance and was very popular with the audience. Benjamin, despite being the youngest competitor by a large gap, came 5th and was also awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Prize for the most promising young singer.

The Finals will be broadcast on LyricFM at 11am on the 10th and 11th February. On the assumption that they will broadcast the 6 finalists in the order in which they performed on the night, and as Benjamin sang first, we expect to hear his singing at 11am on the 10th.

There is a chance for all of us to hear Benjamin sing live, along with Ms. Anna Brady, at A Valentine’s Evening of Song on Friday the 12th of February at 8pm in the Grand Hotel, Wicklow Town. This is a great opportunity to support these extremely talented performers and have a very entertaining evening too.

Film Music

This term's main theme in form I and Primary is Musicals and Music in Film. Two projects on a composer who wrote music for a film are found below. Check back soon for more of these projects.

Film: Up Music

Composer: Michael Giacchino
Up is a 2009 Disney Pixar film, and the music director is Michael Giacchino. Giacchino also wrote the music for Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouille. I like the music in this film because it emphasizes everything that the characters do. Giacchio has compared the film to an opera because each character has their own theme that changes during a particular moment in the story. Giacchino himself is an American soundtrack composer, who has composed many other video game and film soundtracks other than Pixar films.

by Ally Boyd-Crotty

Film: Slumdog Millionaire

Composer: A.R. Rahman
This composer has composed music for more than 130 Indian films, incorporating jazz, rock, Indian pop and western classical music into their soundtracks. He was born on the 6th of Janurary 1966 in Chennai, India. Rahman lost his father, a famous composer in India, when he was at a very young age. He was then raised by his mother, Kareema. He studied many different styles of music. He uses all these styles in the film Slumdog Millionaire. The most famous is Jai Ho.

by Molly Maire