BIG BANG bubble Music Festival, The Ark
The Ark is calling on children across Ireland to take part in a truly interactive musical celebration. BIG BANG is an exciting international music festival for young audiences which has run at The Ark since 2019 and this year is aptly being retitled the BIG BANG bubble, inviting children and families to take part at home.
So, while the doors of The Ark remain closed, young music enthusiasts can be part of this interactive online festival which encourages children to create music themselves. While we have to stay apart, The Ark hopes this programme will connect audiences with artists and friends and families through music.
It is also part of the ongoing commitment of The Ark to continue creating exciting programmes for children to experience the arts during this difficult time, and to support artists in continuing to create extraordinary artistic encounters for young audiences. BIG BANG bubble brings together artists from Ireland and abroad with a common goal of bringing musical experiences to young audiences and encouraging them to create music too.
A Piece of You - for a tiny audience!
A Piece of You is a live intimate and interactive performance for a tiny audience; a private online concert for one or two children and their family. Connecting with you from Scotland, performer Greg Sinclair will turn your thoughts and feelings into your very own music score using colourful and expressive graphic notation. He will then play your music on his cello for a completely unique, once-off performance that's all about you. Afterwards, you will receive a copy of your visual musical score and a recording of your music. €10 per family/household (max 2 participating children) Saturday 3 - Monday 5 April @ 10am, 10.45am, 11.30am, 12.15pm, 2pm, 2.45pm & 3.30pm. For ages 7+ (30 mins)
Tin Men and the Telephone
Children aged 8+ will love this fun online show mixing music, technology, visuals and audience participation for an interactive concert that you can influence directly from your living room.
Tin Men and The Telephone are an Amsterdam-based music trio who perform engaging and enormously fun interactive online shows, which you, the audience, can influence during the concert by swiping, texting and shaking your phones at home using the band's custom-made smartphone app, Tinmendo. Using the app, children can discover the building blocks of music to create melodies, rhythms and harmonies that are uploaded live and assembled into a collective composition, performed on the spot by the band. This is one show where you won’t be asked to turn off your phone!
5th April, tickets €10 per family/household, book at ark.ie. Presented in partnership with Improvised Music Company.
Children’s Podcast
BIG BANG puts child participation at its heart and is greatly informed by the input of the child ambassadors who this year will record interviews with the artists taking part and so much more in their special podcast. Tune in and learn more from 3rd April.
A musical journey captured in a short film
Experience a unique audio-visual adventure co-created by children from St. Christopher’s National School and musicians from Crash Ensemble - Lisa Dowdall (Violist), Kate Ellis (Cellist) and Eliza McCarthy (Pianist). Under the title of the Nomad project, each year as part of the festival The Ark invites professional musicians to create a musical performance together with a group of children. The children’s musical talents and imaginations merge with those of the musicians to create a unique expression of their musical imaginations through new music.
Over several workshops, the children will invent instruments and sounds from everyday objects, and use these to create new compositions. See what they create in an audio-visual film which you can experience on The Ark’s YouTube and Facebook from Saturday 3 April @ 10am (for ages 8+)
Soothe Songs
Young imaginations will be captivated by this gorgeous music performance, created by singer Fiona Kelleher and composer Irene Buckley for children aged 2-5. Get a blanket and a favourite cuddly toy, get comfy and tune into sounds and songs to soothe and delight little ears.
€10 per family/household. Saturday 3 April @ 10.15am & 11.45am. Ages 2-5 (25mins)
BIG BANG bubble is presented by The Ark in collaboration with Zonzo Compagnie with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Nomad is part-funded by The Community Foundation for Ireland.
The Ark is a place where children can discover and love the arts, exploring theatre, music, literature, art, film, dance and more. Over the past 25 years, The Ark, located in the heart of Dublin City, has commissioned, presented and developed work especially for children aged 2-12. Although created for this age group, the productions and events are also adored by adults of all ages! The Ark team continues to play a key role in encouraging artists and other companies to explore the area of creating work for children and sharing their expertise through running continuing professional development sessions for artists and primary school teachers.
The Ark gratefully acknowledges the continued support of its principal funder, The Arts Council, and its other annual supporters: the Department of Education, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, Dublin City Council, UNESCO Dublin City of Literature.
Check out the full festival programme for BIG BANG Bubble HERE
