Music Generation is a nationwide project to help young people access music education and express their creativity through song writing. The project was initiated in 2010 with funding from U2 and The Ireland Funds and set to run for five years, Limerick Post talked to Boris Hunka of Music Generation to find out more about the project.
So FAR Music Generation has put together a house band to introduce the Music Generation concept to schools and the public. Along with that band, a 500 strong ensemble was assembled to record a piece for Limerick’s City of Culture called ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ which was performed at Arthur’s Quay Park on New Year’s Eve.
The day to day activities sees Music Generation visiting schools and neighbourhoods and engaging with young people. With that in mind City of Culture fund is paying for the Music Bus Project which will be a double decker bus with recording facilities and music appreciation spaces.
Since June of 2013 Boris Hunka had been brought on board to lead the Music Generation Project, and is delighted with the positivity that the project has received.
“Everything has run very smoothly. I think it was something that the city was ready for. We have had a lot of feedback and support from across the board. I’m based in Limerick now the best part of a decade, it has just been a great experience. You put out the calls and 300 people turn up to be involved in a music project. It has been fantastic.”
Boris comes to the project with a wealth of musical knowledge. He received a Music Degree at York and started his career in London. He has worked as a musician, producer, administrator and teacher across a range of musical styles and worked with Courtney Pine, Mika and Sir George Martin to name a few.
One of Hunka’s first missions was to assemble the Music Generation Backline. A group of Limerick’s most experienced and versatile musicians, the ensemble created a musical piece entitled ‘140 Years of Music in 14 minutes, a riveting and educational look through music’s history’.
Boris says, “We are the only Music Generation Project to gather a band of that nature. Part of the remit is to give work to local musicians and to freelance players as tutors. The other is that putting a band together of that quality is a great promotion to get people involved in our project.
“When we are going into secondary schools, we do that reference through the genres. With musicians of that quality you can reference all the genres. It is a testament to what is out there in Limerick, they are all local guys and it came together very quickly.”
While Music Generation will run big showcase events every few months such as the Special Olympics 2014 launch or The City of Culture NYE party, the real bread and butter of the project is in its work on the ground, day to day. “The showcase events were to let people know we were here, and to get involved. Now the showcase events are going to bring in young people more and more, giving us goals to work for with the young bands.
“In some of the other counties Music Generation is very much about learning an instrument. But we found on the ground in Limerick, that the first stage is actually getting people in through the door, getting them to to engage and realise that Music Generation is for them. So we have a lot of emphasis on hip hop, a lot of emphasis on the sort of music they are listening to anyway and from that platform we are broadening horizons to work together to develop their own creativity. The focus for this year is going to be on song writing and creativity and self expression. It’s about, You’ve got music inside you, you listen to music, you have got thoughts worthy of putting onto a song, a rap. It’s about giving them the tools to do that.”
As the Music Generation project coincides with City of Culture, they have succeeded in getting the Music Bus Project up and running.
“The City of Culture is funding us to buy a double decker bus. We are going to turn the top floor into a basic field studio and the bottom floor into a performance space and music appreciation chill out space. “We are going to decorate the bus graffiti style and also have an outside stage which can be put next to it. The ethos behind it is to try and get engagement by actually going to where people are. We are going to go into where people are living, we are going to take the music to them to build an archive of songs, raps and stories from people in Limerick.”
Because Music Generation is an ongoing project funded by U2 and The Ireland Funds until 2015, the team is not being too “distracted by the one year whoop-la” of City of Culture. But they do recognise some positives from the last number of weeks.
“It is great for us to be able to piggyback on the energy and the dynamism and the focus that the arts have got in Limerick.
“It has given the arts in Limerick a profile, which if everyone now continues to put their best foot forward …. it will end up being a positive thing.”
To get involved, check out the regular Music Generation column on these pages and on www.limerickpost.ie for the latest news every week.
See Facebook.com/ MusicGenerationLimerickCity for updates and photos and videos of Music Generation in action.
by Eric FitzGerald
