South Dublin County Sound Walk

A sound-art piece made from the everyday sounds of children’s lives in lockdown - launched for Cruinniú na nÓg 2021.

AltEnts has staged a Children’s Music Festival every year since 2007. Covid-19 restrictions meant the 2021 festival couldn’t feature live workshops and performances in participating schools, so the South Dublin County Sound Walk was developed to let the festival continue online and stay connected with its festival cohort that year.

Over several months, 5th and 6th class students from Scoil Chrónáin and Rathfarnham Parish National School worked with composer Robert Coleman to make a sound-art piece composed of the sounds of their everyday lives - conversations and found-sound pieces captured in their homes and on lockdown walks with family and friends. Robert was assisted by SubSounds lead mentor Elton Mullally and by sound engineer and musician Bryan Fleming.

The finished piece launched across AltEnts’ social media platforms on the 12th of June as part of Cruinniú na nÓg 2021 - Ireland’s national day of free creativity for children and young people.