Turning childhood sounds into music at Ulster Orchestra's new home

Ella, Catherine and Georgina all lived around Townsend Street

Townsend Street in Belfast was once a bustling part of the city that has changed over the years, especially after the building of the Westlink.

The Ulster Orchestra is now trying to breathe life back into the street which joins the predominantly Catholic lower Falls and largely Protestant lower Shankill.

The orchestra has recently moved into the newly renovated Townsend Presbyterian Church which closed in 2022, following 200 years of continuous service.

They have been working with a group of women from the area to turn the sounds of their childhood into music.

Over the past few months, the orchestra, along with the Townsend Street Enterprise Park and Zeppo Arts, have worked to compose music which portrays the past, present and future of the street.

The process included consultation workshops with members of the public to understand their memories and also find out about their hopes for the future of the area.

'Your dinner is ready'

Ella, Catherine and Georgina from the Young@Heart group took part in a consultation at St Stephen’s Church in Millfield in May.

The three women are all in their 80s and grew up around Townsend Street.

During the consultation, they were asked about their memories of growing up in the area.

Pictures were brought in to help visualise thoughts - tea and biscuits were also there to help with stamina.

The women were asked by facilitator Emily Dedakis about sounds or music which stuck out in their heads.

Catherine responded straight away: “You used to hear shouts for the children to come in for their dinner, 'Hannah your supper is ready’.”

Georgina says it was fun to reminisce about her childhood

Laughing away, Ella added: “We used to sing that song, the Queen of the May, do you remember?”

The three women then gave a rendition of the song.

Asked about the experience of sharing memories, Georgina said it was fun to reminisce.

“It’s amazing isn’t it, where we lived, how we lived, it's just amazing,” Ella added.

All of the memories collected by Emily were then organised and sent to the composer, Una Monaghan.

Composing the Piece

In the last few years, Una said she had been writing for smaller ensembles and wanted to do something that combined brass and woodwind instruments.

“I guess the only challenge is to think about how I would include the people from communities when I’m writing for an orchestra,” said Una.

The first step was to read through all of the folders, transcribed conversations and look at pictures of the area.

Una said something that particularly stood out to her was the busyness of the area.

“I wanted to convey that sense of pulse or an aliveness within the music. And then there was also a sense of loss in some ways."

The orchestra only officially moved into the church in the last year

The next step was to write.

Una said the most time consuming part of writing a piece is actually at the end.

“The piece seems finished, but you’re trying to prepare it in a way that will be easiest for the orchestra.”

Composers Rory Friers and Jamie Thompson also wrote pieces of music for the event

Rehearsals for Una’s piece took place at the end of August at the church on Townsend Street.

Patrick McCarthy, the artistic director and deputy of the Ulster Orchestra, was at one of the rehearsals.

He said the relocation of the orchestra to the street was positive and unique.

“It feels like we are part of the regeneration of this area, which will hopefully see Townsend Street and the lower falls and the lower Shankill road not seen as some kind of other," he said.

"We want to bring it back into people’s consciousness.”

The pieces of music will be performed by the orchestras at an event celebrating the street on Saturday.