4 Corners Networking — Weekly Feature on Faith Activism: Music Unites Project, St Anne’s Cathedral

This week’s featured organisation from the 4 Corners Networking events is the Music Unites Project in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

Last year, Fr Martin Magill blogged about a performance of the cross-community choir at the heart of this project.

This week, St Anne’s is in the midst of a music festival. Singers from the Music Unites project performed on Sunday.

Music Unites project, St Anne’s Cathedral

Contact: Revd Campbell Dixon, Campbell@belfastcathedral.org

St Anne’s Cathedral is a place of Christian worship in Belfast. It is a living place where the cycle of worship is maintained and which welcomes tourists, pilgrims, regular worshippers, or merely those who seek a quiet place. The cathedral stands as place of civic and national importance and its ecumenical life can only flourish with the support of the whole community.

‘Music Unites’ is a project birthed by the Music Department in conjunction with Protestant (Edenbrook), Catholic (Sacred Heart) and Integrated (Cliftonville) primary schools in North Belfast, which seeks to bring together young people from across areas divided by sectarian conflict through the vehicle of music and as a result develop and grow good relations.

Aim: – To use music as a vehicle to unite young people from differing religious, cultural   and community background through the out living of the life of the Cathedral.

Objectives:

• Young people provided opportunities to develop their musical potential
• Young people and their families coming together as one leading to the development of lasting friendships
• Further development of the Cathedral as a shared space and promoter of good relations

Principals speak positively of the opportunity the project presents:

‘We are delighted to be invited to participate in this innovative project. It will give the children more confidence and provide opportunity to visit the Cathedral.’  Mrs P Quinn, Principal Sacred Heart PS

‘We are very privileged to be selected to participate in this project. We can hardly wait for it to begin. Bring it on!’   Ms B McMullen, Cliftonville Integrated PS

‘We are excited about the opportunity the project presents for our pupils musically and educationally’ Mr J Manning Principal, Edenbrooke PS