Music Matters Inclusive Community Choir Newsletter January 2014

Musical Director: Grinne OGrady www.facebook.com/inclusivechoir e: inclusivechoir@gmail.com www.facebook.com/musicmatters2012 M: 087-9803020 www.musicmatters.ie www.twitter.com/InclusiveChoir www.musicmatterschoir.blogspot.ie www.meetup.com/Music-Matters-Inclusive-Choir-Dublin

Rehearsal Venue: MACRO Building, 1 Green St, Dublin 7 (Every Wednesday 7.00 9.00 PM)

2013 was the most exciting and successful year to date for Music Matters Inclusive Community Choir!!
Some of our highlights include:

Visit from Kathleen Lynch TD, Minister for Disability, Equality, Older People and Mental Health in February Performance at LiFT Youth Arts Festival at The Helix, DCU in March Moving to the MACRO Building and celebrating our First Birthday in April Recording our rehearsal and flash mob for RTE Television in July Sponsored singing event aka Sing-a-thon at The Beerhouse in August Screening of The Secret Millionaire, in which Margaret Farrelly, Managing Director of Clonarn Clover Eggs in Co. Cavan, presented us with a wonderful cheque worth 7,500. We also had a party to celebrate at The Church Bar and Restaurant in September Decorating our new office in Smithfield and singing at Royal Canal Clean-Up Day in October Singing for Amanda Brunker, runner-up in TV3s Celebrity Apprentice, as she presented a cheque to St Michaels House and performing at our Something Inside So Strong Concert at Axis Ballymun in November Various Carol Singing events in December

All at Music Matters would like to thank each and every individual and organisation which supported us during 2013. This has most certainly been an unforgettable year!! We wish you every happiness, health and success over the next year and many years to come!

Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes, Five hundred, twenty-five thousand moments so dear. Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes, How do you measure, measure a year?
From Seasons of Love ~ RENT the musical Elaine has created a video slideshow (almost 20 minutes long!) of photographs and video footage of some of our most memorable events over the past year! You can watch it at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjcKLSmnOBM Or search for Music Matters Events Showcase on YouTube As the video contains copyrighted music, the direct YouTube link may not work on mobile or tablet devices, but you can still watch the video on these devices by playing the video at our blog: http://www.musicmatterschoir.blogspot.ie/2013/12/video-2013-events-showcase.html

These are photographs from some of our events which took place in December 2013

Christmas Party at St Michaels House (Tuesday 3rd December)

Joyannes Leaving Party (Wednesday 11th December) All at Music Matters said "Goodbye" to Joyanne Rudiak, who has been our Assistant Conductor over the past eight months. Joyanne is returning home to Edmonton, Alberta in Canada and all at Music Matters are sorry to see her go. Joyanne is very warm, friendly and enthusiastic and really brought out the best in everyone. She never ceases to amaze us with her talents, as every special occasion was marked with a delicious cake! Wishing the very best of luck to Joyanne, in everything she does in the future to quote her own words: "One things for sure: Im taking my ukulele with me. Nothing can tear us apart! Onward to bigger and better things!"

Stars, Choirs and Carols in Croke Park (Thursday 19th December) Stars, Choirs and Carols was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people singing Christmas Carols together in one place. Unfortunately, this record was not broken in Croke Park in 2013, but it did not stop some members of Music Matters who braved the bitter cold, from having a wonderful evening!

Other performances: Dublin City Council Head Office, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 (Lunchtime, Tuesday 10th December) Superquinn, Sutton (Carol Singing fundraiser for Music Matters and St Michaels House, Saturday 14th December) MACRO Community Resource Centre (Christmas lunch for staff and local community, Friday 20th December)