November 10, 2022
Meghan O'Toole
Anne Barry shares Irish music traditions with over 500 high school students in Washington
Barry leading students in rehearsal at the festival.
Associate Professor of Music and Chair of Music Education Anne Barry was invited to Western Washington University's 2022 High School Choral Festival as a guest conductor and culture bearer.
The festival, which took place October 28 at Western Washington University (WWU), brought 560 students from 11 high schools in the Bellingham, Washington area. The event aims to introduce attendees to musical traditions of cultures they may not be familiar with. This year, with Barry at the helm, the festival presented all things Irish.
The role of culture bearer enabled Barry to bring Irish choral compositions and arrangements, folk song, and dance traditions together. As part of the cultural ambassador aspect of the festival, Barry taught students an Irish set dance, a popular form of group folk dancing, and made space for the music education students at WWU to hone their own teaching skills.
“Music education students at Lake Forest College helped me create a video on how to teach an Irish set dance called ‘The Walls of Limerick.’ We modeled the various steps and dance patterns, and demonstrated how to teach it,” Barry explained. “I then sent the video to the music education students at WWU about six weeks before going out there. We reviewed the dance together when I met them, and they then they taught the high school students in small rehearsal groups.”
Barry prepared a program of Irish music for the festival. Students practiced with their choral directors in the weeks leading up to the festival before coming together to rehearse and perform.
“As we rehearsed, I shared background information, putting the pieces in context for the students,” Barry explained. “We talked about Irish song, instrumental music, and dance traditions, and how the structure of some of the folk songs are quite repetitive to encourage audience participation.”
Choral music is relatively new in the Irish tradition, Barry explained: “The choral pieces we featured at the festival have a very distinctive traditional flavor but use contemporary rhythms and harmonies. The tradition is more about solo singing than choral singing. It is only in the last 100 years, since Irish independence, that choral music emerged, and only since the 1950s is a traditional choral ‘brand’ evident.”
The festival was originally scheduled for 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was pushed back until 2022.
“This was the first time in three years that I had stood in front of a group of this size,” Barry shared. “It was the first time ever for many of the students participating in a large festival like this, and you could feel the instant community and connection through shared music.”
The festival culminated in a joint performance with WWU’s Advanced Treble Chorale and University Choir.
“There was just that lovely energy in the room,” Barry said. “The students were so willing to work together to really polish the pieces. They were very invested in ensuring that the singing and performance was stylistic, and they never lost sight of the stories behind the songs.”
For Barry, guest conducting is a joy and an opportunity to make connections and bring a taste of Lake Forest College across the country. She is especially grateful to Dr. Angela Kasper, Associate Professor of Music Education at WWU for the invitation to lead the 2022 festival, and to the music education students who led sectional rehearsals and taught some fabulous set dancing.
Winter Wonder, featuring Sylvan Singers, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Concert Band, and Orchestra will take place on Friday, December 2 at 7 p.m. at Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest. Admission is free, all are welcome to attend.