One of the young musicians who took to the stage with U2 at their old school last month has revealed how she thanked the band for their €14million investment in music education in Ireland – by nicking a guitar pick from Adam Clayton.
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she → take → Clayton
Shannon Murphy from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, landed the dream gig of playing with U2 through her involvement with Music Generation, the national music education programme handsomely part-financed by the band since its launch in 2010.
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Murphy → land → 2010
Under the initiative, which seeks to make music education possible regardless of background, more than 130,000 school pupils – about one in 10 of the student population – from around the country received free music tuition last year.
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pupils → seek → tuition
U2 highlighted the success of the programme during their mini concert at Mount Temple in Dublin last month, inviting a selection of participants to add orchestral backing to their 1991 smash One.
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U2 → highlight → smash
Among the young musicians perched beside the band was 18-year-old Shannon, who played violin on the day but also plays drums, mandolin and guitar.
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who → perch → drums
Shannon Murphy from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, landed the dream gig of playing with U2 through her involvement with Music Generation, the national music education programme handsomely part-financed by the band since its launch in 2010
She was given Bono’s setlist after the school performance, which the singer later signed for her.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I have it framed, [along with] the Music Generation wrist band that we wore on the day… and a pick that I robbed from Adam Clayton!’
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I → land → Clayton
Explaining the latter memento, she continued: ‘We were sitting on the wall and the speaker was right there, and there was a bit of duct tape and three picks on the speaker.
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speaker → explain → speaker
‘So I let on like I was just stretching and I slipped them into my hand.
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I → let → hand
I hope he doesn’t hear about that…’
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he → hope → that
While Clayton had to depart soon after the gig, his bandmates Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr hung around to chat to their indirect proteges.
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bandmates → have → proteges
Shannon said the group ‘had a lot of time for all the musicians, they really did now’.
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they → say → musicians
‘Bono was signing fiddles and everything, cellos and violas.
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Bono → sign → fiddles
He was just talking away like he’s just anyone.
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he → talk → ?
You wouldn’t think that he’s the lead singer of the most famous band in the world.
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he → think → world
‘And he was very focused on the person he was talking to.
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he → talk → person
If he’s talking to one person, he’s only talking to one person, and he’s not talking to anyone else until it’s your turn.
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it → talk → anyone
And then when it’s your turn, he will talk to you.
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he → ’ → you
‘He’s very, very lovely.
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The accomplished musician, who achieved a H1 in her Leaving Cert during the summer, said it was a ‘disaster’ trying to keep the secret concert under wraps.
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it → achieve → wraps
While Clayton had to depart soon after the gig, his bandmates Bono, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr hung around to chat to their indirect proteges
She and the other musicians – one from each county – had been told about it three weeks in advance, squeezing a couple of rehearsals in beforehand with arranger Michael Rooney.
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‘It was an absolute nightmare [keeping the secret],’ she admitted.
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she → keep → secret
‘I did keep it, but so many times I nearly let it slip.
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it → keep → it
‘I’ve seen so many TikToks of it now, and I’m like, “How did I actually keep that secret?”’
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I → see → secret
Unlike many who participate in Music Generation, Shannon had some access to music in school before signing up to a project in Waterford at the age of 13.
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Shannon → participate → 13
But through the initiative she learned a range of instruments and genres, meeting and playing with other musicians, who are still friends, through workshops and recording sessions.
And now she intends to study music with the Army Band after working for a year.
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she → learn → year
U2 highlighted the success of the programme during their mini concert at Mount Temple in Dublin last month, inviting a selection of participants to add orchestral backing to their 1991 smash One
The performance-focused programme is co-funded by the Department of Education, with significant support from philanthropic organisation The Ireland Funds, as well as U2’s even greater contributions.
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U2 → highlight → Funds
The band donated €5million to help the initiative get up and running in 2010, then another €4million in 2016.
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initiative → donate → 2016
RÓISÍN McKenna started playing flute through Music Generation aged just seven, continued all the way through school, and is now studying in the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin to become a music teacher.
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McKenna → start → Dublin
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I started playing with a bendy-head flute because I was too small for a standard one.
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‘I suppose as a child, determined to make music, Music Generation made it accessible by providing me with that flute and music itself.
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it → suppose → flute
‘We wouldn’t have been able to afford elite tuition, one-on-one lessons, and I suppose it gave me the opportunity to find a career, find my passion.’
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it → afford → passion
Through the programme Róisín got her first experience of teaching music in transition year, and realised that was her calling.
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that → get → year
The road to college was complicated by a fractured sternum incurred playing Gaelic football 18 months ago, severely affecting her breathing and leaving her with chronic pain.
‘Having the goal of getting into RIAM and focusing on my breathing through the flute gave me the purpose to push through the most difficult days,’ she said.
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she → complicate → days
‘Breathing was difficult, and music was the one thing that was worth fighting for.
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that → fight → ?
I’m not able to go back to Gaelic, but music is the one thing that I had the passion for.’
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I → ’m → passion
A workshop in Waterford in 2023 introduced her to other genres, such as jazz.
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workshop → introduce → jazz
‘I went down knowing nobody, and came back with some of my closest friends, even today,’ she recalled.
‘
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she → go → friends
So it definitely created a network of young musicians.
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it → create → musicians
Some of them are going into music as well, and I will have that connection maybe for my students in the future.’
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I → go → future
Róisín credits Gemma Murphy, a Music Generation co-ordinator in Louth and her teacher since day one, with helping her to re-learn to play after the injury, and teaching her theory when she couldn’t.
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she → credit → theory
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
