GRAVITY DEFYING SHOW ‘RAINS’ AT BELFAST WATERFRONT

The Ulster Orchestra will defy gravity with its new one-hour show, Rain Falling Up, featuring hundreds of singing primary school children, a narrator, fantastic animation and a small chorus of singers aged 70 and over.

The show, at the Belfast Waterfront on Sat 20 March at 7pm, is for the whole family and has been written by Brian Irvine, the Ulster Orchestra’s Associate Composer, with words by John McIlduff.  

Combining music, song, narration and animation, it has been part-funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s National Lottery programme and is an Up the Tempo project supported by Ulster Bank.

Rain Falling Up tells the story of Jake, a young boy who has an insatiable curiosity for all things scientific, especially gravity. After he (and not gravity!) is blamed for breaking his mum’s favourite vase he begins to think that gravity isn’t his friend; the world would be a better place without it.  He makes a “gravity switch” which, to his astonishment, really works.

Jake is thrown into a world where everyone’s an astronaut and everything can fly; elephants and scout troops and trucks and small countries float by. But as he drifts further into space and becomes increasingly lonely, he begins to think that maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all. Being connected to things is actually pretty important.

With live animation by Matthew Robins (Flyboy and the Planet of the Melting Snowmen), the show will bring together 240 children from eight rural schools, a choir of 180 children from Belfast and Broughshane and a group of older singers from Lockview Fold in Holywood.

“This is a piece that the whole family can enjoy – one little boy’s discovery of how all things, all people, are connected, by magical invisible forces,” Brian Irvine explained.

Rain Falling Up is supported by Ulster Bank through the Up the Tempo programme, a musical outreach programme that aims to nurture young talent in children from all areas and encourages them to compose, perform and listen to music.

“Music has an important role to play in education and young people’s lives,” said Sandra O’Dwyer, Ulster Bank’s Community Investment Manager. “Ulster Bank is a committed supporter of the arts and is delighted to join with the Ulster Orchestra on this programme.”

Children from seven regional schools will be participating in workshops in their schools prior to coming to the concert on 20 March. These schools are:  Castle Tower Primary, St John’s Primary, St Patrick’s Primary and St Brigid’s Primary – all in Ballymena;  Mount St Michael’s Primary in Randalstown; Ballytober Primary in Bushmills and St Brigid’s Primary in Ballymoney.

The 180 strong choir will include children from Broughshane Primary, Orangefield Primary and St Kieran’s Primary.

For more information or for tickets please contact the Ulster Orchestra Box Office on 028 9023 9955 or go to www.ulsterorchestra.com.