Category Archives: Community/Outreach

A New Term Commences

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Simeon

With the Easter break but a fleeting memory, we are back in workshop mode in a big way!

Last week, we began work on two new projects with old friends. Sarah has been invited back to George’s Hill National School, to deliver a series of 24 workshops with some of the younger children there – we have had some great successes in George’s Hill, and it is very much… Read More

Posted in Collaborations, Community, Community/Outreach, Drogheda Samba Festival, Training | Leave a comment

Variety is the Spice of Life (stamina important too!)

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Simeon

St. Patrick’s Day is always an important time in the MaSamba camp, and this year is no exception!

This year, as always, we are involved in a whole series of events, some big, some small, some very public, some almost invisible, some for the world to see, and some that might only mean something to band members and friends – variety, as they say, is the spice of life!… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach, Gigs, Uncategorized, Youth Music | Leave a comment

Giant Octopus Heading for Dublin and Drogheda!!

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Simeon

No, this is not the government trying to distract us from yet another tax-hike, The Octopus is the name of a new street theatre presentation currently being developed by Samba Resille, in preparation for their Irish tour in June 2013.

Samba Resille are one of the most established Afro-Brasilian music and dance groups in France… Read More

Posted in Collaborations, Community, Community/Outreach, Drogheda Samba Festival, Projects | Leave a comment

New Beginners Course In Samba Percussion

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Simeon

We are delighted to announce our next Samba Percussion Evening Course, which will run for 8 weeks from mid October. Dates to be announced very soon!
The course is for adults, and sessions will take place from 6.30pm-8.00pm each night. All instruments are provided, and the sessions will be led by MaSamba’s key Musical Directors.
All the material we are covering is from MaSamba’s current set, wich will facilitate students… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach, Training | 1 Comment

Longest Day of the Year

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Simeon

As the dust settles on a really busy period of work for the band, it is time to sort out the mess, evaluate and move on, into the 2nd half of the year.

An overview of our schedule for the Summer Solstice – not much time for communing with nature, I'm afraid!

Read More
Posted in Community/Outreach, Drogheda Samba Festival 2009, Gigs, Photos, Youth Music | Leave a comment

MaSamba Delighted to Announce a New Patron

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Simeon

Last week, in the midst of a snowstorm of work, we received one very special piece of mail, bearing the gold Irish Harp. We are all used to seeing the harp on government literature, but we had never seen a gold one – what did it signify?

It was the most amazing news, in the Michael D. Higgins, President Of Ireland has agreed to be the Patron for MaSamba… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach, Media, Projects, Youth Music | Leave a comment

Day by Day

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Simeon

Today, we finished up our annual project with the boys of Scoil Iosagain in Crumlin, with a series of five unique performances, by five totally unique samba bands. All of them played really well, and the response from the audience of parents, peers and teachers was justifiably positive!

As soon as the drums were back at base, we had a quick staff meeting to review our plans for next… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach, Drogheda Samba Festival 2009, Gigs, Uncategorized, Video, Youth Music | Leave a comment

Running to Stand Still

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Simeon

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of activity behind the scenes, while on the surface, things seem to be tipping away as usual!

Firstly, we have been out almost every day delivering workshops with children and young people, working with c. 350 participants each week. This is set to increase in a couple of weeks, when we take on a couple more groups on… Read More

Posted in Community, Community/Outreach, Upcoming Gigs, Youth Music | Leave a comment

Accounting for the Past – Looking to the Future!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Simeon

As one year turns into the next, it is the natural time to take stock of what’s gone before, and to use that information to plan for the future – MaSamba is no different, and that’s exactly what’s been happening over the last couple of weeks.

On the ‘historical’ side, we had a lot of paperwork due in to our key funders, the Department of Social Protection. Some of… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach, Youth Music | Leave a comment

New Year: Old Friends and Memories

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Simeon

Our office re-opened yesterday, and rehearsals re-commenced tonight, so it is definitely ‘all systems go’ in the MaSamba Camp for 2012!

Tonight’s rehearsal had a couple of special points – given that it is the anniversary of Phil Lynott’s death, we had to have a spirited run-through of ‘Emerald’, one of the tracks we wrote for our ‘Boys Are Back In Town’ pageant in August 2011. We hadn’t played… Read More

Posted in Community/Outreach | Leave a comment