About this workshop

Butterfly Sing is an interactive musical piece that explores sound in the world of Betsy the Butterfly. Listen and watch as the gentle sounds of new and interesting instruments such as a Sruti Box, a Kalimba and Chimes catch the attention of Betsy the Butterfly. Watch as she rests, plays, and listens to the songs and music of renowned early years artist Fiona Kelleher.

Butterfly Sing is an imaginative piece designed to motivate further discovery of the magic and beauty of nature through the exploration of a new and gentle sound world inspired by the wonder of Betsy the Butterfly.

Butterfly Sing was produced in 2020 as part of Ceol Connected’s Trad for Tiny artist CPD supported by the Arts Council.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Part I - Let's meet Fiona and listen to Buttefly Sings

    • Let's meet Fiona and listen to Buttefly Sings
  • 2

    Part II - Let's go on an adventure with Betsy the Butterfly

    • Part II - Let's go on an adventure with Betsy the Butterfly
  • 3

    Part III - Let's sing Butterfly Sings together

    • Part III - Let's sing Butterfly Sings together

  • 4

    Let's Listen to the chimes

    • Let's listen to the chimes
  • 5

    Let's listen to the kalimba

    • Let's listen to the Kalimba
  • 6

    Lets listen to the shrutie box

    • Let's listen to the shrutie box
  • 7

    Let's listen to the xylophone

    • Let's listen to the xylophone

Workshop Instructor

Fiona Kelleher

Fiona Kelleher is a singer, performer and composer living and working in West Cork. A music graduate from UCC in Cork Fiona has recorded and performed extensively in her career both as a solo artist and in collaboration with many others.. Her highly acclaimed solo album “My Love Lies gives a sense of her love of traditional song and language. Since 2010 she has been lead artist in the BEAG programme for Early Years working to create meaningful creative experiences for very young children throughout Cork city and county as well as mentoring and supporting artists interested in this area of work.. She released an original collection of new songs for Early Years audiences called “I am a little Boat” with the kind support of Music Network and The Arts Council (2013) to great acclaim and continues to perform a show inspired by the album to audiences nationwide. She works as composer for Early Years theatre productions and continues to write for theatre and film. Her music has featured in films such as Tadgh Sweeney,Painter and The Land of Muscrai by Dónal Ó Céilleachair and The Wake by Oonagh Kearney. She has received bursary awards (2013/2016) from the Arts Council as well as Cork City and County Counci l(2010/2014/2016) both for community projects in collaboration with artists of other disciplines as well as solo projects. Her latest collaborative work is a film with live score performance entitled Do Chuala Ceol supported by an Arts Council Traditional Arts Project Award Strand 1 2019 which is touring in 2020. She is very interested in collaboration as a source of inspiration that informs herpractice and continues to learn through her work in Early Years, community settings, in performance and composition. For more information on her Early Years practice see:  www.earlybirdmusic.ie