RIAM Cara Awards Group Syllabus for Local Centres, Schools and Youth Groups

The Royal Irish Academy of Music is proud to announce an exciting new evaluation programme, the RIAM Cara Awards. Designed for schools and communities engaged in group music-making and drama work, this innovative programme particularly supports beginners and their teachers and is ideal for group teaching in multiple environments.

The RIAM Cara Awards offer:

• An affordable evaluation programme for beginners learning in a group setting.
• An engaging music syllabus for a wide variety of instruments including: violin, cello, guitar, keyboard, recorder, flute, clarinet and trumpet, voice and traditional instruments.
• Diverse, attractive and inclusive repertoire choices across pop, classical, traditional and folk genres.
• A fun Stage School Performance Programme for groups and individuals featuring dance, singing and acting elements.

This imaginative new programme is part of the RIAM’s highly successful Local Centre Examination System.

Cara, meaning friend, reflects the ethos of the Awards, where students can start to make music or partake in drama with their friends in a relaxed setting. These Awards are ideally suited to as wide range of students who are learning in a group environment, from primary and post primary schools, Transition Year students, bands and music schools, to youth/homework clubs and school completion programmes.

For music participants, breaking down genre barriers has been key in the initiation of these Awards and the RIAM offer their Cara Awards across a wide range of instrument including traditional instruments. Repertoire lists also endeavour to be as diverse and inclusive as possible. To alleviate excessive costs, each participant fee is only €15 and every effort has been made to use repertoire from a concise number of tutor books for each instrument. In addition, the option to use CD accompaniment aims to keep the cost of participation accessible.

To meet the needs of their drama students, the RIAM have devised the Stage School Performance Programme. This encapsulates singing, dancing and acting skills and can be taken as a solo or group participant.

The RIAM hope that teachers and students working in the group environment will find these awards ideally suited to their needs and enjoy presenting for their RIAM Cara Awards.

An introductory information workshop will take place on Saturday 26th January 2014 with a wide range of information and teaching tips for teachers and youth leaders.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Hilda Milner at seniorexaminers@riam.ie or consult the RIAM website for full download of the syllabus. http://www.riam.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/RIAM-Cara-Awards-Group-Syllabus-web-version.pdf