The Garden, Ghost and the Butterfly

Inspired by Sinead Crossan and the students of Ardnashee School in Derry/Londonderry, composer Conor Mitchell has written a story based on the children’s experiences of lockdown. In a vivid, cinematic score featuring voice (Abigail McGibbon), soprano (Rebecca Murphy), clarinet (Sarah Smith), oboe (Chris Blake), trombone (Ross Lyness) and harp (Tanya Houghton), he tells the tale of a little girl sitting by a windowsill, watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly, but wary and scared of the ghost wandering the garden.

In a beautifully illustrated short, drawings from Ardnashee’s pupils have been animated by concept artist Chris Thompson to depict the public’s entering of a new, post-lockdown phase, as the butterfly flies past the ghost, unharmed, and the little girl feels safe to go out into her garden, the ghost receding from view.

“All that was left was a beautiful glittering dot in the sky; a thousand colours but only one. And me, outside and looking towards the sky.”