Thanks to funding from the Arts Council NI Mental Health Partnership funding, the Lullaby Programme is coming to Northern Ireland for the very first time. Delivered in collaboration with The Parent Rooms and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, this NI pilot aims to launch the programme in Belfast and lay the foundation for a wider Northern Ireland rollout.
Informed by ten years of research and based on a model established by Carnegie Hall in New York, the Lullaby Project supports maternal mental health, early childhood development and family wellbeing. Working with Live Music Now musicians, new parents are encouraged to think about their hopes and dreams for their child and turn these words into lyrics, speaking the words out loud, thinking about emphasis, rhythm and melody.
Our musicians began the year with training in the Lullaby process, led by lead Lullaby Trainer Todd Henkins, who has over four years of experience in collaborating with mothers, fathers, and grandparents to co-create original songs for their loved ones as part of Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project.
During the training and planning sessions our musicians explored the process and techniques for cocreating unique lullabies, learned from previous iterations of the Lullaby programme, and shared their own skills and experiences as musicians. Musicians delivering the programme are Cheylene Murphy and Ryan McGroarty of the band Beauty Sleep, Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin from The Henry Girls, and Gary Day Live Music Now NI mentor and facilitator.
A Lullaby Project Information Sharing Day will take place in The Parent Rooms, Belfast, on 26th February 2026 bringing together musicians, partners, and stakeholders to share music and learnings from Lullaby projects in other regions, explore the context of perinatal mental health in Northern Ireland, and reflect on the next steps of the programme. This event is supported by funding from the Northern Ireland Office Connect Fund celebrating East-West collaboration.
Read more about Live Music Now’s Lullaby Programme here.
