LAST MONTH saw the first of the summer’s big Highlands & Islands music festivals in Skye, and they keep on coming as we move into June. The goNORTH event in Inverness is followed in short order by an expanded Rockness at Dores, and the first running of The Outsider festival at Rothiemurchus, just outside Aviemore. Both events have plenty of star names to offer, and are sure to attract a lot of visitors to the area.

While both of these festivals are largely dependant on importing big names from outside of the Highlands & Islands, there is no shortage of activity involving artists within the region.

The dramatic St Kilda – A European Opera promises to be a truly one-off event, with performances in five different countries and world-wide webcast. Malcolm Maclean, the director of Proiseact nan Ealan, provides the low-down on the event in this month’s interview slot.

Northings is also delighted to host a web log for the Tanera Mor International Artists Workshop, in which twenty artists will spend two weeks creating work on another lovely island (Tanera Mor is part of the Summer Isles, and, like St Kilda, is no longer inhabited). Readers will have the opportunity to both keep up with developments on the project and comment on the work through our dedicated pages.

Before we leave the Hebrides, our congratulations go to the hard-working management and staff at An Tobar arts centre in Tobermory, Isle of Mull. An Tobar celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, and will unveil a new commission from Oban-born fiddle maestro Aidan O’Rourke to mark the occasion.

Moving north and east, but staying with the island theme, the annual St Magnus Festival (22-27 June) is one of the most celebrated events on the classical music calendar, and fields another strong line-up this year.

The usual plethora of music will be complemented by several theatre events, including the National Theatre of Scotland’s Venus As A Boy, starring Tam Dean Burn and based on Orkney writer Luke Sutherland’s novel. The play will follow the geographical progression of the novel, with initial performances in Orkney (25-27 June) followed by one show in Ullapool (30 June).

The other major event this month also comes courtesy of the National Theatre of Scotland, in the shape of NTS Learn’s The Elgin MacBeth at Elgin Cathedral (20-23 June). Like St Kilda – A European Opera, it will use a variety of media in re-examining both Shakespeare’s play and the historical MacBeth.

Coming as it does in the wake of NTS’s remarkable Black Watch in Dingwall (Dave Smith’s ArtToon neatly evokes the visceral and emotional impact of the performance), it promises to be a fascinating project, and adds to the depth and richness of the offerings available around the Highlands and Islands this month, even without the contribution of Eden Court Theatre.

Their In Exile programme draws to an end with a performance of the Arches Theatre production of Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Hughie’ on 9 June, but it looks as though there will be more than enough going on to fill the gaps until the re-opening of the theatre (an official date has yet to be announced, although Scottish Opera have publicised their own return to the theatre in November).

Also on the site this month is Jackie Goode’s entertaining contribution to our HITN Profile series, while John Burns, who covered podcasting for us in August 2006, turns his attention to the fine art of blogging.

Inverness-born composer Stuart MacRae will have a new work, ‘Birches’, premiered by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on the first leg of their Highland Tour this month, and we revisit our 2004 interview with the composer in our From the Archive feature.

As ever, we will be adding reviews and features (and updates to the Tanera Mor pages) on a regular basis throughout the month, so keep checking back for the latest news and views on the Highlands & Islands arts scene.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor, Northings

Kenny Mathieson lives and works in Boat of Garten, Strathspey. He studied American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia, graduating with a BA (First Class) in 1978, and a PhD in 1983. He has been a freelance writer on various arts-related subjects since 1982, and contributes to the Inverness Courier, The Scotsman, The Herald, The List, Times Educational Supplement Scotland, and other publications. He has contributed to numerous reference books, and has written books on jazz and Celtic music.