APART from the usual extravaganza that is Celtic Connections down the road in Glasgow, it has been a fairly quiet start to the new year – and a new decade – in the arts around the Highlands & Islands, particularly on the touring front, although Eden Court did host both Scottish Ballet and Off Kilter.

While the Inverness theatre complex is an obvious focal point for touring shows, and pretty much the only option for large scale productions, it is always good to see smaller scale work doing the rounds of the Highland and Island venues. Scottish Opera’s Essential Scottish Opera has been a very welcome part of that process for many years now, and returns this month, albeit with a new name.

ESO now goes under the rather more self-explanatory name of Opera Highlights, but the formula remains the same. Take four emerging singers, a pianist, an imaginative programme of operatic snippets from a diverse range of sources, hone it all into a thoroughly entertaining show, and pack them all off in a van to visit the parts that opera otherwise doesn’t reach.

This year’s show will visit Strathmiglo, Brechin and Midmar in the northeast before swinging west to Carrbridge, Findhorn, Torridon, Ardross, Strathy, Gairloch, Skye, Benbecula, Barra, Benderloch, Killin and Tarbert, with several more dates further south to follow. It is their biggest ever tour, and if it is anywhere near as good as last year’s ESO offering – one of the best I can remember – then it is not to be missed.

It is a shame, though, that the visit to Carrbridge should coincide with a concert in the Osprey Music Society’s season just along the road in Boat of Garten that same night. Mark Morpurgo made a similar point regarding events in Argyll a couple of months ago, and for the same reason – there is a considerable overlap in the local audience for these two events, and both are likely to suffer as a consequence.

The opera singers won’t be the only ones hitting the road this month, either. Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise start a tour with their new show, Davey Anderson’s Clutter Keeps Company, in Mull, with several more dates thereafter.

Back at Eden Court, theatrical delights on offer include Tall Stories adaptation of Room On The Broom, a popular story for the 3+ audience by Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo); a return for NLP Theatre’s Singin’ I’m No A Billy He’s a Tim, seen here last year; and a touring production of Willy Russell’s phenomenally popular musical Blood Brothers. Oh, and Circus of Horrors and The Chippendales, but let’s not go there.

Mention, too, for the ever-imaginative Scottish Ensemble, who stretch even their elastic boundaries in a programme in which tenor Toby Spence will sing new arrangements of songs by Belgian singer Jacques Brel. On more familiar ground, local heroes Session A9 will hold court in the OneTouch, while the annual Inverness Fiddlers Rally is always a popular event.

Still in Inverness, another new arts venue has opened its doors. The Bike Shed in Merkinch is a more modest affair than that other recent re-opening across the river, Highland Print Studio, but it promises to fill a gap in the local community, and to provide an inexpensive facility for artists from all across the Highlands & Islands. Annie Marrs tells us all about it in this month’s interview.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor, Northings

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 List, and other publications. He has contributed to numerous reference books, and has written books on jazz and Celtic music.