Admittance is by ticket only and a lucky ticket number will be drawn on the night providing a prize of £50 to the lucky holder.

Tickets cost £5 each and can be purchased from selected retail outlets and from ForWORDS members.

 Source: ForWords

www.showaddywaddy.net

The gig by Cal on 1 June has been cancelled. Ticket buyers are being refunded.

3 June 12 noon to 4 pm Strathpeffer Community Diamond Jubilee Picnic in the Pavilion gardens – processions, live music, treasure hunt, baking competitions, storytelling – bring your own picnic or buy refreshments, hot and cold drinks on sale

8 June 8 pm the brilliant Scottish Ensemble with harpist Catrin Finch pay a musical homage to the Auld Alliance with music by French composers Debussy (Marche écossaise and Danses sacrée et profane) and Ravel (Petite Symphonie) plus a new concerto for pedal harp by acclaimed Scottish composer Savourna Stevenson, which will have its world premier in Edinburgh the previous night. Continuing the Celtic connection, Welsh harpist Catrin Finch is a former Royal Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales and is now in demand as a soloist across the world. Tickets £10 (£5 for school pupils) on-line from www.WeGotTickets.com and www.Ticketweb.co.uk, also from 24-hour hotline 08444 771000, Pavilion office 01997 420124 (9 to 6 Monday to Friday) and June’s Card Shop Dingwall.

www.scottishensemble.co.uk

www.catrinfinch.com

9 June 11 am to 4 pm Strathpeffer’s famous Victorian Market Day, with stalls in the Square and events throughout the village, including an exhibition of historic photographs, arranged in the veranda of the Pavilion by Friends of the Pavilion, who will also sell their delicious teas in the main hall.

9 June 8.30 to midnight Ceilidh organised by the Victorian Strathpeffer Committee, with the band Highland Ceilidh, complete with dance caller. Tickets £8 online from WeGotTickets and TicketWeb, also TicketWeb 24-hr hotline 08444 771000 – now also from Pavilion 01997 420124, Aladdin’s Cave Strathpeffer and Sports & Model Shop Dingwall

www.highlandceilidh.co.uk

16 June 8.30pm to midnight, Dance organised by Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club, with music by local band Rant. Tickets £10 from the Golf Club 01997 421219 or Rachael Maclean – now also from Pavilion 01997 420124. A return bus service is available from Conon Bridge, via Maryburgh and Dingwall – bus fare £3 return.

21 June 8 pm concert by Plockton Music School – the Pavilion is proud to present some of Scotland’s finest young musical talent in a concert showcasing the healthy state of Scotland’s traditional music scene. 24 students of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, based at Plockton High School, will perform as part of their annual tour, designed to show people throughout Scotland what the Centre does. Tickets £7, conc. £3 online from WeGotTickets and TicketWeb, also TicketWeb 24-hr hotline 08444 771000 – now also from June’s Card Shop Dingwall and Pavilion 01997 420124

www.musicplockton.org

5 July 8 pm The Alexander Brothers – since rocketing to fame with “Nobody’s Child” in the 1960s, the Alexander Brothers have become firmly established among Scotland’s leading international entertainers. As well known in Canada and the United States as they are in the UK, they have always been in demand for theatre productions and television programmes and still regularly tour around the world.

Tickets £14 (conc. £12) on-line from www.WeGotTickets.com and www.Ticketweb.co.uk, also from 24-hour hotline 08444 771000 and Pavilion office 01997 420124 (9 to 6 Monday to Friday) and June’s Card Shop Dingwall.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alexander.brothers

20 July 8 pm the Scottish Chamber Orchestra makes its popular annual visit to the Pavilion, conducted by Nicholas McGegan and with baritone William Berger. Mozart Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Haydn arias and Symphony No. 88 in G, Cimarosa Overture to Il Maestro di Capella, and Mozart Symphony No. 31 “Paris”. Tickets £14 (seniors £12, other conc. and all under 26s £5) on-line from www.WeGotTickets.com and www.Ticketweb.co.uk, also from 24-hour hotline 08444 771000 – now also from June’s Card Shop Dingwall and Pavilion 01997 420124

www.sco.org.uk

http://nicholasmcgegan.com

www.williamberger.com

25 July 8 pm the Tannahill Weavers – one of Scotland’s longest-established traditional groups, whose great music reflects both the Highland and Lowland aspects of our musical heritage. Tickets £12 / £11 / £6 online from WeGotTickets and TicketWeb, also TicketWeb 24-hr hotline 08444 771000 – now also from June’s Card Shop Dingwall and Pavilion office 01997 420124

www.tannahillweavers.com

2 Aug 8 pm Strangebird Zirkus thrilled the Pavilion audience last year with a performance of “Uncharted Waters” with aerial dance company All Or Nothing. This year, Strangebird returns with a new production, “Ornithology”, which is also sure to provide acrobatic thrills for young and old alike. “A charismatic combination of thoughtful theatre and physical skill” (The Scotsman). Tickets £12 (conc. £11, school pupils £6) online from WeGotTickets and TicketWeb, also TicketWeb 24-hr hotline 08444 771000 – now also from June’s Card Shop Dingwall and Pavilion 01997 420124

www.strangebirdzirkus.com

7 Sep 7.30 pm Blas Festival tribute to Calum Kennedy. Hosted by Fiona Kennedy and Arthur Cormack, this evening pays tribute to Fiona’s late and internationally acclaimed father. Joining them will be James Graham, Darren Maclean and Kristine Kennedy, along with old friends and acquaintances gathering together in song, story and evocative imagery, to create a picture of the legendary Calum Kennedy. Tickets already on sale from TicketWeb.co.uk including special 24hr hotline 0844 248 5096 – Earlybird price £12 until 31 July

www.blas-festival.com/dihaoine–friday-7th.html

29 Sep 8 pm Dr. Feelgood: touring pretty much continuously since 1973, Dr. Feelgood always give 100% of the finest British rhythm and blues to make you feel good. Performing such hits as “Milk & Alcohol”, “Down At The Doctors” and “Roxette”, the Doctors will see you now! Tickets £15 (conc. £14, school pupils £6) online from WeGotTickets and TicketWeb, also TicketWeb 24-hr hotline 08444 771000 – now also from Pavilion 01997 420124

http://drfeelgood.org

Plus conferences, weddings, functions and other private events not included on this list

Strathpeffer Pavilion 01997 420124

www.StrathpefferPavilion.org

enquiries@StrathpefferPavilion.org

TicketWeb 24/7 ticket hotline: 08444 771000

Source: Strathpeffer Pavilion

The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland ‘s premier traditional bands.  Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries and swings from instrumentals and reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs to demonstrate the rich musical heritage of the Celtic people. This combination of traditional melodies, delivered with tight harmonies and driving rhythmic accompaniment, makes their performances truly memorable, and has won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. This is a welcome return to the Universal Hall a venue they last played in 2009.

“An especially eloquent mixture of the old and the new.” New York Times

Wed 30th May, 7.30pm, £10/£8 concs/£6 U16’s

Tickets at The Phoenix Stores 01309 690110 and online at www.wegottickets.com/UniversalHall

Source: Universal Hall

LIFE is so much easier as an arts reviewer, rather than an arts critic.

IF ONE of those omniscient characters had been in the Empire Theatre at Eden Court last Thursday for the latest revival of Scottish Opera’s 1980 production of Puccini’s Tosca he would have been hard pushed to fill a space the size of a postage stamp, whereas the reviewer has full scope to lavish the praise on the performance that it deserved.

Tosca. Susannah Glanville and Jose Ferrero as Tosca and Cavaradossi (photo Mark Hamilton)

For an opera novice, this Tosca delivers everything that one could imagine an opera should contain; love and lust, violence and death, lush music and intense drama. Puccini and his librettists Giacosa and Illica used the Sardou play La Tosca as the basis of their opera, and in turn Sardou had based his main characters on real people in the struggle between the Neapolitan Royalists and the Bonapartists following the Battle of Marengo in June 1800.

There really was a theatrical singer called Floria Tosca. She was a waif from Verona, taken in by Benedictine monks and taught to sing in church. It was at the insistence of Cimarosa and of Pope Pius VII that she became an opera singer. The two other main characters, Mario Cavaradossi the painter, and the cruel ruthless licentious Baron Scarpia had real life equivalents in Caravadossi and Sciarpa.

But the renowned director Anthony Besch and his colleague and regular collaborator, the designer Peter Rice, decided to bring the action forward from Rome in June 1800 to Rome in June 1943, when the conflict was between Mussolini’s Fascisti and the many Italians who supported the Allies in World War II. And it works beautifully as the only elements that need to change chronologically are the costumes. The buildings where the action takes place are timeless, and almost uniquely in opera, this thirty-two year old production is still fresh and contemporary, for which praise must be lavished on the revival director,  Jonathan Cocker.

The singing was exquisite. Making their Scottish Opera debuts as the lovers Cavaradossi and Tosca were José Ferrero and Susannah Glanville, two characters devoted to each other despite the petty squabbles. Ferrero has a tenor voice that is not overly powerful but rather is pure and rich, and he uses that voice to great effect without overdoing the melodramatic emotions. By convention, as the tenor, Cavaradossi has the best tunes, such as Recondita armonia in the opening scenes, or E lucevan le stelle in the final act

But the dominating relationship in the opera is not that between the lovers, but the one between the evil Scarpia and Tosca. Susannah Glanville has but one great solo aria, Visi d’arte, sung, cowering immobile on Scarpia’s very ordinary bed, with a sense of despair during Act II as she beseeches the monster to spare her lover’s life. For the most part her role is in duets with either Cavaradossi or Scarpia, or in a style of singgedicht, but such is the quality of her voice that at no time is the audience aware of the lack of show-stopping numbers. Not that conductor Derek Clark was giving the packed theatre any encouragement to break the tension with applause as he took the music forward without stopping

Holding the whole opera together is the menacing presence of Baron Scarpia, the Chief of Police. Even if not on stage, his threatening musical motif hangs over everything like a storm cloud. Baritone Robert Poulton fitted the role to a tee, with a thin veneer of urbanity masking the cruel and lascivious evil lurking underneath. From his majestic Te Deum in the first act until even after death, stabbed by Tosca at the end of Act II, his spectre shrouds the vain dreams of the lovers. The only occasion when this mask was allowed to slip was when he was greeted by a chorus of booing at his curtain call! His smile said it all, “Result!

We have become used to the little touches that set a Scottish Opera production apart from the mere ordinary, be it the bicycling nun in The Barber of Seville, or the domestic details in Intermezzo (sadly not seen in Inverness). In this Tosca there were the extra non-singing characters that added flesh to the bare bones of the melodrama; of course a diva like Floria Tosca would have a chauffeur, and Mussolini would accompany the King and Queen of Italy to the Te Deum. It is this level of perfection that all of a sudden makes us think that of course Scarpia would expect one of his henchmen to attend to the mundane matter of paying his visitor for the “social service” she has just provided

But there was one little detail that is not exclusive to Scottish Opera and has always puzzled me about this opera, ever since I saw Franco Zefferelli’s Covent Garden production nearly half a century ago with Maria Callas, Giuseppi di Stephano and Tito Gobbi. The action is specifically set in the middle of June in Rome, so why on earth does Scarpia have a blazing fire in his apartment? Perhaps it is symbolic of the even hotter place he is about to enter

This Tosca may have been a revival, but having taken it out of storage and blown off the cobwebs it has become yet another example of the world class productions that should make every one of us proud of our national opera company.

© James Munro, 2012

Links

• Scottish Opera

There will be a workshop led by Sanyogita on “North Indian classical Music and the  Raag system” in the Hall on Sat 26th May 10am to 12 noon cost £10 on the door. For more information and for advance booking phone 01309 691170

Sanyogita received vocal training from renowned teachers based in the Punjab before coming to England in 1983. She has performed throughout UK as a solo artist as well as accompanying established and world-renowned classical dancers. Her repertoire includes Khayal singing, Thumari, Ghazals, Bhajans, Punjabi, Dogri traditional folk and old classic film songs. In this concert she will concentrate on devotional Bhajan singing.

Suns of Arqa have been on the World Beat Music scene since 1979. They played at the very first Womad Music Festival in Shepton Mallet at the personal invitation of Peter Gabriel. Having performed over the years at many major European festivals such as Glastonbury, Big Chill, Telerama Dub festival to mention a few, this intriguing outfit  are best known for their fusion of Indian music and electro dub.

Fri 25th May, 8pm. £10/£8 concs/£6 U16’s. Tickets (excluding workhop) available at The Phoenix Stores 01309 690110 and online at www.wegottickets.com/UniversalHall.

Source: Universal Hall

The forty-strong choir, aged between 9 and 13, will take to the stage to perform Scots favourite Mairi’s Wedding as well as pieces from NYCoS’ topical sports themed commission Going for Gold: a sports cantata.

Music for Youth is running two National Festivals this summer in Perth and in Birmingham, each showcasing dynamic performances of jazz, orchestral, rock, folk, world, urban, wind, brass, pop, choral and chamber music.

Margaret Rae, NYCoS Inverness Choir Director, said:

“This performance follows a superb day at the Music for Youth Regional Festival in March of this year. For many choir members, having the opportunity to perform in such a great venue and to be exposed to a wide range of genres is an invaluable experience. I’m looking forward to the day immensely.”

In addition to the main stage performances the festival will feature a lunchtime procession led by folk musician Joe Broughton, the premiere of a new fanfare composed by Stephen Deazley, plus there will be a number of workshops taking place in the Festival Tent throughout the day.

The National Festival Scotland takes place three weeks before the English equivalent which will take place in Birmingham from 2-7 July. Across the two festivals a total of 12,500 young musicians will perform, showcasing the fantastic music education work taking place across the UK.

Tickets are just £2 or free for concessions (including 21s & under).

Box office 01738 621 031

Online www.horsecross.co.uk

Visit www.mfy.org.uk/national or http://issuu.com/musicforyouth/docs/scotlandbooklet for further information.

NYCoS Inverness also perform in Culduthel Christian Centre, Inverness, on Thursday 7th June at 7pm.

Source: NYCOS Inverness

The money comes from the PRS for Music Foundation, the UK’s leading independent funder of new music across all genres. During a very competitive process, HebCelt was one of just 30 applications approved from the 400 received by the foundation for the latest round of awards.

The festival, now in its 17th year, boasts a unique location and an international reputation for quality and cutting-edge programming.

Last year it established a second stage within its main site in the grounds of Lews Castle in Stornoway in the isle of Lewis. This initiative, supported by the Scotland’s Islands project, hosted performances from artists from other Scottish islands alongside established acts and this year the main site’s operating hours will be extended to provide more performing slots.

The Islands Stage will see a range of artists who are creating new work across the contemporary traditional, bluegrass and indie genres, including Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble, Washington Irving, Sketch and The Sea Atlas.

The stage will also host Glasgow-based three-piece Muran who earlier this month earned a slot in the bill by winning the festival’s One Step Further initiative to find new talent.
 
James Hannam, Applications Manager for the PRS for Music Foundation, said: “HebCelt was selected partly due to its strong Gaelic roots and also its ability to attract new audiences and the wide range of folk artists being programmed.”

This year’s festival, which runs from 11-14 July, will be headlined by The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy. Last year it attracted an audience of 14,500, 46 per cent of whom were visitors to the area, including festivalgoers from across Europe, the USA and Canada.

Festival Director Caroline MacLennan said: “We are delighted to receive this financial assistance from such a prestigious organisation as the PRS for Music Foundation.
 
 Supporting and encouraging new talent is one of the key aims of the festival.  The second stage programme is primarily aimed at promoting emerging artists, both local and visiting.

“This policy provides opportunities for performers to appear alongside many of their peers, assisting their ongoing artistic development.  Equally our distinctive location has the potential to offer new markets to all artists appearing at the festival.”

The PRS for Music Foundation (PRSF) is widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, supporting a wide range of new music activity – from unsigned band showcases to composer residencies, from commissions for new music to experimental live electronica.
 
Since March 2000 PRSF has given more than £16 million to over 4,500 new music initiatives. 
 
For more information on the PRS for Music Foundation go to www.prsformusicfoundation.com

Source: Hebridean Celtic Festival

The session will feature Findlay Napier (of the Bar Room Mountaineers), Louis Abbott (of Admiral Fallow) and Kim Edgar (Burns Unit), highly regarded as three of Scotland’s finest songwriters who will play through their songs and break them open in unique and inspiring ways that will show their songwriting processes. There will also be informal Q&A at the session to give you a chance to ask the things you would like to ask established songwriters.

INVERNESS, Eden Court – Friday 25th MAY – 7pm – 9pm

All tickets for these events are FREE but you must reserve them at www.musicplus.org.uk/songwriting

Source: Robotone

The money comes from the PRS for Music Foundation, the UK’s leading independent funder of new music across all genres. During a very competitive process, HebCelt was one of just 30 applications approved from the 400 received by the foundation for the latest round of awards.

The festival, now in its 17th year, boasts a unique location and an international reputation for quality and cutting-edge programming.

Last year it established a second stage within its main site in the grounds of Lews Castle in Stornoway in the isle of Lewis. This initiative, supported by the Scotland’s Islands project, hosted performances from artists from other Scottish islands alongside established acts and this year the main site’s operating hours will be extended to provide more performing slots.

The Islands Stage will see a range of artists who are creating new work across the contemporary traditional, bluegrass and indie genres, including Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble, Washington Irving, Sketch and The Sea Atlas.

The stage will also host Glasgow-based three-piece Muran who earlier this month earned a slot in the bill by winning the festival’s One Step Further initiative to find new talent.

James Hannam, Applications Manager for the PRS for Music Foundation, said: “HebCelt was selected partly due to its strong Gaelic roots and also its ability to attract new audiences and the wide range of folk artists being programmed.”

This year’s festival, which runs from 11-14 July, will be headlined by The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy. Last year it attracted an audience of 14,500, 46 per cent of whom were visitors to the area, including festivalgoers from across Europe, the USA and Canada.

Festival Director Caroline MacLennan said: “We are delighted to receive this financial assistance from such a prestigious organisation as the PRS for Music Foundation.

“Supporting and encouraging new talent is one of the key aims of the festival. The second stage programme is primarily aimed at promoting emerging artists, both local and visiting.

“This policy provides opportunities for performers to appear alongside many of their peers, assisting their ongoing artistic development. Equally our distinctive location has the potential to offer new markets to all artists appearing at the festival.”

The PRS for Music Foundation (PRSF) is widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, supporting a wide range of new music activity – from unsigned band showcases to composer residencies, from commissions for new music to experimental live electronica.

Since March 2000 PRSF has given more than £16 million to over 4,500 new music initiatives.

For more information on the PRS for Music Foundation go to www.prsformusicfoundation.com

Source: Hebridean Celtic Festival

RENOWNED ensemble Mr McFall’s Chamber are well-known for taking their audience on far-reaching  journeys, and their current tour is no exception.

THIS month, four of Scotland’s most prominent traditional composers join them in a showcase of four new commissions celebrating their country’s diversity (more dates will follow later in the year). Hailing from Aberdeenshire, the Black Isle, Caithness and the Argyll coast, the composers have created four very different pieces to honour their respective home grounds, in a performance that melds traditional, jazz and classical influences.

The Four Corners ensemble

The nine musicians work beautifully together, and it is almost surprising that the composers are only guests, and not permanent members of the Chamber. Their contrasting backgrounds complement each other, and attract a variety of audience members who might have been drawn in by the prospect of seeing either Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Su-a Lee or Lau’s Aidan O’Rourke.

For those who have visited the places portrayed in the performance, the music performs an instant teleportation to the expansive skies and striking landscapes of the piece’s titles. And for those of us who haven’t, the pieces are still equally emotive. Corrina Hewat’s interpretation of the Black Isle effortlessly takes the listener on a trip through her childhood haunts of Cullicudden, Fortrose and Jemimaville, conjuring images of sunny stretches of farmland and coast. James Ross’s composition Flow Country, the endless expanse of peat bog between Caithness and Sutherland, is comparatively dark and ominous.

Four Corners displays just how diverse and pliable traditional Scottish music can be, and the way it can blend readily with a multitude of other sounds and genres. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of Scottish music that most people will have the chance to hear, and most visitors to the country will leave with a fairly narrow idea of what ‘real’ Scottish music ought to sound like. These four compositions are testament to the kind of potential that the genre carries, and the different directions that it can be taken in.

© Rowan Macfie, 2012

Links

• Mr McFall’s Chamber

As the project nears completion, 16 pupils from the local Primary School will be taking a walk up the hill to the Stables tomorrow (Wednesday 16 May 2012) at 9.30 for a workshop with the leading Stone Letter Carver in the UK – Richard Kindersley. In recent years Richard has undertaken many of the principal commissions for letter carving in the UK – to name but three, the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, the new Supreme Court and the Battle of Britain Memorial which was unveiled in Green Park, London last year.

The aim of the project was to increase the skill set of Scottish craftsmen, be they existing stone masons or those who are considering embarking on this career, with a view to increasing the pool of talent that is available in the Highlands.

Richard has been working for 2 weeks with his 9 apprentices who come from all over Scotland to learn the traditional craft of stone letter carving. One of the apprentices said ‘This is such a terrific opportunity. Richard is a wonderful teacher and I’ve learned so much over the last 2 weeks which I’ll be able to use in my career.’

This newly created path will also greatly improve access to the building to those with limited mobility and the Cromarty Arts Trust is grateful to the Highland Council, Awards for All, Black Isle Development Fund, Clan Urquhart and the Cromarty Common Good Fund for supporting this project.

The project runs all this week until 5pm on Friday 18 May with a school visit from 9.30-10.30 on Wednesday morning.

Source: Cromarty Arts Trust

Few husband-wife musical duos provide audiences with such a complete entertainment package as do Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart.

Based out of Tennessee, Earle and Stuart draw from blues, pop, country, rock, and more in their heartfelt music. The years of touring the Folk/Americana circuit (playing 170 concerts a year) and their combined experience formally in brother Steve’s “The Dukes”, have given them a knack for reaching out to the audience in an intimate “come in to my living room” fashion. So much so they reached out and enlisted the help of The House Concert Hub and Flyinshoes Review members and asked, if they could literally come into their living room for some dates on this mammoth tour. Heres what they had to say about the response. They tour in support of their brand new album, “ Dedication”.

They started the whole 50 date tour here in Scotland on April the 4th at The Rio Cafe for a Supper Celebration, with a lucky 30 fans in the most intimate surroundings possible, The Medicine Show was there here is the podcast.   They have added a North East date to their already busy Schedule – see House Concert website for details.

Stacey Earle acknowledges all our help with booking this tour:

“Mark and I would like to thank everybody on the House Concert Hub especially Rob Ellen for all the help filling our open dates on our upcoming UK/EURO 2012 Tour. We are now sitting at 50 shows in 60 days. Everyone was quick to help and offer dates, it was a challenge getting all the dates and Geographic’s coordinated but with the kind patience of everybody it all fell in place better than we could ever imaging or hoped for. Again THANK YALL ! From the bottom of hearts! The HUB is a true gift. And Rob you are pretty DARN special yourself. We look forward to meeting everyone when we arrive for our first show in Glasgow at the Rio Cafe April 4 2012.  Luuuuuuv, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart”

“Shucks!” Rob Ellen.

Sara Petite on Tour

For Doghouse Rose, Sara left San Diego to record in Nashville with Eddie Gore; there are a few well-known names amongst the large cast of players (Kenny Vaughan on electric guitar, Harry Stinson from The Dukes on harmony vocals, amongst others) but Sara’s the star. She writes really good, melody-rich songs and she sings them in a distinctive voice that seems to spring from a happy soul. The sense of fun is always there, even in the more reflective and serious songs – as if being aware of the downbeat moments is just further confirmation of how good it is to be alive.

With the very fine drumming of William Ellis driving things along, there’s a lot of electric guitar (sometimes twangy, sometimes pure rock) being woven around Sara’s voice and it’s the spirit of her music that matters rather than any one player’s ego trip. All bar one of these thirteen songs is an original, with the one cover being Harlan Howard’s He Called Me Baby. Perhaps nothing quite tops the opening song, Magnolia; Sara’s vocal is unleashed and flying and the galloping interplay of guitars and dobro is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. It’s probably the highlight of the album for me, but the quality is high throughout, with a nice balance between the quieter numbers and the full tilt exuberance that she does so well. Overall this album probably just about tops its predecessor but I have to say that the song that still knocks me out is Dead Man Walking from Lead the Parade, a song that I reckon Steve Earle would be proud to call his own. Anyway, make sure you get to see her if she’s anywhere close over the next month or so and she’ll chase the last of those winter blues away for you.

Sara is playing three dates on the tour with The Medicine Show. Rob will be recording the Full Enchilada Glasgow Show for broadcast on The Medicine Show.

Source: Rob Ellen

It’s the result of a rare collaboration between two extraordinary talents from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides: award-winning poet, novelist and playwright Kevin MacNeil and acclaimed singer-songwriter Willie Campbell. The two have brought their unique gifts together to produce an album that is raw, tender, funny and uplifting all at the same time.

MacNeil’s poems (it’s just wrong to call them lyrics, even on an album) leap across the spectrum of human emotion, from male anguish over an abortion on the gorgeous, unflinching Every Month, to wry, dark-edged hope in Optimist Drowns in Half-filled Bath. It’s all spun together with Campbell’s yearning tunes, his distinctive soaring voice providing melodic refrains on each track. Visible From Space will strike a chord with everyone who’s failed, loved, hoped, despaired, and survived to see the funny side.

But don’t just take our word for it. Local Man Ruins Everything (MacNeil and Campbell’s first collaboration) was Single of the Week in The Guardian and The List (where it was described as ‘tragically heartbreaking and brilliantly uplifting’) and also on Steve Lamacq’s 6 Music show. The duo have, over the years, built up a cult following – so we’re delighted to be able to announce the release of their long-anticipated debut album, on 12 May.

This is the fourth release on An Lanntair record label, which aims to promote artists and material from the Western Isles of Scotland. Release date is 12^th May 2012, and the recording will also be available on itunes

www.lanntair.com

Source: An Lanntair

AS THE Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian once observed, reflecting on the travelling musician’s lifestyle, “If you ever wonder why we ride the carousel/We do it for the stories we can tell.”

WHILE “rollercoaster” might be a closer analogy for the Shetland Folk Festival, its worldwide reputation as a source of all-time great, frequently fantastical stories is second to none.

Treacherous Orchestra (photo Somhairle MacDonald)

During this year’s 32nd event, for instance, one couple of first-time visitors found themselves so blown away by the whole experience that he ended up proposing – successfully – amid the sublimely beautiful setting of St Ninian’s Isle, in one of the fleeting sunny intervals that punctuated the weekend’s snow showers. As word swiftly spread on the festival’s uncannily expeditious grapevine, the newly-engaged pair were presented with a bottle of champagne by their B&B hosts, and congratulated from the stage – then cheered by 800 people – at the closing concert on Sunday. If ever a troth was propitiously plighted, this is surely it.

Then there was the somewhat sorrier tale of a certain Glaswegian flautist, who – along with many of his fellow performers – had started the party immediately upon boarding the overnight ferry from Aberdeen. Having continued it more or less uninterrupted for nearly 36 hours, he was eventually spotted around 4am wandering the streets of Lerwick, utterly clueless as to where he was staying, by the local constabulary, who picked him up not once but twice, and delivered him not to the cells but back to the Festival Club, where one of the long-suffering volunteer organisers was sure to get him home safely.

The story behind Mànran’s fiddler and piper Ewen Henderson playing in the thick of Saturday’s mammoth late-night Festival Club session wearing a (literal) penguin suit was traceable to a borrowed Up Helly Aa costume, courtesy of his hosts: bandmate Gary Innes was also spotted in full Viking regalia. The reason why a (male, bearded) member of US old-time revivalists The Hot Seats took the stage at the final-night party in an extravagantly frilled lilac bridesmaid’s dress, however, remained a mystery. As did the exact identity of whoever deemed it a good idea for three members of the Treacherous Orchestra to take a wheelie-bin ride down Lerwick’s main street one morning – though the real comedy came when they attempted to climb out. . .

Manran

At the heart of such legendary shenanigans – abetted this year by the festival’s favourite dining establishment, the Harbour Café, opening its doors as soon as the club finally closed, and as ever by locals’ amazing willingness to open their homes round the clock to invading hordes of musicians, whether for bed, board or yet more tunes – is Shetland performers’ and audiences’ likewise insatiable appetite for the music.

The 2012 programme comprised 26 main concerts around the islands, more than a third of them outside Lerwick, with performers dispatched as far afield as Skerries (pop. 54), a three-hour return ferry crossing from the Shetland mainland. Most shows featured five acts each, and almost all were sold out. Up to four more bands each night then played scheduled slots both upstairs and downstairs at the club, while impromptu sessions sprang up in all corners of the building, uniting players from different line-ups, countries and genres, always with a liberal sprinkling of formidably talented locals.

It’s all fuel to the fire of Shetland’s uniquely inspiring ambience within which – thanks also to the international calibre of each year’s bill – performers almost invariably up their game to the max when it comes to the actual gigs, regardless of after-hours antics. Not only do the professionals put each other fruitfully on their mettle, they’re further spurred to excel themselves by the likes of Shetland singer-songwriter Sheila Henderson, who, had she hailed from Nashville or its cultural environs, would long since have had A&R men beating a path to her door.

As it is, though, usually only fellow islanders are lucky enough to hear her richly dulcet, country-folk voice and engrossing choice of material, here including both adroitly crafted, radio-friendly originals and diverse covers, from the big honky-tonk licks of ‘Send It Out’ to a wonderfully smoky, sultry version of Patsy Cline’s ‘Never No More’. The A&R people would surely have snapped up her four-piece band, too, which featured some serious electric guitar work from Brian Nicolson, together with fiddle, bass, drums and sweetly-layered backing vocals.

Lori Watson's Rule of Thumb

Also on Saturday night’s line-up in Mossbank, a wending 45-minute bus ride north of Lerwick, and home to many workers at the Sullom Voe oil terminal, were two contrasting exemplars of the current Scottish/Celtic scene, firstly the Borders-born fiddler and singer Lori Watson and her Rule of Three combo, with brother Innes on guitar and accordionist John Somerville. The deceptive simplicity and spacious arrangements of their largely traditional-style set conversely amplified the skill, subtlety and imagination involved, in both the fiddle and vocals’ blend of elegance and fervour, and the silky, sparkling finesse of its accompaniment, while guest appearances on some numbers from double bassist Duncan Lyall and fellow fiddler Aidan O’Rourke kept faith with the collaborative Shetland spirit.

While Lyall and Innes Watson had already played the night before as members of the Treacherous Orchestra, who delivered a suitably triumphant, all-guns-blazing performance before an 800-strong crowd sat Lerwick’s Clickimin Centre, O’Rourke closed the show at Mossbank with his newest band project Kan, partnering him with Irish flute and whistle genius Brian Finnegan, guitarist Ian Stephenson and drummer Jim Goodwin. Ambitiously complex and freewheeling, their nonetheless viscerally compelling sound was an endlessly mercurial synthesis of melody and rhythm.

Kan (photo Louis de Carlo)

Similarly revealing a wealth of fresh possibilities within folk-based instrumental music – albeit with brilliantly different results – were the Nordic/northern English quintet Baltic Crossing, also featuring Stephenson on guitar, together with Northumbrian piper Andy May, Danish fiddler Kristian Bugge, and two Finnish cousins, Esko and Antti Järvelä, on fiddle, viola, double bass and mandolin. Their superbly executed, ebulliently dynamic union of distinct north European traditions, within which the pipes’ liquid brightness vibrantly catalysed the dense mesh of strings, was allied with hugely effervescent onstage energy, ranking them among this year’s most fêted Shetland first-timers.

Other noteworthy debutants were Cape Breton combo Sprag Session, who did a terrific job warming up for the Treacherous Orchestra as well as two gigs outside Lerwick, and a memorably extended slot during the Festival Club finale. Boldly charting new frontiers for their native fiddle-led traditions, with frontman Colin Grant flanked by banjo, piano, bouzouki, guitar, bass and drums, they cooked up another exhilarating instrumental storm, a fiery mix of rootsy tunes with rock, funk, trance and reggae.

No less pyrotechnic was the acoustic quartet assembled by progressive banjo star Alison Brown – making her fourth Shetland appearance – combining the dream-team talents of US fiddle phenomenon Casey Driessen, Irish guitar supremo John Doyle, and Brown’s bassist husband Garry West. With jaw-dropping solo workouts interspersed by dazzling ensemble passages, the resulting sound abundantly lived up to the sum of its parts. And with Brown having also brought along her two young children for the trip – all the way from Nashville – her presence at the festival further underlined the deep affection in which it’s held by musicians far and wide.

© Sue Wilson, 2012

Links

• Shetland Folk Festival

Directed by SCO Associate Artist Alexander Janiczek, the Orchestra performs Mozart’s Symphony No 21, written when the composer was aged 16, and Symphony No 39, one of his great, last symphonies. The SCO’s Principal Horn Alec Frank-Gemmill is soloist in the Horn Concerto No 4 in E-flat. Rondo in B-flat completes the evening.

Alexander Janiczek has a close relationship with the SCO, having held the position of Leader with the Orchestra from 1999 to 2002. He has continued to be invited back as director and soloist on tours throughout Scotland and Europe, and in the recording studio.  He is the director on four CDs of music by Mozart which the SCO has recorded for Linn Records, and on a forthcoming release of Weber Wind Concertos. Janiczek was appointed Associate Artist with the Orchestra in December 2011.

Rising star Alec Frank-Gemmill is Principal Horn of the SCO and recently received rave reviews for his performances of Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto during the Orchestra’s 2011/12 Season.

The Orchestra’s last appearance at Glenmoriston Millennium Hall was in the summer of 2004 and in July 2011, SCO Strings gave a hugely successful concert with violinist Isabelle van Keulen at the Craigmonie Centre in Drumnadrochit. This performance in Invermoriston forms part of the Orchestra’s 34th year of summer touring, and is also performed in Dunblane and Findhorn on 14 and 15 June. The SCO will also give concerts in Fortrose (SCO Strings, 22 June), Boat of Garten (SCO Wind & Brass, 22 June) Ullapool (SCO Strings, 23 June), Strathpeffer (SCO, 20 July) and Kingussie (SCO, 21 July).

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra receives funding from the Scottish Government. The Orchestra’s programme of summer touring is generously supported by the Misses Barrie Charitable Trust.

Source: Scottish Chamber Orchestra

On Monday 4th June, families are being invited to enjoy a great day out by bringing a picnic and joining in the Jubilee Day celebrations in the Palace grounds, with live music on the lawns and Jubilee-themed cakes and goodies on the menu. Special Jubilee Afternoon Teas will also be served in the Palace Restaurant.

To get the party started, there’ll be a colourful competition for the best Jubilee celebration outfit with a bottle of champagne for the winner – so start digging around in your wardrobe for some red, white and blue now!

The grounds will be open from 9.30am – 5pm, with live music performances from Alba Brass from 1pm – 3pm. Grounds only admission fee – £5.80 adults, £4.00 children, £5.15 concessions.

The weekend of 16th – 17th June sees the Jubilee Forest Festival take place in a marquee in the Palace grounds.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a weaving demonstration by the nationally acclaimed willow sculptor Trevor Leat , see a mobile sawmill in action, view exhibitions by woodturners, craftworkers, wood sculptors and furniture-makers, take part in children’s activities including face painting, and tuck into a BBQ and other ‘al fresco’ dining options.

The Festival takes place from 10am – 4pm each day. Grounds only admission fee – £5.80 adults, £4.00 children, £5.15 concessions. To celebrate Father’s Day, there’ll be free entry for dads all weekend!

Source: Tourism and Leisure Solutions

Are you ready to Crowdfund?

HI-Arts, the cultural development agency for the Highlands and Islands, is visiting Argyll in May to deliver a series of Crowdfunding workshops and 1-2-1 sessions for professionals and individuals working in the cultural, creative and heritage sectors. On the 29th and 30th of May the team will visit Oban and Dunoon to offer specialist advice and support in the areas of Crafts, Visual Arts, Heritage, Music, Writing, Marketing and Audience Development.

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is a modern, online and interactive way to raise funds for your projects and activities directly from the public – or the Crowd. With the advent of Crowdfunding we can now turn our audiences into supporters and funders, by collecting multiple small donations online and offering unique incentives to encourage giving. Not only can you raise funds to get your project off the ground but you can also start to create a ‘buzz’ around it before you start.

The Crowdfunding workshop will cover all the aspects you will need to create, implement and market your project. The workshop is suitable for all individuals, organisations and professionals who work within the cultural, creative, heritage and arts sector.

1-2-1 Sessions

Join colleagues and fellow creative people, meet HI-Arts staff to discuss your professional development, your future plans and get advice on a wide range of topics – tea and coffee provided. There is the opportunity to book a 1-2-1 meeting with Audience Development Manager, Sian Jamieson; Talent Development Manager, Craft, Pamela Conacher; Project Development Manager, John Saich and Talent Development Manager, Writing, Peter Urpeth.

Where will the Hit Team be?

Tuesday 29th May 2012: Oban – Corran Halls

• 10am – 1pm Crowdfunding Workshop
• 10am – 1pm 1-2-1 sessions
• 1pm – 3.30pm HISEZ Networking Lunch www.hisez.co.uk
• 2pm – 4pm 1-2-1 sessions

Wednesday 30th May 2012: Dunoon – Dunoon Burgh Hall

• 10am – 1pm Crowdfunding Workshop
• 10am – 1pm 1-2-1 sessions
• 2pm – 4pm 1-2-1 sessions

Booking information

To Book your place with the Hit Team please click on the appropriate link to our event registration (you can book for both the Crowdfunding workshop and 1-2-1 sessions).

Book your place in Oban here (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3422975211)

Book your place in Dunoon here (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3423067487)

For more information about the event and for booking information please visit

http://hi-arts.co.uk/services/business-development/hiarts-hit-team-visits-argyll-this-may/

If you have any queries regarding these events then please feel free to contact Avril at HI-Arts on avril@hi-arts.co.uk or call 01463 720886.

Source: HI-Arts

THE 2011-12 Orchestral Season at Eden Court was brought to a thoroughly enjoyable climax on Wednesday with a visit by the admirable Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the baton of the young Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša, making his debut with the Orchestra here in Inverness before moving on to conduct the same programme in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

ONE would have thought that, with something around a hundred Inverness concerts under its belt since 1974, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra would need no introduction. However there were so many new faces in the ranks on stage that even the most stalwart SCO follower would have appreciated an orchestra list in the programme leaflet, not to mention biographies of the conductor and soloist. Perhaps it is just one more sign of the general economic situation.

Jakub Hrůša (photo Prague Philharmonia)

So, who is Jakub Hrůša? Born in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1981, he studied at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts with Jiří Bělohlávek. Since then he has been named by Gramophone magazine in 2011 as one of ten young conductors “on the verge of greatness”. He is Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Prague Philharmonia, Music Director of Glyndebourne on Tour, and Principal Guest Conductor of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In addition his style and depth of interpretation have lead some to say he is the natural successor to the late Sir Charles Mackerras.

Maestro Hrůša chose to open his concert with music from his homeland, the Czech Suite by Antonin Dvořák, a set of five short pieces, Pastorale, Polka, Sousedska, Romanza and Furiant. The work served as an ideal overture, providing plenty of opportunities for solo spots for members of the SCO. Hrůša had complete control of his musicians following a line that was beautifully focused and alert, and transporting the audience to the rustic charms of the Czech countryside.

The soloist for the Mozart D minor Piano Concerto, K466, was the American Jonathan Biss, who is fast making something of a name for himself on the international concert circuit. But what is it about young American pianists and Eden Court’s perfectly good Steinway concert grand piano? The last one was Simone Dinnerstein who visited with the RSNO and insisted that a brand new full-size Steinway was brought up for her from Newcastle at considerable expense. Lovely piano; shame about the indifferent playing that evening! And at this concert, there on the stage was a shiny new grand piano with a Steinway logo pointing out to the audience. At least this time the playing was of an exceptionally high standard.

It is with good reason that the D minor concerto has been a favourite of audiences ever since Mozart rushed it off in great haste in 1785. For much of the time the orchestra has an important role to play rather than just supporting the soloist, especially in the opening allegro when, after a longish introduction, Jonathan Biss was exchanging phrases with the winds. The second movement, the Romance, is one of the best known movements in the piano repertoire. It is both tender and sweet, characteristics that Biss brought out delightfully, cleverly avoiding the trap of letting it become too schmaltzy. After a slightly up-tempo foray with the orchestra, Biss returned with a cadenza that repeated the opening theme of the Romance before, after the briefest of pauses, launching into the allegro finale which he shared with the orchestra.

Biss may be best known for his playing of Beethoven, but his playing of Mozart leaves nothing to be desired. And his having the SCO to play the concerto with him did no harm. It is not for nothing that the SCO has the reputation of being one of the very best Mozart orchestras this side of Vienna. Put Jonathan Biss and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra together, add Jakub Hrůša to the mix and you end up with a truly memorable performance.

It has been claimed that Beethoven’s Second Symphony in D major is a more gentle piece than the two symphonies each side of it chronologically. But that is hard to believe after the introductory controlled adagio when Maestro Hrůša gave free rein to the horns, trumpets and timpani. What a eminently suitable sound for early Beethoven is produced by the natural horns and trumpets in the SCO.

Gentle may be an accurate description of the second movement, marked larghetto, which looks over its shoulder to Mozart, and also forward to the flute passages heard in the Sixth Symphony. The short scherzo gives everyone the chance to have a bit of fun with each other before Beethoven increases the tempo for a finale which Hrůša allowed to gallop all the way to its stormy conclusion.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has given Inverness a concert to remember to wind up the current season. They will be back at Eden Court on 16 August with Isabella van Keulen playing Prokofiev, Mozart and Beethoven. Then Inverness has to wait until 14 April next year when the published programme informs us the concert will end with Beethoven’s Second Symphony. Great planning!

© James Munro, 2012

Links

• SCO
• Jakub Hrůša

They will be looking at opportunities for cultural exchange between the town of Huntly/Scotland and the electronic samba group Sambasupercollider from Rio de Janeiro, lead by producer Daniel Ruiz and Samba virtuoso Mestre Jonas, who has conducted the drum sections of traditional Samba schools in Rio like Mocidade Independente, Salgueiro and Cubango. We want to create opportunities to apply the structure of the Rio de Janeiro Samba school carnival parades, with different sections, drumming and floats, but rooted in local North-East Scottish cultural traditions. Rio de Janeiro carnival is a gathering for people of all ages and different social backgrounds, which is only made possible by mass participation. The idea is to develop a North East of Scotland Samba school, creating a new space for socialising and community exchange, a bond between cultures.

Samba workshop
Huntly Hotel
Sat 26 May 2012
10am – 4pm
Workshop fee: £5/£3

Samba and Carnival in Rio: Talk by Daniel Ruiz
Empty Shop
Wed 30th May 2012
7.30pm
Everyone welcome

For more information please visit www.deveron-arts.com

Source: Deveron Arts

Rachel Sermanni, 20, was born in Inverness and is one of Scotland’s brightest up-and-coming music stars. She made her industry showcase debut at 2010’s goNorth and has gone on to be a hit at key events including The Great Escape in Brighton, Eurosonic in the Netherlands, and Celtic Connections.

Ullapool based promoter and Rachel’s manager, Robert Hicks from Beyond Promotion has been working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to support her international profile. Her debut EP Black Currents which was released earlier this year hit the shelves at 40 of the leading Tower Records stores in Japan as part of a two month ‘female voices’ promotional campaign.

This week, Rachel has been showcasing in Los Angeles at Musexpo – an event which helps bring together the music world and brokers many new businesses and creative prospects. The event has provided opportunities for talent from around the world including Katy Perry and Jessie J.

Robert Hicks said: “Rachel is one of the most professional and talented people I’ve worked with, not only from the Highlands, but anywhere. Her appetite for hard work is second to none, having played over 150 shows in the past 12 months alone. With the continued touring we’re building a strong fan base across Europe and indeed worldwide in readiness for the launch of Rachel’s debut album in the autumn.”

Rachel has been busy putting the finishing touches to her album in London and following her showcasing in LA this week, she will tour with the band Fink in Sweden, Norway and Germany. After that she’ll return home for her largest Scottish headline to date at Òran Mòr in Glasgow.

Rachel said: “Thank you to HIE who have provided support to me and the team around, allowing us to get to places and play for people that otherwise, would have been far out of reach. I have been having a wonderful time and I am learning so much thanks to these opportunities.”

Creative Industries manager at HIE, Iain Hamilton said: “The level Rachel has reached in such a short space of time is amazing and she certainly looks to have an incredibly bright future. It’s fantastic to see the talent and skills of a young artist based in the Highlands recognised globally.

“We are working with a number of individuals and businesses to grow the creative industries in the region, developing new talent, providing networking opportunities, and accessing new international markets. It is fantastic to be working with such talented people from our region and it just goes to show that being based in a rural location is no barrier to success.”

Rachel’s new single Eggshells is due to be released on May 21 and she will also be playing at the Belladrum festival again this year.

Source: Highlands and Islands Enterprise

The Band From Rockall, which is released on Ridge Records on 30 April, draws its inspiration from the impact the arrival of a new pop and rock culture had on the Gaelic heritage of the Outer Hebrides in the 1950s and 60s.

The fusion of lilting traditional Gaelic songs with the twanging energy of American rock and the Merseyside beats is explored within a sound landscape that references the era with classic retro guitars and vintage keyboards – yet remaining contemporary, fresh and compelling.

The album features 12 new songs – including four in Gaelic. The title comes from the rock outcrop lying in the Atlantic Ocean, 300 miles west of the Scottish mainland and 200 miles beyond St Kilda and the Outer Hebrides. It is the most westerly part of Europe – the next stop, America.

The writers say that while the concept originated prior to 1973 when Runrig was formed, the band’s subsequent career meant there never seemed to be a suitable time to develop it further. However, over the past two years, and especially the last 12 months when the band took a break from touring, it seemed that the time was right.

Rory said: “Recording this album took us on a musical adventure that drew on the influences and musical triggers that have long been the soundtrack to our lives.

“I think that generally, music was better in the 50s/60s – that’s not saying that there’s not great stuff around now – it’s just that a unique, wellspring of creativity was bursting forth at that time, the like that had never been heard before. We loved the songs, the way records sounded, the way they were recorded. There was an innocence and a naivety in all this discovery, resulting in a music that was fresh, raw and largely uncontrived.

“In a strange way we felt like we were starting out all over again, back to the beginning, as we approached the writing and recording of the record and we hope that we also came to it with that degree of naivety that leaves one open to the unexpected.”

According to Calum, the album was a real labour of love: “So often within the music business you have to work with many different people and opinions in order to take a song from the initial raw material to the finished recorded article, – you have to hand over emotional ownership.

“But with this we were able to retain control, stay with the songs throughout the whole process and it gets you completely to the heart of the song. It’s been a real cathartic experience.”

It was agreed that for the project to have any meaning, it had to be completely separate from Runrig in terms of presentation and musical approach.

Rory plays all guitars and most of the keyboards and Calum plays drums on the album. They are joined by Michael Bannister and Ross Hamilton, the owners and engineer /musician/producers from Rocket Science studio in Glasgow; Andy Thorburn (piano): Euan Burton (double bass): Ryan Quigley (trumpet): Paul Towndrow (saxophone): Fiona Johnston (strings) and B. J. Cole (pedal steel guitar).

Singers included the acclaimed Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, Danish/ Icelandic folk cross-over singer, Sine Lahm Lauritsen and The Craigie Choir.

“We started the process by going through loads of old tapes of song demos on various formats from old cassette recordings, reel to reel tapes, working through the tape sizes over the years, to DAT and digital recordings of more recent times”, said Rory.

“It was a fascinating process and in many cases we came across songs we had completely forgotten about. Choosing the material was the first task and there was so much to choose from. There were older songs that had always meant a lot to us, and we also wanted to write some new songs as well.”

Calum added: “For the recording, we wanted to initially avoid going into big studios. It was all done in the self-op home demo situation. Drums were recorded to try to capture a retro 60s sound.

“Rory recorded guitars and keyboards on classic vintage instruments with complimentary sounds and all recorded on analogue tape. We then took the raw material to mother studios in Denmark and in Glasgow to pull it all together.”

In general, the song themes are to do with the personal – a sense of family and spirituality in all its various forms. The Band From Rockall, the mainly instrumental opening track, sets the scene with imagery and lyrics capturing the freshness of the impact of early pop and rock music within a particular geographical and cultural context.

Of the Gaelic songs, three – Mairi Bhan (Fair- haired Mary): Luaidh (Love) and Nighean Og Nan Suilean Ciuin (Young Girl With The Gentle Eyes) – are love songs. The fourth, Am Bard Deirannach (The Last Bard) is a eulogy about the last-of-a-generation family relative, sea-farer, whale fisher and village poet.

The album will be available from www.thebandfromrockall.co.uk and normal retail outlets. In keeping with the ethos of the project, the recording will be released on vinyl as well as CD.

For further information contact:

John Ross

Lucid PR

01463 724593; 07730 099617

Source: Lucid PR

Originally directed by master storyteller Anthony Besch, Tosca will be revived by Jonathan Cocker. In the early stages of his career Cocker worked with Besch, who he regards as a great influence.

Updated from the Napoleonic times in which it was first set by Puccini to the shadows of Mussolini’s brutal regime in 1940s Rome, the production was intricately researched and is striking in its faithful reproduction of Roman landmarks.

Tosca will be conducted by Scottish Opera’s Music Director Francesco Corti.

Francesco Corti said, ‘Tosca is pure Puccini. The score goes from tenderness to huge tension – it is big and dramatic with so much passion and absolutely drives the action on stage. Part of the reason Tosca is so real is that Puccini did not have to imagine where the opera takes place – in the church, the jail, Scarpia’s office – he already could see them before his eyes and wrote the music very much to make the most of them. It is little wonder it is still so popular.’

Critically acclaimed for the title role in Opera North’s 2009 production, Susannah Glanville portrays tragic opera diva Tosca, with Spanish tenor José Ferrero as noble artist and lover Cavaradossi and Robert Poulton as the scheming Chief of Police Baron Scarpia.  Scottish Opera regulars Paul Carey Jones and David Morrison and Emerging Artists Ross McInroy and Marie Claire Breen complete the cast along with a chorus of 41 and other characters including the King and Queen of Italy, a Cardinal and Mussolini himself.

The Company will also present Tosca Unwrapped, an hour long, free introduction to both Tosca and opera. Presented on an alternative night to performances, Unwrapped gives new audiences and interested opera attendees a fascinating chance to get a glimpse behind the scenes, with singers and The Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

Tosca opens at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow on 4 May and tours to Inverness, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, until 9 June.  Tosca is sung in Italian with English supertitles. Running time is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes.

Eden Court, Inverness

Thu 17 May & Sat 19 May*+,7.15pm

Tosca Unwrapped  Fri 18 May 6pm

His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

Thu 7 & Sat 9 Jun*+, 7.30pm

Tosca Unwrapped Fri 8 June, 6pm

Source: Scottish Opera

Taking place at The Exchange on Wednesday 6 June, the programme will feature James Mackenzie, ROADWAY, Naked Red and He Slept On 57.

“The Local Heroes Stage will shine a spotlight on the diverse array talent that is emerging through the Inverness music scene”, said Netsounds Unsigned co-founder Jamie Macdonald. “We are delighted to be staging this showcase in association with goNORTH and we hope it will further illuminate our local heroes.”

“InvernessGiGs are pleased to be working with Netsounds Unsigned to bring the Local Heroes Stage to goNORTH 2012”, added InvernessGiGs Founder and Editor, Chris Lemon. “We hope the platform will help bang the drum for the massive amount of local talent that the area has to offer”.

We are also delighted to announce that Elgin band CLEAVERS have been selected by our partners to participate in this year’s Excite Exchange Project.

This year’s exchange will see CLEAVERS represent goNORTH at SPOT Festival in Denmark, PLAY Festival in Belgium and Freeze Festival in the Netherlands; the partnership will also bring three of the most exciting new prospects in Europe to goNORTH 2012, Nelson Can, Pioneers of Love and Polaroid Fiction.

CLEAVERS are an explosive garage-punk trio based in Elgin. Formed in 2011, they have recently garnered praise from a host of influential voices including Vic Galloway, Ally McCrae, Jim Gellatly and Marion Scott. Embracing a fierce DIY ethic, they mix elements of Black Flag, Fugazi and Jay Reatard resulting in a blisteringly original take on the genre.

Source: goNORTH

MOST bands and many music lovers are of the opinion that the Ceilidh Place is unbeatable as a venue for location, food, drink and ambience, with a passionate well-informed choice of music.

IT IS good to report that the Cairngorms is now as well served as Ullapool , thanks to the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore.

Horndog Brass Band

My reviewing companion says after five minutes, “This place just feels like coming home”, and indeed it does, especially if your home has leather sofas in a sheltered outside smoking area, a carefully crafted menu to die for and a stunning view of the snow-capped Cairngorms, tinged pink by the setting sun. Oh, and it’s dog-friendly, too.

As well as dogowners, foodies and winter sports enthusiasts, the Inn is attracting an impressive list of artists – Frightened Rabbits, Admiral Fallow, Findlay Napier & The Bar-Room Mountaineers have all played here recently while next month includes Roddy Woomble and Paul Heaton from the Beautiful South (not together). Saturday night saw the Horndog Brass Band from Edinburgh adding their irresistibly funky drum ‘n’ brass to the mix, and showing from the first notes why they’re building a powerful reputation on the festival circuit.

Their first notes, incidentally, are an elegant solution to that awkward transition between recorded and live music; the DJ’s final track turns out to be one of theirs, and one by one they simply join in. A few people have been dancing in desultory fashion to the DJs nicely chosen and not at all shabby funk and soul, but the Horndogs live are one long floor-filler. Their arrangements are built on the solid, but unusual, bass of the sousaphone (an instrument beloved by all Orkestra del Sol fans) with a dash of New Orleans here, a bit of reggae there, a nod to James Brown and a relentless tide of funkiness applied to an agreeably eclectic mix of tracks.

This is a band whose order to “Dance!” must be obeyed. Even the most reluctant onlookers cannot resist the Horndog’s commanding version of Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You”, some pogo-ing to within an inch of the low-slung ceiling. Brass with class – bags of it.

© Jennie Macfie, 2012

Links

• Horndog Brass Band
• Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore
• Jennie Macfie

HOME and its many diverse meanings and associations is a big subject to tackle in any form.

EDINBURGH-based saxophonist Phil Bancroft first devised this show as the result of a commission during the Year of Homecoming in 2009, and has continued to develop and expand the project in the intervening period.

Small as the World

The basic musical structure remained similar to the first performance of the piece at the Bosco Theatre during the Edinburgh International Jazz Festival that year, as did the line-up – Bancroft on saxophones (and laptop), Aidan O’Rourke on violin, the Amsterdam-based Australian trumpet player Felicity Provan, Graeme Stephen on guitar, Paul Harrison on piano and keyboards, Mario Caribe on bass, and Stu Ritchie on drums.

That represented four different countries of origin, and that role call was further expanded by an imaginative addition to the programme. The saxophonist had set up a link with violinist Kumaresh (Ganesh & Kumaresh have collaborated with one of Bancroft’s other projects, Trio AAB) in Chennai, via the medium of Skype.

Bancroft called the piece Technology, and after an initial hitch in establishing the connection, the technology worked surprisingly well, allowing the Indian violinist to play live from the music room in his home with the band on stage in Edinburgh, including a short duet with O’Rourke.

If the project has inevitably lost some of the surprise elements of that opening night at the Bosco (but not, of course, if you haven’t already seen it), it has gained both in new ideas and fresh content and a more finely-honed sense of direction.

It is a multi-faceted meditation on the many meanings of “home”, expressed in music, text, film and projections, with contributions from photographer Louis de Carlo, artist Josh Armstrong and members of the public who have contributed words and images to the project’s website. The stage set included a sofa and chair (although nobody sat in either), and the musicians performed the first half of the show dressed in that most archetypal of home garments, pyjamas.

The opening section focused on an amusing video shot in Bancroft’s own home, and gave a central role to his dog in the elegant melodic flow of Swim, Jenny, Swim. Home, Small As The World made use of text and photographs from diverse cultures (either by de Carlo or posted to the website), and featured Aidan O’Rourke and some of the most-soundtrack-like music of the evening.

Childhood allowed us to play a game of spot-the-musician from photographs of them in their youthful guise. Featuring Felicity Provan, it began with a slow section and then switched to a more energised vein in evoking the idea of play, a dual structure used in several of the pieces.

The music took a more spiky, kinetic direction in Travel, an ever-changing excursion featuring Graeme Stephen, and the violent disruptions of Nationalism / Voting For War. Although deprecating his own eco-warrior status (“I don’t compost as much as I should”), the saxophonist explored the fate of our planetary home in Gaia and the hilarious finale in which he, his wife, cat and dog fire off into space to the strains of his putative world-wide party hit, It’s Too Late Now, So Party On, with the band suitably decked out in low budget spacesuits (you can get a flavour on the videos on the project website – see below).

Home, Small As The World is at An Lanntair, Stornoway, tonight (30 April), and Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, tomorrow (1 May).

© Kenny Mathieson, 2012

Links

• Home, Small As The World

Over the years, the RNLI has often been called out from Thurso and Wick, as well as Longhope, Kirkwall & Stromness to deal with emergencies caused by the ferocious sea conditions in this part of Scotland. It was to honour this work that Piping Arts Limited and Caithness Horizons invited the Scrabster-based RNLI crew and volunteers to hold a fund-raising event during a concert performed in the Caithness Horizons museum exhibition hall at the end of the week-long project.

As research for creating music on the theme of the Pentland Firth, the children considered a wide range of uses of the tidal rip – everything from traditional creel-fishing to the current cold-water surfing scene that is emerging on Caithness waves. As well as meeting crew from the RNLI, they met local surfers, and got an insight into the thrill of standing upright in ‘the Barrel’ – the inside of a wave as it curls around and above a surfer’s head.

Tutors Robert Aitken and Katrina Gordon were delighted to discover that the young musicians were more than capable of generating seveal new and original short pieces of music, which formed part of the overall performance. Working in groups that reflected the names of the Pentland Firth tidal whirls, The Boars of Duncansby, The Merry Maids of Mey and the Swelkie came up with titles such as ‘Calm Down Sea’, ‘The Wobble on the Firth’, ‘Clett Tang’, ‘Forss Vik’, Shark!’ and ‘Swell’, reflecting themes, styles and tempo. William Campbell’s technique on accordion offered a bellious foghorn, warning of the storm whipped up by other instruments, including fiddle, keyboard, percussion and a well-named wind section.

Katrina Gordon was also inspired to write three brand new pieces herself: ‘New Energies’, ‘Sea Change’ and ‘In Memory of his Father Ingulf’ – emerging from thoughts about one of the Caithness Horizons Viking collection exhibits, a Viking cross slab which may have been the grave-marker of a local Norseman. All-in-all, a reminder of the vast history of peoples and activities that have coloured life on and beside the Pentland Firth over generations, and a nudge to the future, with renewable technology looking to the Firth to power wind and wave turbines.

An appreciative audience was then treated to a performance of ‘Last Footsteps of Home’, a pre-recorded digital drama by Piping Arts director, Robert Aitken, with projected images suggesting an imagined girl’s deperture from a Highland coast during the Clearances, made more haunting by an accompanying digi-pipe.

Although good-humoured, the presence of the lifeboat crew from Thurso’s craft, ‘The Taylors’ – in full call-out kit, added a serious reminder of the uncontrolable force of the Pentland Firth. It may have been this that prompted the audience to give generously to those collecting donations toward the the work of the RNLI, a national and vital self-funded organisation that relies on the skill and self-lessness of the men and women who man the stations and lifeboats, along with hundreds of supporters who raise funds to keep things going.

‘Scales Sails and Surf’ was an enjoyable holiday project for twenty young people, and a gentle reminder of the elemental power, grandeur, and occasional danger of the Pentland Firth.

Source: Caithness Horizons

Serbian Djordje Gajic began learning the accordion at the age of six and ended his studies at the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow where he became an assistant professor. After winning many international competitions and performing throughout Europe he settled in the United Kingdom and took up posts teaching accordion at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he has been appointed a professor.

Djordje’s wife Andrea began her violin studies at St Mary’s in Edinburgh during which time she performed as part of Yehudi Menuhin’s 60th birthday celebrations. She continued her studies at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow and finally at the Royal College of Music in London. Her subsequent career has seen Andrea performing throughout the United States and Europe as a soloist, playing concertos and as a member of ensembles such as the Fibonacci Sequence. As well as performing, Andrea teaches violin at Douglas Academy, St Mary’s Music School and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Pop culture icon, Madonna, is one of Andrea’s past violin pupils.

The programme to be performed by Djordje and Andrea Gajic on May 9th includes works arranged for them by Bach, Brahms, Bartok, Sarasate and Piazzolla. Tickets can be obtained from Eden Court Box Office or at the door on the night.

Over the summer, music in the Town House will continue with the series of lunchtime concerts presented by At One With Music. There will be performances by Maggie Adamson and Brian Nicholson (May 24), Irene Fraser and Rachel Walker (June 21), BIRL (July 27) as well as by members of Commun na Clarsach and by the Kristi Kapten Trio.

The 2012 – 2013 Season of concerts from Inverness Chamber Music opens on September 26 with a piano recital by Oxana Shevchenko, the most recent winner of the Scottish International Piano Competition. There will be other concerts by the Barbirolli and Cavaleri String Quartets (featuring Highland cellist Rowena Calvert), the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, Arctic Winds Quintet, the London Bridge Ensemble, Tunnell Trust Award winners Ueda Rinaldo Duo and famous percussionists O Duo.

Both Inverness Chamber Music and At One With Music are grateful for the support they receive from The Highland Council and from Inverness Common Good Fund.

Source: James Munro

FOR 138 years, ever since the first performance, the argument has raged over whether Verdi’s Requiem is too theatrical a work to fall within the genre of religious music.

THE fact that Verdi himself composed it as a concert piece in tribute to the writer Alessandro Manzoni seems to have been ignored, but not by Inverness Choral Society who performed this magnificent operatic spectacle for the fifth time in their history at Eden Court.

Inverness Choral at Eden Court

There were several features that made this performance so special. Firstly, the Society’s Chairman, Anne Gillies, tells in her Foreword that she had canvassed the members for their opinions about what they would like to sing. The result was a Verdi Requiem with added enthusiasm and zest.

Then there was the quartet of soloists. Had it not been for a nefarious bug all four would have been names well recognised on the international opera and concert circuit. More than one singing career has been launched by being a sudden replacement for a stricken artist, and so it should be for Brazilian tenor Emanoel Velozo, studying for his Master’s Degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He travelled north from Glasgow at short notice and delivered a flawless and brilliant performance.

The Inverness Choral Sinfonia, bolstered by one or two well-kent faces from the national orchestras, was in fine form, with the possible exception of a somewhat strident opening to the ‘Offertorio’, and took to heart the very theatricality of the Requiem with two pairs of off-stage trumpets adding fortissimo depth to the ‘Dies Irae’.

Then there was a theatricality to the very presentation. For the front cover of the programme booklet the Society had chosen part of a painting by local artist Clare Blois depicting a burning landscape (it might be something else – interpreting modern art has never been my strongest skill!), and this theme was carried over to the light projection onto the acoustic screens on the stage. For too many years there has been a dull plain grey backdrop to the stage for classical performances at Eden Court. Well done to whoever came up with the idea of projecting added atmosphere to the staging.

Conductor Gordon Tocher had exact control of his forces. No longer can the Choral be accused of imbalance, with the ladies being too powerful for the select number of gentlemen. The tenors and basses held their own throughout, and especially during the opening ‘Requiem aeternam’ that sets the scene for all that follows. They were all put to the test during the long ‘Dies Irae’ when the competition comes from the brass in the Sinfonia, but evenings of hard work paid off and the voices maintained the upper hand with clear and precise singing.

The soloists were as good as any that have sung with Inverness Choral. To emphasise the quality of the replacement tenor Emanoel Velozo it is sufficient to say that his ‘Ingemisco’, only lightly accompanied, was the main topic of conversation over the ice creams at half time. Graeme Danby brought his long and distinguished career to the bass solo role, with both his ‘Tuba Mirum’ and his ‘Confutatis’ being outstanding, shared with the explosions of bass drum and orchestra.

The ladies, mezzo Elizabeth Sikora and soprano Judith Howarth, fill major roles in Verdi’s Requiem, with two of the parts in duet form – the ‘Recordare’ in the ‘Dies Irae’ and the hauntingly beautiful ‘Agnus Dei’ that begins a capella. Ms Sikora sang excellently, with a warm velvety tone that was full of expression. Sadly, Judith Howarth must have been exposed to the same nefarious bug that laid her husband low and had provided the opportunity for Emanoel Velozo. For most of the performance she sang with the angelic purity that is expected from her distinguished reputation, but there were slight signs of difficulty in the ‘Agnus Dei’ and clearly her voice became merely mortal as it was under strain for part of her major involvement in ‘Libera Me’, the final section of the Requiem.

Major things are happening in the musical life of The Highlands. Twenty years ago the standard of singing and playing was only a shadow of the achievements today of the Inverness Choral Society and the Inverness Choral Sinfonia, and testimony to that improvement is the fact that the audience in the Empire Theatre were right up into the Second Circle. Following on from the standard-setting performance a month ago of Guys ‘n’ Dolls by Inverness Opera, this time Inverness Choral has raised the bar and delivered one of their very best concerts.

© James Munro, 2012

Links

• Inverness Choral

“IT’S a family affair”, sang Sly & the Family Stone, in one song the Family Campbell have not – yet – translated into Gaelic.

THIS eminent dynasty of Mod gold medallist singers and pipers are a living treasury of songs big and small sung in the tiny, remote township of Greepe in NW Skye, handed down with loving care for hundreds of years. In typically speedy Gaelic fashion, this show has taken a decade and a half to get going but it’s been worth the wait.

The Campbells of Greepe

Kenna Campbell and her brother Seamus, their sister Ann’s daughter, Maggie Macdonald, and Kenna’s daughters Mary Ann and Wilma Kennedy took to the stage in silence and without introduction launched straight into their first song, soon to be joined on ‘Cnoc nan Craobh’ by Lorne Macdougall’s hauntingly lovely flute. There was plenty of puirt a beul, underpinned by Seamus’ warm tenor, and enlivened by the extraordinary stepdancing of Nic Gareiss, who was first encountered by Mary Ann Kennedy at one of Alasdair Fraser’s legendary fiddle camps.

The Valley of the Moon would have been the right sort of place to encounter Gareiss who could easily pass for part-elf, clicking his heels lightly together in mid-leap and seeming to be only very lightly tethered by gravity. Other delights included the beautifully restrained playing of MacDougall, guitarist Finlay Wells and bassist James Lindsay, and the very effective minimalist arrangements, a testament to the sense of the adage ‘less is more’. With a lily as good as these voices, no gilding is necessary.

One of the highlights of the evening was a set of the little lullabies their grandmother sang as she went about her daily chores, sung with such depth of feeling in those glorious voices that it was not only the performers who felt that, as Mary Ann Kennedy said later in the show, “those folks are on stage with us when we sing their songs”.

Equally unforgettable were the first half closer, which leaped across the Atlantic for a stunning Gaelic treatment of the spiritual ‘Down to the River to Pray’; the heartrending version of the theme of Patrick Mor Macrimmon’s pibroch ‘Lament for the Children’, and the moment when a 1950 recording of Ann Campbell (who took a bow from the stalls) merged with her daughter Maggie’s live version of the same song. Tradition is alive and well and on stage in Inverness.

© Jennie Macfie, 2012

Links

• Jennie Macfie

Denève Conducts Rite of Spring (Music Hall, Aberdeen – Thursday 3 May; Friday 4 May – Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Saturday 5 May – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall) features the concluding element of Denève’s and the RSNO’s survey of Debussy’s orchestral works, with Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, accompanied by Barber’s Violin Concerto with James Ehnes and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The following week Au Revoir Stéphane (Friday 11 May – Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Saturday 12 May – Glasgow Royal Concert Hall) presents the final programme of the 2011:12 Season and the culmination of the TOTAL Denève Series, featuring James MacMillan’s Britiannia, Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks and Ravel’s complete ballet music Daphnis et Chloé with the RSNO Chorus and Junior Chorus.

Stéphane bids farewell to Scotland having performed a total of 161 performances with the RSNO to nearly a quarter of a million people across Scotland, England and Europe. The past seven years is one of the most successful periods of the Scottish orchestra’s history. His time with the Orchestra will be best remembered for the re-emergence of romantic and impressionistic French music within the RSNO’s core repertoire and the ever-increasing popularity of the partnership’s live and recorded performances.  Average attendance figures rose year-on-year during his tenure and subscription numbers in Edinburgh and Glasgow are now the highest in a generation.

With Denève’s direction the RSNO pioneered and developed new concert presentations (Naked Classics, Springtime in Paris), staged major choral works (Britten’s War Requiem; Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony; Berlioz’ Damnation of Faust; Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky), performed concert versions of opera (Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande). Denève and the RSNO also forged collaborations with the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Grieg’s Peer Gynt), introduced contemporary music to the repertoire (TEN OUT OF 10; Guillaume Connesson commissions and recordings) and represented Scotland abroad with the Orchestra’s first concert in Paris in 2006, followed by three sell-out European tours and the joint first appearance of the RSNO, RSNO Chorus and Junior Chorus at the Concertgebouw. The first recording of the complete cycle of Roussel’s major orchestral works was released to critical acclaim in 2007, receiving the coveted Diapason d’Or de l’année for Symphonic Music. Subsequent recordings in the series have enjoyed widespread acclaim.  February 2010 saw the release of contemporary French composer Guillaume Connesson’s Cosmic Trilogy and Piano Concerto on the Chandos label.

For their final Season Denève and the RSNO have been celebrating the works of Claude Debussy, to mark the 150^th anniversary of the French composer’s birth in 2012 and in May Chandos releases the double CD recording by Denève and the RSNO of his major orchestral works.

Departing RSNO Music Director Stéphane Denève: “Being Music Director of the RSNO has been an inspiring, momentous and wonderfully exciting journey. I have collected, during my seven years with this great orchestra and its choruses, many special memories. The most rewarding success with the RSNO is increasing number of audiences, year after year. I have also tremendously enjoyed my life in Scotland, thanks to the warmth of its people. A number of personal landmarks happened here: marrying my fiancée Åsa, the birth of our daughter in Paisley, our first family home, and obviously my first Music Director position. I would like to offer these final performances together as our way of saying thank you to all the people who have loved and supported us over the years. Merci de tout coeur and, since my ties with Scotland are now for ever, not Adieu, but Au revoir!”

Source: RSNO

WITH Andy Thorburn now replaced by Ingrid Henderson, Blazin Fiddles’ lineup continues to evolve towards gender parity.

THOUGH it’s unlikely gender parity had anything to do with it, or even the fact that Ingrid is Allan’s sister and Iain MacFarlane’s wife – she is a fine musician in her own right and they’re lucky to be able to call her in. Despite rehearsal time measured in not days but hours, and in the case of her accompaniment to Bruce Macgregor’s “Captain Simon Fraser”, minutes, she stepped up on Saturday without a sign of nerves and added her own special energy to the evening.

Jenna Reid, Bruce MacGregor, Anna Massie and Iain Macfarlane

A fine evening it was, too. In every incarnation, Blazin’ Fiddles have the knack of firing up audiences, setting feet tapping and making even the most morose faces break out in delighted grins. Friday night was no exception. The tried and tested formula of ensemble sets punctuated by solo or duo performances continues to work, showcasing the different styles of fiddle playing from Allan Henderson’s pure, authentic Lochaber to Jenna Reid’s fine, fine Shetland in which she proves herself, again, to be one of the finest fiddlers of her generation.

In the first half, many of the sets were entirely new material, starting with some energetic Shetland reels. The ensemble playing was, as always, tighter than the tightest thing, a breathtaking display of musical aerobatics. Anna Massie and Ingrid Henderson provided a lovely, light, syncopated rhythm section to support the sweeping, swooping strings. Occasionally Massie swapped guitar for fiddle, and some intense duelling duetting work with MacFarlane was a particular delight as they matched each other note for note at dazzling speed.

The band were perhaps a little more relaxed in the second half of mostly more familiar material drawn from their decade-plus repertoire; they tore through it in throwaway bravura style and delighted the audience from start to finish.

© Jennie Macfie, 2012

Links

• Blazin’ Fiddles
• Strathpeffer Pavilion
• Jennie Macfie

The Moray High Choir is being created to welcome the torch as it passes through Tomintoul, the highest location on the 8,000 mile tour of Britain, on Monday 11th June.

Choir leaders Hugh Johnstone and Hannah McGinlay will begin a series of workshops and rehearsal across Moray, culminating in full choir rehearsals in Elgin and the grand finale performance in Tomintoul.

No experience is necessary, participants don’t need to be able to read music and anybody from 8 to 108 can come along and join the choir to sing, meet people and above all have fun.

The following schedule of rehearsals in May and June has been arranged – all times 7-9pm unless otherwise stated:

Tuesday 1 Forres Town Hall

Wednesday 2 Trinity Church Hall, Elgin (7.30 – 9.30)

Sunday 6 Memorial Hall, Tomintoul – to be confirmed

Tuesday 8 Fisherman’s Hall, Buckie

Wednesday 9 The Loft, Keith

Tuesday 15 Memorial Hall, Tomintoul;

Wednesday 16 Forres Town Hall (combined Elgin/Forres group)

Tuesday 22 Fisherman’s Hall, Buckie (combined Buckie/Keith group)

Wednesday23 Trinity Church Hall, Elgin (combined Elgin/Forres group) (7.30 – 9.30)

Friday 25 Memorial Hall, Tomintoul

Full choir rehearsals will be held at, Elgin City Football Club on Tuesday 29 & Wednesday 30 May, 7 – 9pm; Saturday 2 June (10am – 12 noon) and Sunday 10 June, 7 – 9pm

The project has been funded by Moray Council and Creative Scotland

Anyone interested in joining the High Choir can contact the Moray Council’s Arts Development Officer, Nick Fearne, on 01343 557148 nick.fearne@moray.gov.uk

Source: Moray Council

The band’s harp player, Ailie Robertson, explains: “We have chosen two charities, one in the UK, and one in Ireland.  The choice for the UK was inspired by the title of the song, so we have gone for the Mountain Rescue, who do such a wonderful job without any subsidy and offer mountain rescue any day, any hour, any weather.  In Ireland we have opted for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,  which as well as offering services to children, also aims to improve relationships between parent and children.  That’s also a nice link to the song, which is about family. We really wanted a mix of charities that would reach as many people as possible, and I think we’ve achieved a great blend.”

The song, The Mountain Road, is a traditional Irish song and was arranged by the band.  It is one of the tracks from their forthcoming album Flash Company. Norah Rendell, singer and flute and whistle player in the band, explains: “We chose this song for the single because on our recent tour, it was the one that everyone was always singing.  Bands we met on tour got it stuck in their heads, and audiences would always sing along.

The new single is a digital release and is available from – Itunes, BandCamp, CDbaby, and Amazon.  The band are touring in the States in April and early May and then in the UK in May.

Ailie Robertson continues: “It would be fantastic if we raise lots of money for the charities at the same time as raising the profile of traditional music.  We’re hoping that people will see the 99p for the single as a cheap way to support the charities and they get a lovely song too!”

The Tour Dates

10 May            Queens Hall, Edinburgh

11 May             The Byre Theatre, St Andrews

12 May             Moniaive Folk Festival, Moniaive, Dumfries and Galloway

13 May             City Halls Recital Room, Glasgow

15 May             Poolewe, Wester Ross, West Coast Arts

16 May             Irvine Folk Club, Irvine

18 May             The Maltings Theatre, Berwick

22 May             St Andrew Blackadder Church, North Berwick

23 May             Eden Court Theatre, Inverness

24 May             Aros Centre, Isle of Skye

25 May             Skippinish Ceilidh House, Oban

26 May             Lyth Arts Centre, Lyth

The Band

A stunning synthesis of virtuosity and energy, The Outside Track’s marriage of Canadian, Scottish and Irish music and song has been rapturously received around the world. Hailing from Scotland, Ireland, Cape Breton and Vancouver, its five members are united by a love of traditional music and a commitment to creating new music on its foundation. Using fiddle, accordion, harp, guitar, flute, step-dance and vocals these five virtuosos blend boundless energy with unmistakable joie de vivre.

Each player within The Outside Track is a master of their chosen instrument with the band stacking up an impressive amount of international awards. This amount of talent alone would be enough to recommend the band but in this case the end result is so much greater than the sum of the parts.

The line up comprises Norah Rendell (Canadian Traditional Singer of the Year nominee),  Mairi Rankin (Beolach), Ailie Robertson (Live Ireland Winner, BBC Young Trad Finalist),  Fiona Black (BBC Fame Academy Winner), and Cillian Ó’Dálaigh.

The band have enjoyed 5 years of extensive touring in the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA, including appearances at Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours, Goderich, Mission, Memoire et Racines, Sidmouth, and Whitby Festivals

Source: The Outside Track

The production was recently remounted and performed at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections 2012.

May 2012 touring to:

1 May Perth Theatre

2-4 May Eden Court Inverness

5 May Glengarry

6 May Mountstuart Isle of Bute

8 May Craignish

9 May Cove Burgh Hall

10 May Byre Theatre St Andrews

11 May Dundee Rep

12 May Cumbernauld Theatre

15 May An Lanntair Stornoway

16 May Rosehall

17 May Eastgate Theatre Peebles

18 May Woodend Barn Banchory

19 May Tolbooth Stirling

22-23 May Traverse Edinburgh

24 Druimfin, Mull

25 May Taynuilt

Written by Hamish MacDonald, directed by celebrated actor and director Alison Peebles, featuring the sublime singing of Alyth McCormack, 2009 CATS Best Actor Matthew Zajac, and two of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians, Jonny Hardie and Ingrid Henderson, the play follows the seminal twists and turns of Highland composer Captain Simon Fraser (1773-1852) as he attempts to win fame by publishing his tunes. In order to gain the favour of elitist Regency society he is compelled to remove the Gaelic verses, often of Jacobite and anti-Royal sentiment. Meeting Captain Fraser in advanced age he is visited by the ghosts and dreams dwelling within the pages of his collection,  transported among the legends of the music and back through his own turbulent existence.

Source: Dogstar

Highlights of the packed programme include:

Saturday 27 October

Ross Ainslie Trio at Aberfeldy Town Hall

Monday 29 October

Julie Fowlis at Blair Castle

Tuesday 30 October

Blazin’ Fiddles at Blairgowrie Town hall

Friday 2 November

Strings and Choirs at Perth Concert Hall

Saturday 3 November

The Friends Concert, featuring Michael Marra, Tim Edey, Buddy MacDonald (Canada) and many more to be announced.

Tickets go on sale at 4pm on Tuesday 17 April 2012 from www.perthshireamber.com or by calling the festival box office on 01350 724 261

Fresh from the success of a near sell-out festival in 2011, with visitors travelling from a record breaking 22 countries world-wide and the well-received move of the festival hub to Dunkeld (in the heart of Perthshire), Dougie MacLean is keen to build on the successes of 2011 and ensure that the 2012 festival is even better.

He explains

“I am really delighted to be launching the programme for 2012, it’s a real mix of traditional and new, for young and old, but one thing that runs throughout is talented musicians and fantastic Perthshire venues and surprises. I am looking forward to welcoming friends back to Perthshire Amber as well as performing with some new faces. Highlights for me last year included the Strings and Choirs Concert in Perth Concert Hall, which created such a buzz of positive feedback and the Decorated Wheelbarrow Procession in Dunkeld, which was brilliant fun and an amazing spectacle. I also really enjoyed performing at some of our new venues such as Methven Castle and that concert (alongside our festival goers favourite – The Crannog) were the inspiration behind Amber Afternoons, which I think is a fantastic addition to the festival.”

As Dougie mentions, an exciting new development for 2012 festival is the Amber Afternoons series, which will showcase stellar quality music, in intimate, unusual and relaxed venues including Innerpeffray Library (Scotland’s oldest library), the Iron age Crannog, The Garden Room at Hilton Dunkeld and Methven Castle. The Amber Afternoons will give visitors the opportunity to enjoy exceptional music, against the backdrop of some of the best autumnal views in Perthshire.

To view the full programme for the Perthshire Amber Festival 2012 and to book tickets go to www.perthshireamber.com

Source: Perthshire Amber

“We are delighted with the list of artists invited to showcase at goNORTH 2012”, said Director for Music, Shaun Arnold. “Once again this process highlighted the quality and diversity of new music being created in the Highlands and Islands and across Scotland and it proved no easy task to establish the final list”.

We are also delighted to announce that our partners EmuBands will be offering goNORTH delegates a FREE single release worth £24.95.

As EmuBands don’t charge any ongoing fees, this is a completely free release, earning you 100% of royalties generated while retaining 100% ownership and control of your rights; so you can have your music available through the World’s leading digital retailers like iTunes and Spotify completely free of charge.

This offer will be open to all registered delegates and vouchers will be available from the EmuBands Stand in the main registration foyer.

goNORTH 2012 Showcase List

Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher
Aaron Wright

Blindfolds

Blue Sky Archives

Brown Bear and the Bandits

Cafe Disco

Campfires in Winter

Cancel The Astronauts

Cherri Fosphate

Chris Devotion and The Expectations

CLEAVERS

DARC

Dead Boy Robotics
Esperi

Fat Goth

French Wives

Galleries

Grace Weber

Graham Brown

Honningbarna

Iain Mclaughlin & The Outsiders

Ilona

John Wean

Jonathan Sebastian Knight

Lady North

Letters

Make Sparks

Mass Consensus

Matt Norris & The Moon

Maydays

Michael Cassidy

Miniature Dinosaurs

Miss Irenie Rose

Nelson Can

Olympic Swimmers

Open Swimmer

Oskar Empire

Pioneers of Love

Plum

Polaroid Fiction

Pronto Mama

Quickbeam

Red Kites

Sebastian Dangerfield

Selective Service

Smoothiesforme

Stanley Odd

Star Wheel Press

Team Kapowski

The Little Kicks

The Machine Room

The Mirror Trap

The Mixups

The Stagger Rats

The Whisky River Band

The Winter Tradition

Them & Us

This Silent Forest

Vigo Thieves

Washington Irving

We Came From Wolves

Where We Lay Our Heads

Xavia

Yusaf Azak

Please note, this list is subject to change.

Source: goNORTH

Phil explains: “I started thinking about the word ‘Home’, at the time of The Homecoming. As an idea it became very rich. If you look across the room at someone- a stranger or someone you know well- Where do they come from? What was their childhood like? What does feeling ‘at home’ mean to them? What is their home like, their home life? What do they do there? What do they feel about where they live, their country, the government, their planet? These things are very central to who we are as people and who we are as a society. It captured my interest, so I found it a beautiful theme to create a show about.”

A musical journey carries audiences from the personal and domestic, through memories of childhood, our relationship with democracy, nationalism & war, to Planet Earth our collective home and beyond, at times with people’s thoughts, images and memories projected on screen. Technology in the home shows the future of music, with a star guest playing along live from their front room by Skype. The climax of the show has saxophonist Bancroft, his family and pets leaving Planet Earth in a 2nd-hand spaceship to start life on a new planet- accompanied by ironic pre-apocalyptic funk number “It’s Too Late Now, So Party On”.

The terrific 7-piece band, counts Instrumentalist Of The Year guitarist Graeme Stephen amongst the soloists, in music furnished with ECM melodies, homespun fiddle rounds, lyrical chamber music and George Clinton Funkadelia, but with a heart all of its own.

“We’ve been exploring this theme for the last two years. It’s such a fun show to play in – yet it touches on so many issues that people deeply care about, from identity, relationships roots, to politics, technology, the economy, and the environment. It’s very moving to see the thoughts and memories of people, and the way they combine with the music.“ says Phil.

Get readers involved: They can watch videos from the show, upload what ‘Home’ means to them in text and images – and see what others have said at www.smallastheworld.com. Submissions are used in video projections during live shows. The tour is supported by Creative Scotland.

Small As The World Band:

Phil Bancroft- Saxes

Aidan O’Rourke- Fiddle

Felicity Provan- Trumpet

Paul Harrison- Piano

Graeme Stephen- Guitar

Mario Caribe- Bass

Stu Ritchie- Drums

Tour Dates:

Corran Halls, Oban Weds 25th April 8pm

Woodend Barn, Banchory Thur 26th April 8pm

The Tolbooth Stirling Fri 27th April 8pm

The Queens Hall Edinburgh Sat 28th April 8pm

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Skye Sun 29th April 7.30pm

An Lanntair Stornoway Mon 30th April 8pm

Eden Court Theatre Inverness Tues 1st May 7.30pm

All ticketing info on www.smallastheworld.com

Source: Phil Bancroft

Southern Fried Festival favourite Dean Owens, who returns to Perth’s festival of American Roots music for the fifth time in July, launched the May-Aug programme in Perth Concert Hall.

US singer/songwriter John Prine headlines this year’s Southern Fried Festival which will open with an all-star performance of the music of The Man in Black – Johnny Cash: Songwriter. Gretchen Peters, Darrell Scott and Ruthie Foster are also on the bill with many more acts to be announced.

May gets off to a merry start with Dogstar Theatre Company’s The Captains Collection in Perth Theatre. History, drama, music and humour combine to tell the story of a Highland composer visited by the ghosts and dreams that dwell in the pages of his work. With singing by Alyth McCormack and music from the Old Blind Dog’s Jonny Hardie, it’s an unmissable treat for trad fans and theatre lovers alike.

Scotland’s best loved play The Steamie has been gathering great reviews on its 25th anniversary tour. Perth Theatre has added an extra date to its run due to audience demand.

Perth Festival of the Arts brings a sparkling array of performers to the venues including Nigel Kennedy, English Touring Opera, Jules Holland, Kassidy and Jack Bruce and his Big Blues Band to name but a few.

Pianist Susan Tomes and violinist Erich Höbarth conclude their exclusive Perth Concert Hall series Mozart Music for Piano and Violin, Dunedin Consort bring their Brandenburg Concertos cycle to a close and there’s a last chance to see Steven Osborne’s five star-rated Ravel project as he plays the second in the two concert series.

John Naughtie presents a gala concert in celebration of The Gannochy Trust’s 75th anniversary. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is joined by Perth Youth Orchestra and local artists Rowan Hellier and Alasdair Beatson for this one-off programme of well-known classics.

Hot on the heels of his guest appearance with Eddi Reader, leading Irish songwriter and performer Kieran Goss returns with a solo show in Perth Theatre. The Ultimate Eagles Take it to the Limit in Perth Concert Hall and Brit Floyd stop off on their Foot in the Door world tour. Scotland’s own world champion performer of the work of The King Johnny Lee Memphis will get Perth Concert Hall audiences all shook up with Absolute Elvis.

Jazz and folk-inspired music and drama combine in In a Sma’ Room in Perth Concert Hall. New settings of the haunting lyrics of William Soutar shed fresh light on the bittersweet life of the Perth poet; with songs from Debra Salem and music by Patsy Reid.

Comedy in store includes TV favourite Russell Kane who sets out to explore the state of masculinity in the modern world in Manscaping. Brochure cover star Rhod Gilbert introduces audiences to his flaming Battenberg tattoo. Sneaking a peek into September, Kevin Bridges is sold out, but laughter lovers can still grab tickets for Julian Clary and Ross Noble.

The kids are in charge as Perth Youth Theatre and Horsecross Glee groups are joined by other talented youngsters for a month-long Youth Arts Festival in June. Young musicians from across Scotland will take to the Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre stages as the Fair City hosts the first Music for Youth National Festival Scotland.

Little ones can join Peppa Pig’s Treasure Hunt in Perth Concert Hall and it’s noise all the way when The Singing Kettle Shake, Rattle and Roll into Perth Theatre. Mums and dads will love our new Saturday morning story sessions as they relax with a coffee in Perth Theatre Redrooms café while their tinies are taken on a trip through their imaginations.

September brings West End smash Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to the Perth Concert Hall stage. One of the world’s greatest orchestras – the Philharmonia – performs Beethoven’s symphonies No.s 5 and 7 in a unique Perth Concert Hall programme and Perth Theatre revives its successful 2009 production of Tam O’Shanter. A National Treasure VI boasts another fantastic trad music line up in celebration of the musical spirit of Gordon Duncan in Perth Concert Hall.

And with kids’ holiday activities, dance shows, talks and art exhibitions also in the mix, and panto with the eggs-factor Mother Goose on the back burner, Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre are all set for a scorching summer whatever the weather!

For full details on the new season, pick up a May-Aug 2012 brochure from Perth Concert Hall or Perth Theatre, call Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031 or visit www.horsecross.co.uk for tickets and information.

Source: Horsecross Arts

A native of Salzburg, violinist Janiczek has the perfect credentials to direct a programme of music by his home-city’s most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  He pairs Symphony No 21, written when Mozart was aged 16, with Symphony No 39, one of the composer’s great, last symphonies. The SCO’s Principal Horn Alec Frank-Gemmill is soloist in the Horn Concerto No 4 in E-flat.  Frank-Gemmill recently received rave reviews for his performances of Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto during the Orchestra’s 2011/12 Season.   

From 19 – 21 July, the Orchestra is reunited with guest conductor Nicholas McGegan for concerts at Stirling Castle, Strathpeffer Pavilion and the Badenoch Centre, Kingussie.  They perform Haydn’s Symphony No 88 in G and Mozart’s Symphony No 31 ‘Paris’, both written to impress the Parisian audiences of their times.  The programme also features well-known favourites from the 18^th century operatic repertoire, including overtures by Mozart and Cimarosa and arias by Haydn, performed by the South African baritone William Berger. Following these concerts, the SCO, McGegan and Berger head into the studio to record a disc of arias from operas including Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute and Haydn’s Armida and L’anima del filosofo.

Director/violinist Isabelle van Keulen has proved hugely popular with audiences on SCO Strings tours in 2010 and 2011.  This summer she returns to direct the full orchestra in a concert of much-loved classics at Inverness Eden Court (16 August), Perth Concert Hall (17 August) and Dumfries Easterbrook Hall (18 August).  The First Symphonies of Prokofiev (Symphony No 1 ‘Classical’) and Beethoven open and close the concert, while SCO Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín is the soloist in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

SCO Strings and SCO Wind and Brass

For one week in June the SCO Strings and the SCO Wind and Brass go their separate ways on tour.  The SCO Strings travel to Killin’s McLaren Hall (21 June), Fortrose Community Theatre (22 June) and Ullapool Village Hall (23 June). German violinist Florian Donderer, Concertmaster of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, takes the solo in Haydn’s Violin Concerto in C and directs two works inspired by the traditional dance music of the composer’s homeland: Sándor Veress’ Four Transylvanian Dances and Antonín Dvořák’s melodic Serenade for Strings, which is, in turn, spirited, romantic and wistful.

The Orchestra’s virtuosic Wind and Brass Ensemble performs at Woodend Barn, Banchory; Boat of Garten Community Hall and Birnam Arts Centre (21 – 23 June), with a programme of music with Eastern European and Klezmer influences by Prokofiev, Mozart, Seiber and Borodin.

Source: Scottish Chamber Orchestra

]]> http://northings.com/2012/04/18/scottish-chamber-orchestra-announce-summer-tours/feed/ 0 http://northings.com/2012/04/18/scottish-ensemble-inversions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scottish-ensemble-inversions http://northings.com/2012/04/18/scottish-ensemble-inversions/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:02:25 +0000 Georgina Coburn http://northings.com/?p=25323 OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 17 April 2012

PERHAPS it is the expressive quality of sound that ultimately defines music, rather than words like Classical, Modern or Romantic which fail to capture the timelessness of human experience we feel when listening to it.

IN THEIR final concert tour of the 11/12 Season the Scottish Ensemble moved ingeniously backwards in time. Starting in 1969 with Ligeti’s Ramifications, through works by Webern, Debussy, Bruckner, Mendelssohn and concluding with J.S.Bach’s much loved Violin Concerto in E Major, Inversions was a fitting finale to an outstanding year of Scottish Ensemble performances.

Jonathan Morton (photo Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)

Like paintings in an exhibition, juxtaposition of work from different eras creates unexpected associations and discoveries, heightening appreciation of colour, texture and composition of individual works. Each successive piece in the Inversions programme succeeded in illuminating previously unheard qualities in the next.

The opening work, Ramifications by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti, presented an aural span of pure texture and varyied density with half of the string ensemble tuned at a different pitch to the other. The result was unexpected richness, an atmospheric soundscape humming in variable tone, opening into a wider vibration of sound and imaginative exploration. Variation of rhythm and orchestration create an incredibly subtle interior world with its own spatial quality; groupings of strings which take flight and then go into free fall, beautifully articulate interludes which pivot on the bow, the low scraped resonance of cello and double bass and tones so light and exquisitely high in spirit as to be barely audible.

It is easy to see why Ligeti’s music has been favoured in the cinema; in the films of Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, and more recently in films such as Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Sophie Fiennes documentary on Anselm Kiefer, Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow.

Hearing Ligeti first brought out unforeseen resonance in Webern’s Five Movements for String Orchestra, op. 5 (1909). The distillation of Webern’s musical language heightening the expressivity of each movement, especially when contrasted with the aural soundscape and spatial dimension of Ramifications. From Webern’s first movement, ‘Heftig bewegt’, there is surprisingly a feeling of almost symphonic expansion; beginning characteristically with sparseness and agitation but continuously evolving in wonderfully nuanced ways.

The second movement, ‘Sehr langsam’, in its opening dialogue between viola, violin and cellos is acutely sensitive, while the third movement, ‘Sehr bewegt’, lasting only 41 seconds, is intensely dynamic in its economy. Webern’s Five Movements revealed itself in this performance as a richly layered gestural work, at times strikingly lyrical and melodic, powerfully articulated, a series of musical expressions that cannot be easily boxed in by whatever we think Atonal music means.

Removed from the constraints of classification, their perceived position in the canon and standard programming which all too frequently presents like with like, composer and work become liberated from preconceptions and invigorated by new associations in the mind of the listener. Similarly the following piece, a new arrangement of Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor, op. 10 (1893) by the Ensemble’s Artistic Director, Jonathan Morton, defied expectation in its depth and density, as a work of immersion rather than illusion.

Beginning with a mellow, unified dance-like movement shimmering with light, the proceeding instrumentation expands our frame of reference: the pairing of violins and viola duet in the third movement, solos by cello and violin in the fourth for example, create a soulful, expressively varied and satisfying work beyond aural Impressionism. Arguably alongside the Webern, our experience of Debussy is sharpened, our hearing honed to listening.

Bruckner’s Adagio from String Quintet in F Major followed, a deeply sonorous and heartfelt work of repose and ascension, the lushness of Debussy making way for the ebb and flow of Brucker’s only mature chamber piece. There is something intensely vulnerable at the heart of this work which was realised beautifully in this performance, notably in Catherine Marwood’s viola playing.

Experience giving way to youth, Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia no 10 in B Minor (1823), written when he was just 14, contains echoes of his predecessors Haydn and Mozart in the opening ‘Adagio’ coupled with the precocious ‘Allegro’ that follows, bursting with energy and positively galloping towards its conclusion. Form meets feeling in Mendelssohn’s burgeoning orchestral palette and this youthful enthusiasm struck a universal chord with the audience.

Not even a broken string could suppress Jonathan Morton’s solo performance of Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major! The joyous exuberance and energy of this work in its first and final movements felt like pure celebration, while the sublime second movement ‘Adagio’ attained a stillness and soulful depth clearly understood by the soloist.

The beauty of live musical performance lies in communication between the artist/composer, musician and audience that defies centuries, age and learning.
When we strip the labels away we’re left with how a piece of music makes us feel, immediately and instinctually. Inversions is a refreshing invitation to trust those instincts.

© Georgina Coburn, 2012

Links

• Scottish Ensemble