Conjoining the sound of their own musical traditions, Vamm is an exciting string trio who weave together melody and harmony creating a rich sound, bursting with texture and groove. Newly formed in 2012, Shetland born Catriona MacDonald (ex Blazin’ Fiddles), Perthshire’s Patsy Reid (founding member of Breabach) and Norwegian Marit Falt, seamlessly create a dynamic yet intimate sound that will take your breath away. Vamm released their debut album earlier this year in late April to rave reviews.

Vamm

Sardinian-born Elena Piras inherited her father’s love of music and singing – especially folk music. As a young child she sang in church choirs and later appeared regularly on local Italian TV. By the time she was a teenager Elena – who has been visually-impaired since birth – was an experienced artist performing for large audiences, singing and playing guitar professionally.

Since moving to the UK at the age of 18, Elena (who speaks six languages and is now learning Gaelic) has lived in London, where she co-founded and toured with the successful London Bulgarian choir. In 2006 she moved to Edinburgh, where her work at the Royal Scottish Academy of Art gave her the opportunity to become fully immersed in the music scene in Scotland.

Today, and now resident in Lerwick, she is a popular personality on the gigs and festivals circuit. She’s currently working on her own material, writing new arrangements for old traditional songs and also enjoying the success of her debut album Journey.

Elena Piras

Tickets for the concert in Fetlar cost £12 / £10 and tickets for the concert in Mareel cost £16. Buy yours now from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

DF Concerts & Events in association with Shetland Arts present Ricky Ross live at Mareel on Tuesday 19 November 2013. The Deacon Blue front man is touring his new album Trouble Came Looking, as well as performing other hits from his solo catalogue and Deacon Blue songs.

Ricky began writing Trouble Came Looking as the recession hit. It’s a modern folk album about the helplessness felt as governments signed off billions to protect banks, leaving the people to fend for themselves. Ricky said of the tour: “I’m looking forward to playing places we couldn’t get to with Deacon Blue, and sharing the untold stories behind my songs.”

Ricky Ross

A consummate songwriter, Ricky also spends a lot of his time co-writing songs for other acts. He has written for and with James Blunt, Ronan Keating, KT Tunstall, Cathy Burton, Gareth Gates, Emma Bunton, Will Young, and Jamie Cullum, among others.

Ricky also currently presents’ Another Country with Ricky Ross’ on BBC Radio Scotland and has covered for Bob Harris and Dermot O’Leary on BBC Radio 2. He also occasionally broadcasts for Radio 2 from the yearly Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “Ricky Ross is a real legend of the Scottish music scene. We expect that interest in this concert will be very high and recommend booking tickets early to avoid disappointment.”

Tickets cost £20 and will go on sale tomorrow morning (Friday 17 May) via Gigs In Scotland at www.gigsinscotland.com & Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org & www.mareel.org

Wind-Up Projectiles comprise young musicians Joe Watt on lead vocals and guitar, Hayden Hook on double bass, Chris Thomson on keys and Lewis Murray on drums. The hip hop / rock crossover group are influenced by musicians including Queens of the Stone Age, Soul Coughing, Cake, Tom Vek, Beck, A Tribe Called Quest and many more New York and LA Hip Hop groups.

You can listen to a preview here  www.soundcloud.com/windupprojectiles/an-explosion-of-dirty-rhythm and view a short promo video here www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOdNDM_WjhI

Support will be provided on the night by singer-songwriter Chloe Robertson and Troppo Funk.

Prior to the public concert, there will be an invite only event featuring an acoustic set performed by the band upstairs in Mareel’s Cafe Bar. The band will host a Q&A session, and there will be a talk from Dirk Robertson who created the artwork for the E.P. and from Marjolein Robertson of Maddrim Media about the video for the track Confabulation, which will be premiered on the night.

The E.P. artwork by Dirk Robertson

Joe Watt said: “Recording our first E.P. with such a powerful resource base here at Mareel has been a great learning experience and an exciting venture into the inner workings of the UK Music Industry. We’ve all gained so much, it’s difficult to pick out individual things to commend, the whole thing has been bewilderingly awesome.”

The record label and live promotions company, together with video and radio production companies, are a network of projects set up by Shetland College UHI music students studying at Mareel. The aim is to provide a real world commercial environment in which students can record, release and promote recordings and other media under the guidance of Mareel’s lecturers and technical staff. All aspects of the record industry are represented, and profits generated will be reinvested into future student projects.

Bryan Peterson, Course Leader and Shetland Arts Music Development Officer said: “We’re really lucky to have so many talented musicians on the courses, but playing ability is only one aspect of a successful career in music. The students have pulled together a wide range of Creative Industry skills and interests and made the best use of Mareel’s facilities to produce some fantastic quality and interlinked creative projects.”

Battery Park Records is a label run by Peter Keay, Hayden Hook and Patrick Mainland. Between them they fulfil all the roles of a record label – scouting for new talent, recording, mixing and mastering the material, legal and copyright requirements, through to the promotion and distribution stages.

To produce the Wind-Up Projectiles E.P. they had access to Mareel’s recording and multi-media production facilities, including the Pro Tools HD based studio and a range of world class recording spaces, microphones and preamps. The recording sessions were then completed by Chris Thomson at his home studio before coming back to Mareel for final mastering stages. The CD has been printed by local duplication company Cumlie Media, run by Maurice Smith.

Wind-Up Projectiles live

Battery Park Records has several other releases in the pipeline, including recordings made by local traditional and heavy metal groups.

Battery Park Records takes its name from the Royal Navy Reserve gun battery which was based on the site of Mareel during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Fittingly, the 32 pounder cannons were used for training and target practice after being moved from Fort Charlotte due to the “terrible noise”.

Patrick Mainland said: “Being involved in all the functions of a small independent record company has been a rewarding experience for us, and has taught us skills which we can retain and use in further creative industry work. The Battery Park Records project is also a very exciting prospect for the prolific Shetland youth music scene.”

Renemal Promotions is run by Norman Willmore and Max Tyler who have been organising promotional videos, album tasters, posters, flyers and other marketing materials for the album launch events.

Norman Willmore said: “So far the college course has exceeded all my expectations and given me solid real life knowledge of the Creative Industries. I’m looking forward to the E.P. launch and seeing months of hard work pay off.”

Screenhack Media is run by students Damien Calder and Martha Thomson who have produced a promotional video and a ‘making of’ documentary for the E.P. which will be premiered at the launch event. They also plan to release a live music video of the concert.

Damien Calder said: “It’s been a great experience doing this creative project as well as the rest of the HNC Music course. Working with all of the others in the class, and the facilities in Mareel have made for an incredible learning environment. It has provided me with a lot of valuable information that I can apply to things I do outside of college.”

Students recording in Mareel. Photo by Ben Mullay.

Shetland Independent Radio Productions is run by Joseph McCormack, Gwyn Davies and Eamonn Watt. They have produced a number of programmes for 60 North Radio which aim to highlight the diversity of Shetland musicians and provide talented content creators, both up-and-coming and experienced, with a platform to promote their work, discuss their stories and influences and to showcase their work to a wider audience.

Joseph McCormack said: “Getting the opportunity to be involved in real-world radio production has been an exciting and educational experience. The multimedia facilities at Mareel have been enormously useful, and have allowed us to tie our individual projects together to create a microcosmic music industry.”

For more information on the educational activities available at Mareel visit www.mareel.org/learn

The doors for the EP Launch gig open at 8:00pm and the gig starts at 8:30pm. Tickets are £8 flat rate, and are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The E.P. will be available to purchase from Mareel & High Level Music

Links

Album Launch Facebook page – www.facebook.com/events/158548897647116

Box Office – http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org/whats-on/wind-up-projectiles-ep-launch

Battery Park Records Facebook page – www.facebook.com/BatteryParkRecords

ScreenhackMedia Facebook page – www.facebook.com/ScreenhackMedia

Wind-Up Projectiles Facebook page – www.facebook.com/WindUpProjectiles

A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, awesome, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll and melodious light entertainment featuring only the “bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices in a collision of post-punk performance and toe-tapping oldies. There are no drums, pianos, backing tracks or banjos, no pitch shifters or electronic trickery. Only an astonishing revelation of the rich palette of orchestration afforded by ukuleles and singing (and a bit of whistling). Audiences have a good time with the Ukulele Orchestra. Going from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Redding and Spaghetti Western soundtracks, the Orchestra takes us on “a world tour with only hand luggage” and gives the listener “One Plucking Thing After Another.”

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “The Ukulele Orchestra is known worldwide for their fun and impressive performances, and will be the perfect antidote to the dark nights rolling in again in October.”

The Orchestra was formed in 1985 as a bit of fun, but the first gig was an instant sell-out, and they’ve been performing ever since. By 1988 they had released an LP, appeared on BBC TV, played at WOMAD and recorded a BBC Radio 1 session. The current ensemble has been playing together for over 20 years, and has become something of a national institution. The Orchestra has given thousands of sold-out concerts across the world, including Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, France, America, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. They have more recently performed sell-out shows at the Sydney Opera House (2012), The Royal Albert Hall (2008) and New York’s Carnegie Hall (2010).

Tickets cost £28 and will go on sale on Saturday 18 May at 2pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org and www.mareel.org

Matthew Barley is celebrating 100 years of Benjamin Britten with an ambitious national tour which will include a performance in Mareel in Shetland. In what promises to be a fascinating and intriguing solo performance, showcasing his ever-growing virtuosity as a world-renowned cellist, Barley places Britten’s powerful Third Cello Suite at the centre of a programme which also includes a suite by J.S. Bach, who greatly inspired Britten. The programme also includes solo cello music by Tavener and specially commissioned new works by Dai Fujikura, James MacMillion, and DJ Jan Bang. Tickets cost £18 and are available via Shetland Box Office.

Matthew Barley

The four musicians of the Edrom String Quartet first met over 40 years ago through studies in Vienna and Austria during 1968 and 1970 before going their separate ways to follow their careers. Maeve became a member of the Wiener Solisten and Professor of Violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna; Lucy performed a wide variety of music playing baroque violin with the Banquet of Musick and teaching at the R.S.A.M.D. and playing Scots fiddle with Scottish Borders Music and the Rowantree Company; Ferdinand became Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Hague Conservatoire of Music and his recordings with the Orlando and Parkanyi Quartets were awarded 2 Grand Prix du Disques; and Donald joined the Music Faculty of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and was Associate Principal Cellist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

The four friends have met regularly over the years as Coaches at Spring and Summer Courses of the International Cello Centre (now known as the Edrom Casals Centre) a music school established by Pablo Casals in 1953. These courses took place for many years at Edrom House in the Scottish Borders and led to many performances by the Edrom Quartet. Tickets for their performance at Mareel cost £18 and are available via Shetland Box Office.

The Scottish Ensemble will take up a mini residency in Shetland from Wednesday 31 July to Saturday 3 August, engaging with the community in a bespoke programme of events including a silent movie screening and performance, a day of community events all around the Isles, an afternoon of ballroom dancing and cream tea, and culminating in a concert at Mareel which will feature a special composition about a sea journey from Dundee to Shetland – Seavaigers by Sally Beamish. Tickets for the concert cost £18 and will be available via Shetland Box Office from Saturday 18 May. More information on the mini residency is available here.

The Scottish Ensemble

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “Shetland Arts’ Summer of Classical Music is a celebration of the stunning musicianship and wide diversity of styles in the classical music scene. We know that there are a lot of classical music lovers in Shetland who will appreciate the chance to see these world-class musicians, and we expect that, by the end of the summer, there will be some new converts to the scene too.”

Tickets for Matthew Barley: Around Britten and the Edrom String Quartet are both available now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org Tickets for the Scottish Ensemble final concert will go on sale via Shetland Box Office on Saturday 18 May at 2pm, and tickets for the Scottish Ensemble’s residency activities will go on sale in the near future. Please check Shetland Arts’ and Mareel’s websites and social media for updates.

The programme for the Saturday evening concert aims to create new connections between folk and classical traditions, interweaving Scots folk with baroque and 20th century string music. The Scottish Ensemble will team up with folk super-duo Shetlander Chris Stout (fiddle) and Catriona McKay (Scottish harp), for a programme centring on two double concertos. This first describes a sea journey from Dundee to Shetland in Seavaigers, composed by Sally Beamish specifically for this combination of performers. In Bach’s instantly recognisable Concerto for 2 Violins, Chris Stout and Catriona McKay join the individual virtuosi of the Scottish Ensemble in a fresh take on core string repertoire. Tickets for this concert will go on sale on Saturday 18 May at 2pm via Shetland Box Office.

The Scottish Ensemble

The residency in Shetland will kick off with Faust, a boundary-pushing night of electronic music, film and live performance from the Scottish Ensemble and DJ Alex Smoke on Wednesday 31 July in Mareel’s Main Auditorium. Murnau’s 1926 expressionist fantasy, Faust, tells the classic cautionary tale of the deadly consequences of entering into self-destructive deals with the devil. Paying homage to the musical accompaniments of the silent film era, DJ Alex Smoke has created a 21st-century soundtrack for electronics and strings bringing this dark and fantastical film to life. Lauded by the house and techno communities, Alex’s sets blur the boundaries between electronica, classical and hip hop and have led him to appear across the globe, including at the prestigious Sonar Festival in Barcelona.

On Thursday 1 August, the Ensemble is planning an Out & About Day – a day of events and performances all around the Islands. They are keen for members of the public, community groups, and local businesses to get in touch with Shetland Arts to suggest how the Ensemble and its musicians might best benefit the community. This might be a performance in a workplace, workshops with young musicians, or care home and community performances. If the environment is waterproof they are willing to consider all suggestions! Please email info@shetlandarts.org or call 01595 743 843 to register an interest or make a suggestion.

On 2 August, the Scottish Ensemble will take up the role of palm court orchestra for a Friday afternoon of ballroom classics, dancing and afternoon tea in Mareel’s Main Auditorium. Members of the public are invited to choose their partners and dance to favourites from a golden age performed by the talented players of the UK’s only professional string orchestra while enjoying a delicious afternoon tea. During the residency, the Ensemble will also lead workshops with local musicians and interested parties.

Scottish Ensemble Chief Executive, Thorben Dittes said: “Our residencies are all about developing relationships with communities. We respond to their individual needs by crafting a tailored programme of on- and off-platform events specific to the local area. Our collaboration with Shetland Arts is a dynamic new partnership which has been generously supported by Inksters Solicitors and Arts and Business Scotland to benefit the community of Shetland.”

The project is sponsored by Inksters Solicitors, owned by Shetlander Brian Inkster. Brian said: “After hearing the premier of Seavaigers at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in 2012 I thought it was appropriate for the piece to be performed in Shetland. My law firm, Inksters, has a strong Shetland connection with us doing legal work for many Shetlanders from Glasgow. I am delighted to strengthen that link and help take Scottish Ensemble to Shetland to perform Seavaigers with Chris and Catriona.”

The Ensemble has been awarded a New Arts Sponsorship grant to support its work during the Shetland residency. The grants provide match funding for new arts sponsors, doubling their sponsorship benefits. The scheme is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Arts and Business Scotland. David Watt, Chief Executive, Arts and Business Scotland said: “Inksters Solicitors’ sponsorship of the Scottish Ensemble clearly demonstrates how business can really benefit from associating with the arts. The New Arts Sponsorship grant also recognises how this partnership has empowered the Scottish Ensemble to create an innovative programme of activities that will engage with a wide variety of audiences during their residency in Shetland.”

Lisa Ward, Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, said: “The Scottish Ensemble is famous internationally for their ability to inspire audiences with vibrant performances which are powerful, challenging, and rewarding for all. Shetland Arts is pleased to work with them to deliver these residency activities in Shetland and the final concert at Mareel.”

Tickets for the final concert cost £18 and go on sale on Saturday 18 May at 2pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555,and online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org and www.mareel.org. Tickets for the residency activities will also go on sale soon via Shetland Box Office.

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that it will present an American Roots weekend in July, Thursday 18 – Saturday 20, featuring gospel, Cajun, and bluegrass music from The McCrary Sisters, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, and The Coal Porters.

The McCrary Sisters

The McCrary Sisters will open the weekend with a performance in Mareel on Thursday 18 July. Alfreda, Ann, Deborah and Regina were recently crowned as “arguably Nashville’s greatest soul sisters” by Robert Oermann in the USA’s famed Music Row Magazine, and have long been the first-call soul voices for the likes of Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Dr John, Isaac Hayes, Buddy Miller, and Patty Griffin. They have also sung with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, and recently appeared on the new Mavericks album.

Having shared the stage over the years with the afore-mentioned legends, they hit the spotlight in their own right in 2011 thanks to their hugely acclaimed debut album Our Journey, an album that made many Top 10 lists in the USA that year. This years’ follow up All the Way is another triumphant blend of classic gospel, funk, blues and soul.

There are few words to describe the power, passion and pure soulfulness of the sisters live. They are making their first visit to the UK as part of this years’ Southern Fried Festival in Perth, and Shetland Arts is proud to be working in association with Southern Fried to bring Shetland audiences a unique taste of this magnificent group during their brief visit to the UK.

Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys

Friday 19 July will see Mareel welcome Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys. In their 25 years together, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have deservedly gained a world-wide, unparalleled reputation for excellence in Cajun music, going from strength to strength, constantly evolving, but still sounding as fresh and invigorated as the day they first formed.

Never before in the world of Cajun music has such a comparable wealth of individual musical talent and skill been brought together at the same table: Riley wields a button box that “squeezes like an accordion but shouts hallelujah like a big brass band,” and is surrounded by fiddle, guitar, three heartfelt voices and a power-house rhythm section.

The Coal Porters

The Coal Porters, formed ten years ago by ex Long Ryders front-man Sid Griffin, will make a welcome return to Shetland on Saturday 20 July to provide the bluegrass strand of the American Roots weekend. They will also do a second rural concert on Friday 19 at the Muckle Roe Hall.

After five very well received albums, plus live appearances at the likes of the Glastonbury Festival, extensive tours of the USA, Europe and further afield and opening for the likes of the legendary Chris Hillman (Byrds and Flying Burrito Bros) The Coal Porters continue to delight audiences all over the world with the intense power of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, doghouse bass and a wonderful four-part harmony vocal delivery.

The Coal Porters deliver a fresh, invigorated ‘take’ on traditional, acoustic bluegrass that still maintains all the authentic and necessary elements of the original music and sound, attracting new and often younger audiences to the genre, while still more than satisfying the already committed and purist Bluegrass aficionado in the process.

Their one-off Scottish date in Mareel will round off wonderfully what should be a terrific three days of American Roots music in the islands.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “The American Roots weekend this summer is going to be something really special. The line-up is world-class, and sure to be very popular with Shetland audiences.”

Tickets cost £20 for each concert at Mareel, or as a special American Roots weekend deal, £50 for all three concerts. They will go on sale on Saturday 18 May and will be available to purchase via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org and www.mareel.org

Gaby Chiappe and Richard Davidson are visiting Shetland to lead the workshop and to research the upcoming crime series, Shetland. It is a 6 part series which they are in the process of adapting from two of Ann Cleeves’s Shetland novels, Raven Black and Blue Lightning.

Gaby Chiappe has been a screenwriter for fifteen years. Her recent work includes episodes of Survivors, Lark Rise to Candleford and The Paradise for BBC 1, and Vera for ITV. She has also adapted Lissa Evans novel Their Finest Hour and a Half for Wildgaze Films, Number 9 films and BBC films. She is currently adapting Ann Cleeves’ Raven Black for the forthcoming series of Shetland.

An award-winning playwright, Richard Davidson’s screenwriting career began with Eastenders. He was a lead writer on the show for six years, contributing more than 60 episodes. Recently, he’s become a key writer on Silent Witness – writing for the last 3 seasons – and is currently working on Vera for ITV, and an adaptation of Ann Cleeves’ Blue Lightning for Shetland. Richard is also adapting Midge Gillies’ Barbed Wire University for BBC Drama.

As its title suggests, the subject of the workshop will be adaptation of existing texts, including novels and short stories for the screen.

The workshop will be a practical one in the sense that participants will be encouraged to do some structuring and writing themselves. It will also include the analysis of and discussion about some existing screen writing and of the finished on screen product.

Shetland Arts Literature Development Officer, Donald Anderson said: “This is a great opportunity for anybody who is interested in developing their writing for screen to take part in what promises to be a fascinating and helpful workshop, led by two vastly experienced screen writers.”

Places on the workshop cost £5 and can be booked via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here. Places are limited, so prompt booking is highly recommended.

Joan Fraser graduated with an MA in Art & Design at Gray’s School of Art and has worked for a number of years at the University of Aberdeen, leading learning technology design projects. Returning to Shetland she studied knitwear design at Shetland College and is currently setting up her textile business and developing a range of accessories in lambswool, cashmere and Shetland wool. Fair Isle patterns influence her designs for the infinite variety of combinations. Her favourite patterns are the old fillers, such as ‘seeds’ and ‘peerie’s’ which were traditionally used between the rows of larger motifs.

Scarf by Joan Fraser

Monica Pothecary has been busy working on her own range of printed designs since graduating from the Shetland College with a BA in contemporary textiles last year. Her collection of cards is inspired by a collection of photographs taken over a number of years while riding her scooter around Shetland. She conveys a unique view of tradition with a fresh colour palette in a contemporary style combining hand drawing and digital techniques.

Card by Monica Pothecary

Angela Smith of Bonhoga Gallery said: ‘We are very excited about having the opportunity to launch the work of these two very talented designers and the response so far suggests they are going to do very well.”

Graeme Taylor moved to Shetland with his family after gaining a degree in Fine Art in Wales. Since then he has been working to develop artworks reflecting the forces of nature that have shaped Shetland’s unique backdrop.

Shetland Arts has been working with Graeme in conjunction with Moving On Employment Project, to help him develop a body of work for exhibition. This is his first solo exhibition and will be displayed upstairs in Mareel outside Cinemas 1 & 2 until the end of August.

Graeme Taylor

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “It’s been a privilege for Shetland Arts’ to work with Graeme and the Moving On Employment Project to display his work in this Forces of Nature exhibition at Mareel.”

The Moving On Employment Project is a charity-based organisation offering support to anyone over the age of 16 in Shetland with any barrier to employment. This can include physical and mental health problems, disabilities, or lack of confidence. It is based at Market House, Lerwick, however offer support, where possible, in all rural areas. For more information visit www.moep.co.uk or contact 01595 743926.

Seth has released six albums including 2005’s Mercury-nominated Kitty Jay through to his latest album, Tales from the Barrel House, which confirms Seth’s innate knack for writing both foot-stomping, sing-along songs and more tender, thoughtful ballads.

His fiddle and tenor guitar playing is often breathtaking and Seth’s trademark, soaring vocals are at the forefront of the album and his live performances, as beguiling and haunting as ever.

Seth and the band will be playing tracks from all his previous studio albums plus a few brand new songs on the Autumn tour.

Seth Lakeman

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “Shetland Arts is proud to get to present such a talented artist at a live performance in Mareel. Tickets are already selling well, and we’re sure he and his band are going to provide a concert to remember.”

The concert is on Thursday 10 October, doors at 7pm, start at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £20 and are available now from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Conductor of the Shetland Choral Society, Peter Davis, said: “This concert is a great opportunity to hear Shetland Choral Society together with four fine young solo singers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in choral music by Haydn, Vaughan Williams, and Karl Jenkins. With assistance from the Shetland Arts Fund we hope to develop a close working relationship between the Choral and the Royal Conservatoire.”

Also joined by Nigel Hayward on accompaniment, the Choral Society will open the concert with a piece by contemporary Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. The Jenkins’ piece is the first of his Songs of Sanctuary, Adiemus, and uses the voices more like instruments, with no lyrics other than syllables and invented words.

The Choral Society will then perform a piece by Vaughan Williams, who set the words of 17th century poet George Herbert to music in his Five Mystical Songs, first performed in 1911. Written for baritone soloist, choir, and accompaniment, it anticipates much of the composer’s pastoral style which was to follow.

The major work in the programme is Haydn’s Theresienmesse, or Maria Theresa Mass, from 1799; a large scale setting of the Latin Mass including four vocal soloists. It is full of exuberance, originality, and classical Viennese elegance.

Shetland Choral Society

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome the Shetland Choral Society and the soloists from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to Mareel for this Spring Concert. I’m sure the audience will really enjoy the diverse programme.”

The Spring Concert will take place on Friday 17 May, doors at 7pm, and is supported by the Shetland Arts Fund. Tickets cost £12 / £8 and are available to book now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online

In The Loop 3.5 takes place in Shetland from 31 July to 2 August 2013, as part of Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival which will run from 31 July to 5 August. Conference goers will hear speakers who may be artists, curators, designers, knitters, theorists, or historians. In the Loop 3.5 starts in Mareel then conference days 2 and 3 will transfer to Shetland Museum & Archives.

The official opening of the Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival happens with the commencement of In the Loop 3.5 on 31 July. In the Loop3.5 is the fourth in a series of acclaimed knitting conferences initiated and led by Linda Newington from the University of Southampton Library, and run this time in collaboration with Shetland Arts, as part of the Festival. The conference will focus on making connections and the way textile cultures may develop in the 21st century, with a strong Nordic theme running throughout the conference and the Festival as a whole.

The Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival is a festival for everyone, and will cover the broad activity of textiles including art, knitting, design, education and business. The Festival is about exploring the contemporary potential and future of textiles, making new connections, and learning from other textile cultures.

As part of the Festival, Shetland Arts will welcome a group of ten textile artists from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exhibiting along with two Shetland artists, in Lighten, an exhibition in Bonhoga Gallery from 3rd August to 15th September. The exhibiting artists will take part in the public opening of Lighten on Saturday 3 August from 11am to 1pm, and give gallery talks. The exhibiting artists will also be attending In the Loop 3.5. Three of the artists; Agneta Hobin, Gudrun Gunnarsdottir, and Ulla-Maija Vikman; are responsible for originating the international exhibition in collaboration with Shetland Arts.

The Festival will also include textile tours, gallery talks, and Meet Shetland Textiles, a free networking event for the public, textile makers, artists, knitters, designers, the exhibiting artists and delegates.

Over the International Textile Festival weekend, events will take place in Mareel, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland Museum & Archives and other places in Shetland.

Tickets for In the Loop 3.5 went on sale yesterday, and in the coming weeks tickets for more Festival events will also go on sale. Tickets for the conference cost £75 for the full three days and are available to book now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

For more information, including the programme for the Festival, please click here.

We aim to make at least 171 special knitted patchwork pieces, stitched from sets of knitted squares of any size, or completed blankets. The 171 objects will be installed during Alzheimer Awareness Week in surprising or obvious places in and around the Foyer and Café in Mareel. The total of 171 represents the number of people in the Shetland community who have a diagnosis of dementia.

Ann Williamson, Alzheimer Scotland’s Dementia Advisor, said : “The number of people with dementia is set to double in a generation. It is important that communities are dementia aware and talking about the illness in order to be well informed. Knitting for Alzheimer Awareness will hopefully get everyone knitting and thinking about Dementia.”

Last summer the Shetland community responded to our first knitting challenge and generously donated enough squares and finished blankets to make a total of around twenty six knitted patchwork blankets, in only six weeks.

A member of the public knitting as part of last year’s project.

Squares and blanket pieces were knitted by people of all ages and delivered to Shetland Arts from all parts of Shetland. The completed blankets were sent from Shetland to Glasgow to contribute to Alzheimer Scotland’s successful attempt at breaking the world record for the biggest knitted blanket of 91,400 squares or 914 blankets measuring 1metre square. The individual blankets were donated to various charities.

For anyone wanting to join us in knitting squares, Shetland Arts and Alzheimer Scotland hold informal knitting afternoons on the last Thursday of each month in the Upper Café in Mareel, from 2- 4.30pm. Some knitters take their own knitting along or knit squares for the challenge.

Craft Development Officer at Shetland Arts, Hazel Hughson said: “Anyone can join us to knit, or to stitch squares together and for the challenge, Bonhoga Gallery Café will have yarn and needles available for anyone wanting to knit squares there. The knitting challenge is part of the various arts projects Shetland Arts are involved with or help facilitate for Alzheimer Scotland.”

Alzheimer Scotland and Shetland Arts welcome donations now of knitted squares of any size, in any type of yarn or colour, stitched together in strips or in bundles of loose squares. The collection points are Mareel Reception and Bonhoga Gallery.

Opening at Bonhoga Gallery on Friday night is an exhibition showcasing 4 very different artistic journeys that have taken place over the past year. The winners from the 4 categories of the Shetland Open Awards 2012 were given the opportunity to develop work for a group show, and Four Journeys from Blue is the result. Each came to the project from a very different standpoint, some with a wealth of exhibition experience, some with none, all with enthusiasm to create a new collection of work representing both a connectivity and development in practice.

The 4 women; Ria Moncrieff, Gail Harvey, Diane Garrick and Rachel Ross-Smith; have worked together from the outset, on the theme of journeys. They decided collectively to start by exploring the theme using film, a medium new to all of them. Shetland Arts provided a small hand-held camera to each and they went their separate ways.

Gail Harvey, a well-established painter, chose a whole new direction for her work and began crafting puppets that she used to create a film telling the story of a fairy called Fen. Rachel Ross-Smith used the camera to reflect changing colour in the seasons, Diane Garrick used hers to chart physical journeys she has made in the landscape, while Ria’s journeys are subjective and reflective, symbolic of her journeys through motherhood. These films are the glue that binds the exhibition together, a platform from which to view the very different styles of work on display in the gallery.

Fen the Christmas Fairy, by Gail Harvey

Gail explained that the exhibition gave her the opportunity to experiment: “In many ways this project has been waiting to surface since my childhood. Ever since I was able to use scissors (I remember those strangely useless plastic ones), I’ve been making little people and animals from all sorts of scraps of things. There were so many surprises.”

Jane Matthews, Exhibitions Officer at Shetland Arts said: “It has been a treat to work with such an enthusiastic group with such varying styles and experiences. Everyone has embraced the aim of the project wholeheartedly, developing their work in different ways and taking inspiration from each other. The result is a captivating exhibition for all ages.”
The exhibition preview is this Friday, 26 April, from 6-8pm and everyone is welcome. The exhibition runs until 9th June, complemented by the Bairns Open in the lower galley and new craft ranges in the cabinet.

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that the first album to be wholly recorded, produced, mixed & mastered in Mareel; Renegades by The Revellers; is going to be publicly launched at this year’s Shetland Folk Festival. The album launch will take place on Thursday 2 May in Room 16 in Islesburgh, from 5pm to 7pm, and is free to attend.

The Revellers, who also headlined Mareel’s first sell-out standing gig in October last year, have been working hard with the staff at Shetland Arts since before Christmas to record the 10 track album, with at least one song written by each member of the 7 piece band.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We loved working with the guys in The Revellers to record this album. Our Production Manager Iain Waddell and Senior Sound Technician Jonathan Ritch worked tirelessly to help produce a great album. We expect Renegades will be very popular indeed!”

Reveller’s bass player, Craig Birnie, said: “It has been extremely exciting to be the first band to record an album entirely in the studio at Mareel. The facilities are second to none and we are lucky that so much great music can now be created and recorded in Shetland. Huge credit must go to everyone at SADA who has helped with this project but especially to Jonathan and Iain who have been incredibly patient with us and have helped us deliver an album we feel everyone can be really proud of.”

He added: “We are absolutely delighted with how Renegades sounds. It’s excellent to hear how professionally the album has turned out, we are quite a busy band in terms of instruments but we think everything has been given its platform perfectly. It’s always been our dream to release an album and Mareel has helped us realise this locally. We hope everyone enjoys listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.”

You can hear the album and buy a copy for £10 from Room 16 in Islesburgh on Thursday 2 May, 5-7pm. After that the album will be available from various local outlets. The Revellers also plan to make it available via Amazon and iTunes in the future, but for the near future the albums will be exclusively available in Shetland outlets.

Fiddler’s Bid

Fiddlers’ Bid will open the festival with a concert on Sunday 4 August in Mareel. They are known internationally as leading exponents of Shetland’s rich fiddle tradition and are global ambassadors for Isles. Since forming in 1991, they have established an identity as a unique band with a harmonious sound developed though many years of playing together. Their 4 fiddle frontline showcases some of Shetland’s finest fiddlers – Chris Stout, Kevin Henderson, Andrew Gifford and Maurice Henderson, joined by a fantastic backing band featuring harpist Catriona McKay, guitarist Fionan De Barra, and bassist Jonathan Ritch, creating a display of stunning virtuosity at every concert.

Phil & Aly

Aly & Phil are the headliners for a concert on Monday 5 August in Mareel. No strangers to Shetland, Phil Cunningham and Shetland native Aly Bain have been playing, touring, and recording together since 1988 and to date have recorded four albums and played to thousands around the world. Shetland Arts is delighted to welcome them to perform in Shetland again, helping celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fiddle Frenzy 2013. They are also performing an additional pre-Fiddle Frenzy concert in Cullivoe Hall, Yell, on Saturday 3 August.

Lau

On Wednesday 7 August, Shetland Arts is delighted to welcome Lau to Mareel. Winners of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Best Group 2013, Lau are modern folk music’s most innovative band. Brilliant musicians, thrilling performers and free-thinking visionaries. Featuring the beautiful vocals and skillful guitar playing of award winning orcadian songwriter Kris Drever. Pioneering post-everything accordion and electronics from Martin Green and the timeless masterful and melodic creativity of scottish fiddler Aidan O’Rourke. They have long since established themselves as one of the most sought after and creative live acts performing today.

And finally, on Saturday 10 August, everyone is invited along to Mareel for the Fiddle Frenzy Finale: 10th Birthday Bash. This is an event jam-packed with local fiddle talent, performances from the Fiddle Frenzy students, and a party atmosphere, celebrating 10 years of Fiddle Frenzy.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “The line up for Fiddle Frenzy 2013 really is something special, which is very fitting considering it’s the 10th anniversary of the festival. We are delighted that Jenna and Bethany have helped to organise such a fantastic week, to be hosting Fiddle Frenzy events in Mareel for the first time, and to welcome the hugely talented headliners to Fiddle Frenzy for its 10th anniversary.”

Tickets for these concerts will go on sale on Wednesday 24 April, and Fiddle Frenzy packages are already on sale, via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

More information:
Fiddle Frenzy is an opportunity to learn the secrets of Shetland Fiddle from a range of experienced tutors, explore the thriving musical traditions of our unique and beautiful islands, or simply be part of our Festival Week which is packed with a range of Frenzy Fringe options and Evening Concerts.

This year’s curators, sisters Jenna & Bethany Reid, grew up immersed in the Shetland fiddle tradition and are now both Glasgow-based musicians and well recognised within the traditional music scene. Jenna working as a professional musician, member of Blazin’ Fiddles and her own Jenna Reid Band, and Bethany teaching music, and also performing in Jenna’s band and alongside Jenna in new four-piece fiddle group Rant.

The week will consist of two classes per day in Shetland Fiddle or Shetland Guitar Accompaniment, with a range of music alternatives throughout the week, including drawing & painting and photography to help visitors discover the beautiful Shetland landscape.

This year will see the move of the Festival to Mareel, Shetland Art’s new music and cinema venue that opened its doors to the public in August 2012. This purpose built state of the art venue and cinema space will provide the ideal home for the Festival, and includes our Cafe Bar which will be home to the Festival Club open til 1am across the week. We will also use spaces within the neighbouring Shetland Museum & Archives for classes.

Please note that concession prices now apply to those in full time education, and seniors. Prices for packages are all available at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We have an amazing line-up of gigs and concerts programmed for the summer, with even more to go on sale soon! We hope that Shetlanders and visitors alike will be as excited by the upcoming performances as we are, and that we’ll continue to see good audience turnout at these events.”

In May, Shetland Arts will welcome Roddy Woomble to Mareel for a concert on Monday 13. Roddy is familiar many thousands of music fans as the front man in the Scottish rock band Idlewild, and is also a celebrated solo songwriter & performer. As well as songs from his new album released in March, his live set will feature tunes from both his solo albums, alongside several Idlewild numbers. Support on the night will come from local stars Freda and Brian.

Roddy Woomble

Also in May, Vamm will play live in Mareel on Sunday 26 and at the Fetlar Hall on Saturday 25. Formed in 2012, Shetland born Catriona Macdonald (formerly of Blazin’ Fiddles), Perthshire’s Patsy Reid (of Breabach), and Norwegian Marit Falt seamlessly create a dynamic yet intimate sound that will take your breath away. Their concerts are described as “a must-see” for trad fans.

Vamm

June is jam packed with events, beginning on Saturday 1 with Shooglenifty and support from Vair. Shooglenifty is one of Scotland’s most unique musical exports, playing an infectious blend of Celtic traditional music and dance grooves that they describe as “hypno-folkadelic ambient trad.” Vair have already gained a shining reputation for their unique take on the folk sound and are sure to start the night in style. Tickets are already selling fast.

Shooglenifty

Just a few days later, on Tuesday 4 June, world-renowned cellist Matthew Barley will play a concert in Mareel as part of his Around Britten national tour, celebrating 100 years of Benjamin Britten. In what promises to be a fascinating and intriguing solo performance, showcasing his ever-growing virtuosity as a cellist, Barley will place Britten’s powerful Third Cello Suite at the centre of a programme which also includes a suite by J.S. Bach, who greatly inspired Britten. The programme will also include solo cello music by Tavener and specially commissioned new works by Dai Fujikura, James MacMillion, and DJ Jan Bang.

Matthew Barley

And that’s not all June has to offer for strings fans: on Wednesday 12 Shetland Arts’ is delighted to present the Edrom String Quartet, consisting of Lucy and Maeve Auer, Ferdinand Erblich and Shetland resident Donald MacDonald. The 4 musicians first met over 40 years ago through studies in Vienna and Austria and met regularly over the years as Coaches at Courses of the International Cello Centre (now known as the Edrom Casals Centre).

And just a few days after that, music-fans will get their dancing shoes on again for a gig on Saturday 15 by Peatbog Faeries in Mareel. Peatbog Faeries are a Celtic fusion band featuring Shetland’s own Ross Couper on fiddle. Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, rock, and jazz. They have twice won “Live Band of the Year” at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards, and were nominated for “Live Band of the Year” at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Peatbog Faeries

The end of June will see 21 year old singer Carrbridge singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni playing a concert in Mareel on Wednesday 26. Rachel has wowed audiences across the UK, Europe, India and the USA over the past year playing in excess of 150 shows. A straight-up storyteller with a voice that Mojo magazine described as ‘clean as cut glass’, Rachel packs an almighty punch with her earthy melodies and incredible acoustic guitar skills. On her only previous visit to Shetland Rachel provided the support slot for Mumford and Sons during their gig in the Whiteness and Weisdale Hall. At that she made such an impact that there has been a substantial demand to bring her back to the islands again to deliver a full show of her own.

Rachel Sermanni

And finally, in July Tally Ho Entertainment in association with Shetland Arts presents Paul Brady live in Mareel on Friday 12 & Saturday 13. Paul Brady is one of Ireland’s most highly regarded and successful artists, incorporating folk, rock, blues, traditional Irish, and classic pop styles into his song writing. Often classified as a musicians’ musician, Paul Brady’s songs have been covered by a huge array of major artists including Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner, Cher, and Maura O’Connell, Brookes and Dunnie, Joe Cocker, and Carlos Santana.

Paul Brady

Other non-Shetland Arts’ events in Mareel this summer include the Shetland Choral Society Spring Concert on Friday 17 May, and Inferno To Malawi on Friday 14 June.

Tickets for these events can all be purchased now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org and www.mareel.org

The Motion reads: “Ignition Community Theatre Project in Shetland—That the Parliament congratulates the Ignition creative concept theatre project in Shetland, whose aim was to explore people’s love-hate relationship with the automobile; understands that this was a partnership project between Shetland Arts and the National Theatre of Scotland (NTOS) and that it was the biggest, most ambitious community engagement programme ever undertaken by the NTOS, receiving rave reviews in national and local press; understands that the project has brought over £250,000 worth of funding into Shetland since it began in October 2012, and commends the project leaders, Wils Wilson and John Haswell, for creating the opportunity for people of all ages in Shetland to display their talent, creativity and originality through the medium of community theatre.”

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are delighted that Tavish put forward this Motion in Parliament. Ignition was a hugely ambitious project, and Shetland Arts enjoyed working with the National Theatre of Scotland to make it a success.”

The White Wife

Ignition used a range of workshops/residencies, pop-up events and public events to help gather information from as many of Shetland’s residents as possible. This included Dance and Parkour Workshops exploring travel. The White Wife, an actor travelling round Shetland’s long and winding roads, used a number of methods to gather ‘car stories’, from hitch-hiking, to Sunday Teas on Wheels, to travelling ‘On Da Buses’ exploring the use of public transport. Music was also been used to extract some stories and thoughts about the car. Ignition’s resident composer Hugh Nankivell worked with schools and music groups to write and arrange music inspired by travel.

Ignition culminated with a final series of performances in March that delivered one of the most ambitious, exciting and unique site theatre experiences, and rave reviews in both the national and local press.

On Saturday night the adjudicators will decide who is worthy of the prestigious title of Young Fiddler of the Year 2013 at the Finals Night Concert. Junior and Intermediate winners will perform as well as all the entries in the Open section. The winning tunes from the Shetland Folk Society Tune Competition will be performed by Bryan Gear and adjudicated by Violet Tulloch and Debbie Scott. The concert will be compered by Valerie Watt.

This year’s competition is being organised by Shetland Folk Society members Valerie Watt and Vaila Grant. They have taken over from Charlie Simpson and Douglas Sinclair who have run the competition voluntarily for many years. Charlie and Douglas still contribute to the running of the competition as office bearers on the committee.

Valerie said: “We are really looking forward to showcasing all our young fiddlers in the Mareel Auditorium. The high quality of fiddle instruction provided in schools across Shetland is something to be proud of.”

Vaila added: “We have over 80 fiddlers competing for six titles over three age groups under the age of 16 over both days. The Finals Concert will be worth seeing!”

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “It’s a delight to welcome the Young Fiddler of the Year competition to Mareel for the very first time. The competition and concert are a Shetland institution, and we are very excited to hear the talented young fiddlers playing in Mareel’s Main Auditorium.”

Tickets for the Finals Night Concert on Saturday cost £6 (£4 concessions) and are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

The interactive schedule allows you to pick your bus route and automatically generates the most suitable times for you for any given screening. The app was designed by MH Apps, a Shetland based software development and consultancy service for businesses, founded by Shetlander Mark Hume.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “This is a very useful new feature on the Mareel Cinema app, and we hope it will be helpful for customers who rely on public transport to plan out their cinema visits. We’re keen to get people trying it out and letting us know what we think so we can continue to improve our service and make films at Mareel accessible to all who want to see them.”

Tickets for films at Mareel can be purchased via Shetland Box Office, based in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, online by film at http://www.mareel.org/watch or online by day at http://m.mareel.org.

Everyone is invited to attend the free public exhibition opening of Four Journeys From Blue on Friday 26 April, 6-8pm, at Bonhoga Gallery.

Four Journeys From Blue is an exhibition by the winners of The Shetland Open 2012 – Ria Moncrieff, Rachel Ross Smith, Diane Garrick, and Gail Harvey. With the opportunity to have their own show at Bonhoga the four artists have come together to create a starting point for their show using film, which will run in the stairwell.

This is a platform for work exploring the theme of journeys and the colour and mood of blue. Each artist brings her own style and experience to the show in a variety of media.

The Lower Gallery will display the Bairns’ Open – an open exhibition of wall-based work for those from P1-S6, and the Craft Cabinet will feature a selection of UK crafts.

This is the second short-listing in as many weeks for Mareel, designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects and completed at the end of 2012.

Results will be revealed at a black-tie awards dinner on Thursday 30th May, in Glasgow.

Further information: http://www.scottishdesignawards.com/nominations

The RCS includes some of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians, from the length and breadth of the country, all studying on the BA Scottish Music course in Glasgow. From the gracious notes on the pipes, to the respectable resonance of the fiddles, the RCS creates a beautiful music at every concert.

All in their third year of study, this 7 piece band has extraordinary range and variety. Combining styles together from the Isles of Shetland and Lewis, and mainland corners of the North, East, South and West, to produce some ritzy, innovative and unique music.

The RCS ensemble

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer , Lisa Ward, said: “It’s a real honour to welcome the RCS to Mareel and Shetland for this unique concert. Traditional music is always popular in Shetland and I would encourage anyone involved in the local scene to come along to this concert and enjoy some of the finest trad music Scotland has to offer.”

This ensemble of the RSC have a huge number of prestigious achievements to their names, including multi gold medalist of the National Mod 2011, winner of the World Pipe Band Championships 2011, plus many other renowned awards. They have also performed in such prestigious venues as the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as playing alongside some of today’s greatest Scottish musicians, including Phil Cunningham, Aly Bain, and Dougie MacLean.

The concert is on Tuesday 2 April and doors are at 7pm. Tickets cost £10 / £8 and are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

The Bon Accord Silver Band, based in Aberdeen, is touring Orkney and Shetland as part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations. The band features some of the finest brass musicians in the UK, and is amongst the top flight of bands in the country.  The band will be under the direction of their professional conductor, Steven Martin, and players on tour with the band include the former principal tuba player of the Halle Orchestra, Andrew Duncan, who is also a well-known composer, arranger, adjudicator, and conductor.

The finale of the concert will feature the world premiere of “Where Seas and Oceans Meet”, a work in five movements, composed by Unst’s Peter Jones.  The work is inspired by the land and seascapes around Shetland where the composer has kayaked or toured.  Each movement is named after the Old Norse names for regions of Shetland: (i) Muckle Flugga; (ii) Ornyst, (Eagles’ Nest = Unst); (iii) Esjanes (Eshaness); (iv) Friðarey (Fair Isle); and (v) Dunrøstar Høfdi (Head of the Thunderous Noise = Sumburgh Head). The style of the music is melodic  and is proving popular with the band.  Bon Accord also plans to include it as the finale in their 50th Anniversary Concert later this year.

Bon Accord Silver Band

Peter, who came to Shetland over 3 years ago when his wife, Lynne, became the Health Visitor for the North Isles, has been a finalist in a number of international composition competitions in the past year alone. The Welshman was a former winner at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and has also won prizes as a soloist & conductor.

Briefly a professional orchestral trombonist as a teenager, Peter soon decided he would change career and became a naval officer, reaching the rank of Captain after seeing service all around the globe. Indeed, in 2009, Peter was the subject of a press campaign to be awarded the George Cross for his bravery in the Falklands in helping, in extreme weather conditions, to stop a runaway barge full of around 35 tons of highly unstable explosives from striking a troop ship with about 2000 personnel on board. The islands’ MP, Alistair Carmichael, took a deep interest in the affair and supported fully the campaign after having been given all the details of the citation by a pressure group.

Peter, forced to give up his career because of arthritis and fibromyalgia, returned to music and became a composer, and has had numerous pieces played by groups around Europe and the US. As a player, he has appeared with some of the finest and best-known ensembles in the world, including the World, European and British champion bands. He will be playing with the band at the concert as their usual principal trombone, professional player Mark Boyd, is unable to go on tour. Since coming to the islands, Peter has been involved as a player, arranger and conductor with the well-known Yell-based chamber ensemble, Fancytunes. Qualified for MENSA since his teenage days, he has had a short story published and read out on Radio 4, has written for TV and magazines, was an athlete and player at representative level in a number of sports, and was a full karate international.

Modern top brass bands have come a very long way from the old image of hymn tunes and marches, and can play any piece of music put in front of them and can overcome the most fierce technical challenges; from the most lyrical and beautiful music to a huge symphonic sound. The concert programme for the Mareel is highly entertaining and wide ranging, and will appeal to music lovers of all ages.

The band’s Principal Cornet and Chairman, Dr. David Cooper, is no stranger to Shetland as he regularly comes to train the islands’ medical personnel in emergency procedures as part of the BASICS team – this is where he met Peter, who attended the course as one of Unst’s volunteer ambulance men. Although a full-time GP, David has been at the very pinnacle of cornet/trumpet players in Scotland since his earliest days, and has held many prestigious positions such as the principal player of ensembles as the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, the National Wind Band, and Whitburn Band (generally acknowledged as one of the world’s finest bands).  David’s wife, Karen, holds the Solo Horn chair with the band and is a professional brass tutor.

Richard Kidd, the band’s euphonium soloist, started his playing career with Bon-Accord Silver ‘B’ Band in 1999. Since then, he went on to become principal euphonium with Whitburn Band and, for six years, the National Youth Band of Scotland.  Richard won the Scottish Youth Solo title four times, won Champion Euphonium Player of Scotland three times,  and was a finalist in the first BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist of the Year in 2004.  He is a rising star as conductor of the ‘B’ Band and other ensembles.

The band will also work with players of Lerwick’s own brass band, well known on the Up Helly Aa circuit; and part of the final concert will feature both bands. The concert is in Mareel on Sunday 31st March at 7:30pm. Tickets cost £12 / £10 and are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here. You can also buy on the door.

The list was announced on Sunday 24 March and the judging panel this year includes RIAS President Elect Iain Connelly FRIAS, Dr Joyce Deans CBE PPRIAS, Lori McElroy MBE, Kathy Li of the Mackintosh School of Architecture and Roger Stephenson OBE, representing the Royal Institute of British Architects. A panel including Iain Connelly will visit Mareel and the other shortlisted buildings before deciding which will receive awards.

Managed by Shetland Arts Development Agency, the leading arts agency in Shetland, Mareel is the UK’s most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are very proud to see Mareel recognised on this shortlist and look forward to the RIAS panel’s visit.”

Mareel. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

The building, designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects, is situated in a prominent quayside area in Lerwick, adjacent to the Shetland Museum and Archives and incorporates: a live performance auditorium, two cinema screens, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, education and training spaces, a digital media production suite, broadcast facilities and a cafe bar with free, high speed wi-fi internet access.

Gareth Hoskins said “we’re thrilled that Mareel, having received so much positive feedback from its users, has now also been shortlisted for these prestigious awards and are delighted to have the opportunity to show the judges around.”

Providing a year round programme of film, live music, education and other performance events, Mareel is a hub and a focus for the creative communities not just in Shetland but beyond, and a catalyst for the creative industry sector in Shetland.

RIAS president Sholto Humphries said: “We had 75 submissions from throughout Scotland. This number of entries is a tremendous vote of confidence and confirms that this new award, in only its second year, is now the single most important recognition of architectural achievement.”

He added: “While we are considering an extraordinary range of projects of different scale and type… we will be rewarding those projects which we feel best address the key role of architecture, which is to improve people’s lives. We are not restricted in the number of awards we make, and looking at the quality of this list, the task ahead of us will be a tough one.”

Award winners will be announced at the RIAS dinner on 12th June.

Previously the RIAS co-ordinated RIBA Awards for Scotland. However last year the incorporation launched its own award scheme. Entries to these awards are also eligible for RIBA Awards for Scotland and RIBA Special Awards. Winners will also be eligible for the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award and the RIBA Stirling Prize.

27 APRIL – 9 JUNE 2013

Now’s your chance to submit work for the 2013 Bairns’ Open at Bonhoga Gallery… It’s for Shetland school age children, from P1 to S6.

Your work will be displayed in the lower gallery and stairwell at Bonhoga from 27 April- 9 June 2013 and 2 prizes will be awarded.

This year’s theme is… drawing

Please submit your drawing (unframed, no larger than A3, 2-d only please) to Bonhoga by 5pm on 20th April 2013. Sorry, but we can only accept one work from each bairn.

Your drawing can be of anything. Please label your work clearly with the title, your name, address, age and an email contact.

Work may be collected after the exhibition from Bonhoga between 11-30 June, after which it may be disposed of. Prizewinners will be notified by letter.

For further information contact Bonhoga Gallery:

tel: (01595) 745750

email: bonhoga@shetlandarts.org

Describing themselves as “intense funk-fusion, at its finest,” Troppo Funk has been playing gigs around Shetland for the past year, including slots at both the Blues Festival and Jazz Festival, and features Norman Willmore on saxophone, Max Tyler on piano, Hayden Hook on bass, Joe Watt on guitar, and Lewis Murray on drums. Norman, Max, and Hayden will be familiar to anyone who has attended the Sunday Afternoon Jazz performances in Mareel’s Cafe Bar where they play fortnightly, and Joe Watt is also well known for his playing in local bands The First Foot Soldiers and Wind Up Projectiles.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We’re very happy to welcome Troppo Funk to Mareel to support The Beat. Ska and funk are both very popular in Shetland, so between the two bands, I’m sure the audience will have a great time!”

Troppo Funk

The Beat are known as one of the biggest bands of the 2-Tone movement and they play with the aim of connecting with and entertaining their appreciative audience with their relentless energy and world class musicianship.

The Beat are known the world over for a string of hit singles, including ‘Mirror in the Bathroom,’ ‘Too Nice To Talk To,’ ‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You,’ ‘Hands off She’s Mine’ and ‘All Out To Get You’. Their songs of peace, love and unity fuse ska, pop, reggae and punk rock and their dynamic live show has garnered them a loyal following at home and abroad.

The Beat formed in Birmingham in 1978, part of the West Midlands ska revival scene that also produced The Specials and The Selecter, whilst London saw the formation of Madness and The Bodysnatchers.

The Beat

Their first single was an arresting version of Smokey Robinson’s ‘Tears Of A Clown,’ given a completely new feel, and was backed with their own composition “Ranking Full Stop”. Released in a one-off deal on Jerry Dammers’ Chrysalis-backed 2-Tone label, the single stormed into the Top 10 in December 1979, and saw the band appear twice on Top Of The Pops. Backed by Arista, the band formed their own label Go-Feet Records. The first release in February 1980 was another Top 10 hit, ‘Hands Off… She’s Mine,’ and was the first of twelve chart singles for the band on Go-Feet.

The band released three albums ‘I Just Can’t Stop It’ (1980), ‘Wha’ppen’ (1981) and ‘Special Beat Service’ (1982), which contained many tracks that demonstrated their more politicised and socially-conscious leanings. All three albums were reissued in the Summer of 2012 by Edsel Records with bonus additions.

The 2012 line-up features Ranking Roger and Ranking Junior on vocals, Everett on drums plus Andy Pearson, Michael Billingham, Matt Godwin and Steve Harper on sax, keys and guitars.

Tickets for this concert cost £18 and are available for purchase via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here. Doors on 6 April are at 8pm.

Exploring our many complex interactions with the automobile, Ignition has engaged Shetland’s residents, to explore both the personal and global impact of their use in our lives, in a group of islands that are home to Europe’s largest oil terminal and a centre of renewable energy research and development.

Between October 2012 and March 2013, Ignition has used a range of workshops/residencies, pop-up events and public events to help gather information from as many of Shetland’s residents as possible. This has included Dance and Parkour Workshops exploring travel. The White Wife, an actor travelling round Shetland’s long and winding roads, has used a number of methods to gather ‘car stories’ including hitch-hiking, Sunday Teas on Wheels, and travelling ‘On Da Buses’ exploring the use of public transport. Music has also been used to extract some stories and thoughts about the car – Ignition’s resident composer Hugh Nankivell has been working with schools and music groups to write and arrange music inspired by travel and transport. On 12th January, an open day was held at Mareel, inviting the public to stop and think about how cars are involved in their lives, and share more stories.

The National Theatre of Scotland, since 2006 has brought groundbreaking theatre to Scotland and beyond. With no central venue as their home, NTS is defined as ‘a Theatre Without Walls’ and thrives on bringing speculator theatre experiences to audiences in a variety of venues, some more usual than others. Ignition will culminate with a final series of performances that will deliver one of the most ambitious, exciting and unique site theatre experiences, and use the car itself as part of the theatre space. NTS and Shetland Arts invite you to join them for this unique experience,which will take place at 3 locations across Shetland between Wed 20^th and Sat 30^th March 2013.

These events promise to give you a theatre experience unlike any before. Even buying your ticket is a slightly unusual experience. Tickets are available for sale either in person at Mareel or by phone to 01595 745500 (nb tickets not available online), priced at £10, £7 concession. When you phone or pop in to book your ticket, you will be given the choice to be a driver (and bring your own car, offering at least one passenger space) or a passenger who travels with another driver. For whichever of the 7 performances (4 in Brae, 2 in Bigton, 1 in Yell) you choose to attend, you will meet your fellow audience in the local hall and together (in a max 24 cars) will travel to two outdoor locations, ending up back where you started at the hall. The entire 2 hour experience is part of the show, with the drive to each of the outdoor locations becoming a theatre space in itself, with an actor travelling in each of the cars, and performances also taking place at each of the outdoor locations. See below for details on each of the performances – please note that you must buy tickets in advance and meet at the starting point for each show at 7pm. All performances will end back at original location at 9pm.

BRAE
Wed 20^th March – Ticket holders meet at Brae Hall, 7pm.
Thu 21^st March – Ticket holders meet at Brae Hall, 7pm
Fri 22^nd March – Ticket holders meet at Brae Hall, 7pm
Sat 23^rd March – Ticket holders meet at Brae Hall, 7pm

BIGTON
Tue 26^th March – Ticket holders meet at Bigton Hall, 7pm
Wed 27^th March – Ticket holders meet at Bigton Hall, 7pm

CULLIVOE
Fri 29^th March – Ticket holders meet at Cullivoe Hall, 7pm

THE FINAL GATHERING

Sat 30th March 2013

Everyone is invited to join NTS and Shetland Arts for a final celebration to say thank you and good bye to the project, at an outdoor site (near Brae) to gather round the bonfire to share songs and stories, before unveiling the fire sculpture. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance via Shetland Box Office. Ticket holders can park at either Sullom Hall or Brae High School Car Park, and will be transported by bus to the outdoor site, and taken back to their cars after the performance.

The Grease Singalong will take place on Saturday 30 March at 8pm, giving fans a chance for fans to don their pink jackets, grease up their quiffs, and let their inhibitions go for an evening. This is a fully interactive singalong event, guaranteed to get you dancing in the aisles.

Madama Butterfly 3D will be shown on Sunday 31 March at 3pm. This classic opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles. Puccini’s heartrending tale of love and betrayal has been brought to the big screen in this exquisite Julian Napier film, in which the characters and key moments of the action are heightened and enriched through the immersive power of 3D.

Tickets for both screenings go on sale this Saturday, 9 March, at 2pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Paul is one of Ireland’s most highly regarded and successful artists. He crosses musical boundaries again and again, incorporating folk, rock, blues, traditional Irish, and classic pop styles into his song writing.

Often described as “a musicians’ musician,” his songs have been covered by a huge array of major artists including Tina Turner, Cher, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Maura O’Connel, and Carlos Santana.

At these two concerts he will perform sets including songs from his extensive 40 year catalogue, including hits from his albums Hard Station, True For You, Back To The Centre, Primitive Dance, Trick Or Treat, Spirits Colliding, and more.

Paul Brady

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Tally Ho Entertainment to host these two fantastic Paul Brady concerts in July. Paul is a real living legend and we’re sure he will go down a storm in Mareel.”

Tickets for both concerts are available now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Heather is an artist based in Shetland and the pieces she has on display in the Lower Gallery café area are exquisite embroidered patches, which explore where modern woman fits into culture and where she herself can be represented within the stereotypes of modern society. The artist strives to “shift the dynamics of accepted female representation by making new cultural symbols”. Heather’s embroidered patches are created from sketchbook images in response to everyday experiences. They are personal and confessional images, transferred to material and then industrially manufactured, thus reversing the traditional link of women and craft.

Heather said: “The work exposes the rigidity of the prescribed belief system where we are expected to fit into the shape moulded by society, rather than creating an individual cast. Roles and meaning are rendered flexible, altering cultural perceptions which previously may have prevented engagement with new avenues of thinking.”

Patch by Heather Wilson

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900s and its theme for 2013 is The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum, complementing the UN’s International Women’s Day theme of A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women. Each year on March 8th, and throughout the month, thousands of events occur all over the world to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women whilst supporting and recognising the need for further sustainable change.

Heather Wilson’s show is part of Shetland Arts’ wider celebrations for International Women’s Day which includes a special screening of Jane Campion’s The Piano at Mareel on Friday 8 March at 6.30pm. Book tickets for this screening via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Where She Resides accompanies the work of Sheila McDonald, jeweller, whose work is on display in the Lower Gallery Craft Cabinet. In the Upper Gallery, Shetland Arts is delighted to present Reflections on Shetland, a solo show by renowned silversmith Rod Kelly. Many of Rod’s prestigious commissions have been inspired by Shetland.

All three shows open on Friday 8 March at from 6-8pm. Everyone welcome. The exhibitions will run until April 21st.

After accepting the role of Chairperson, Mr Skene, said: “The past year has been a very challenging period for the Board. As well as continuing to enhance the high level of arts development achieved over the past seven years, we have in partnership with others overseen Mareel’s progress from a construction site through to practical completion. Despite opening Mareel with minimal available funds, we have also delivered an extensive programme of films, events and educational activity. Mareel is already a major community asset, with an estimated 75,000 visits so far, including people of all age groups and from every part of Shetland”.

Shetland Arts has learned much in recent months about what works well and where improvements can be made. We will welcome Holly Burford to our team next Monday (25 February) as our new Head of Operations, joining us from London’s South Bank Centre. Holly’s first priority will be to drive through a series of changes and improvements informed by the comprehensive customer feedback received so far. A key focus will be Mareel’s Cafe Bar.
Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, added: “We are fortunate that the Shetland community has developed a real sense of ownership of Mareel and a strong desire to see the venue succeed. When things aren’t right, our customers are not afraid to let us know.

All of us at Mareel welcome thesecomments because they help us to be the best we can. I welcome the opportunity over the coming months to shift my focus from issues associated with the construction of Mareel to ensuring that Mareel meets the expectations of our customers, earns money and continues to grow audiences well beyond all projections.”

Mr Skene concluded by saying: “The Board is committed to minimising its dependence on Shetland’s public funds and maximising its earned income. We are proud that, despite a significant reduction in local grant funding over the past 5 years, we have been able to double turnover. Mareel is the cornerstone of our social enterprise activity.”

Together, Jenna and Bethany Reid have played for many years, most notably with Shetland fiddle quartet Filska and in Jenna’s solo oufit The Jenna Reid Band. Their most recent collaboration saw the release of their self penned album ‘Escape’ in 2010, which commemorated the story of Norwegian Soldier Jan Baalsrud and his survival during the World War two operations know as the Shetland Bus. This year the sisters are set to record with Rant, an unaccompanied fiddle quartet in which they join forces with highland fiddlers Sarah Jane Summers and Lauren MacColl.

Jenna is one of Shetland’s leading exponents of the local fiddle tradition, and has played professionally since graduating with a BA in Traditional Scottish Music from The Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow. She has toured with many bands and is a member of Blazin Fiddles.

Bethany has also played from a young age, being the youngest ever to win Shetland’s coveted Shetland Young Fiddler of the Year award. Graduating in 2008 with a BA in Applied Music, Bethany currently teaches music at St Ninians High School in Glasgow.

Jenna and Bethany said: “We are delighted to be involved as curators at this year’s Fiddle Frenzy.  For many years we have been warmly invited to return as fiddle tutors, taking part in classes and performances – a rare treat in our musical calendar. Our Shetland Bus CD launch is a great memory for us, with the Shetland Arts’ Fiddle Frenzy team going to every length to make a very special event. We hope you enjoy what we bring to the festival this year, it’s an honour to make the 10th Fiddle frenzy another special week for all involved.”

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts said: “Shetland Arts is delighted to welcome Jenna and Bethany Reid back to Shetland to work with our team to create a very special programme for Fiddle Frenzy on its tenth anniversary. We are also happy to be hosting Fiddle Frenzy in Mareel for the first time ever, and look forward to the venue becoming the home of the festival in future years.”

Fiddle Frenzy has grown to attract around 100 students each year from within Shetland, across the UK, Europe and as far afield as Australia, Canada and America. As always, this 10th anniversary week of celebrations will focus on workshops in traditional fiddle tunes and techniques, taught by a range of local tutors. Options to explore Shetland and experience local culture will also be speckled across the week. This year, Fiddle Frenzy will find a new home in Mareel, providing for the first time a festival hub for workshops, evening concerts and the Festival Club. Some workshops will also take place in Shetland Museum & Archives.

Evening concerts showcasing local and visiting traditional talents will take place in Mareel on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings, with some out of town events including a homecoming night for Jenna & Bethany at the Quarff Hall on Friday. With some detail of the programme still be to confirmed, Shetland Arts is delighted to announce at this stage that Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham will return to celebrate the 10th year, headlining the Monday evening concert, and Lau, winners of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Best Group 2013 Awards, will headline the Wednesday evening show.

For the first time, student packages will be available to buy on Shetland Box Office including a full week package, allowing flexible options for classes/trips and concerts, a workshop only package, as well as tickets for individual events. For more information on packages and booking, visit www.shetlandarts.org/fiddlefrenzy or email fiddle.frenzy@shetlandarts.org. All packages and concerts tickets will go on sale on Friday 1st March at 2pm, online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org, in person at Mareel or Islesburgh or phone 01595 745555. Early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Visit the Fiddle Frenzy page of the website to keep up to date with all announcements and updates.

Roxane wants to help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and dementia because she is experiencing firsthand how Alzheimer’s affects not only those afflicted by dementia but also everyone around them.

She was inspired to make numbers games for her contribution to the Veer North exhibition at Bonhoga because she plays Dominoes and Bingo with her mother, who suffers from dementia.

Number games are an art form in their own right, involving not only luck, but also skill and creativity. Furthermore, they can be played by people of all ages, including those who suffer from dementia.  They are good for people with dementia because they exercise their mind while also engaging with others in a social situation.  Everyone can have fun.

Alzheimer’s and dementia are equally devastating for families, friends and even whole communities.  Alzheimer’s will affect all our society even more greatly in future because our population is aging rapidly. We can find ways to live with Alzheimer’s gracefully, through a combination of continued research into effective treatments, increased knowledge and awareness, and active support for families and carers.

You can help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s by attending the Bingo event.  Everyone is welcome – no previous experience is necessary. You can have an enjoyable while supporting the leading UK care and research charity for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, their families and carers.

For further information & tickets for the event, please contact:

Roxane Permar on 01595 859 202
roxane.permar@btinternet.com

Take One Action, Scotland’s global change cinema project, will preview two critically acclaimed films in Mareel in Shetland on the 26 and 27 February. The Edinburgh-based festival, which celebrates the people and movies that are changing the world, aims to inspire more debate and community participation around the big global issues of our time.

Cape Spin, hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as “one of the most notable films of the year” is particularly pertinent for Shetland. The film follows both sides of the debate raging over a large-scale wind farm development off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in the USA. With a great deal of good humour and a commitment to impartial storytelling, it foregrounds powerful questions about what works, and what is acceptable, when people campaign for things they are passionate about.

Equally timely, Call Me Kuchu – which recently won best documentary at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival – zones in on ground zero in Africa’s division over homosexuality: Uganda. Coinciding with LGBT History Month and the ongoing debate in the UK over gay marriage, it tells the heartbreaking story of gay rights activist David Kato and his courageous efforts to protect the human rights of his fellow “kuchu”.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer for Shetland Arts said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with Take One Action to bring these two excellent films to Mareel in February. Call Me Kuchu is a very important documentary and our discussion with the Reverend Neil Bryce and Brighton-based Ugandan gay rights activist, John Bosco, after the screening is a must-attend for those passionate about human rights. And Cape Spin covers a topic that many Shetlanders feel passionate about – wind farms! – so we’re expecting a big turnout for that one too.”

Take One Action director Simon Bateson said: “These wonderful films foreground issues which people in Scotland need to talk about more than ever before. Cinema is a great way to help people look again at things they may feel they’ve made up our minds about, so we’re thrilled to be back in Shetland with two of the best feature documentaries of the last year.”

Tickets for these films will go on sale on Tuesday 19 February via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org

Many aspects of life in Shetland attract artists, writers and musicians to these shores. The space, quality of light and life, tranquillity and community support are all favourable to those who create for a living, and these elements can often be found reflected in the resulting work.

Shetland Arts is extremely proud to be hosting a major exhibition at Bonhoga next month of work by Rod Kelly MA (R.C.A.), one of the UK’s leading silversmiths. The work on show will range from unique commissions for private collectors to work for the Royal Mint and other major establishments, highlighting the career of such a prestigious figure in the silversmithing world. This is a rare opportunity to showcase such a body of work that has been inspired by Shetland and will be shown alongside preliminary sketches and detailed explanations of his work.

The exhibition coincides with the completion of Rod Kelly’s new workshop and home in Muckle Roe that will become a base for himself and his wife; acclaimed jeweller enameller, Sheila McDonald MA (R.C.A.). Sheila will also be exhibiting at Bonhoga with complementary work in the gallery and also in the Lower Gallery Craft Cabinet.

Fish beaker by Rod Kelly

Based in Norfolk for 25 years, Rod has been visiting Shetland over the past nine years managing the construction of his own studio, workshop and house in the north Mainland. The buildings are now complete and being furnished with specialist facilities made in Shetland to his own specification using local craftsmen.

The studio is to be established as an Educational Trust and will provide a base for selected makers to come to Shetland and study under Rod and Sheila’s tutelage. As early as this March a group of young graduate silversmiths and jewellers from the Bishopsland Trust based in England will visit the workshop for a week long project. Work by these makers will be showcased in the Lower Gallery at Bonhoga in September.

Rod said: “Sheila and I have really loved renovating our small croft house over the last nine years. We find the landscape and the environment very inspiring and this had led us to build a workshop next to our house. The exhibition is a celebration of our time in Shetland and the opening of the workshop. Many of the pieces on show have been inspired by our time in Shetland. We plan to have visiting groups of young makers to work with us so that we can pass on some of the skills that we have developed over the last twenty five years. Later in the year we also hope to have other visitors who will complete week long workshops while staying locally and experiencing the beauty that Shetland has to offer. Meanwhile I cannot wait to start my first ever commission that will be started and finished in Shetland.”

Jen said: “We’ll discuss where a poem comes from, what it can be, and where it can take you, as you embark on experiments exploring, image, idea, sound and performance. This course offers you the opportunity to discover and/or strenghten your poetic voice in a supportive environment, with an experienced tutor.”

Writers of all levels of confidence are welcome to attend.

Jen Hadfield has published two collections of poetry with Bloodaxe Books. Her second, Nigh-No-Place, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in 2007 and won the T.S.Eliot Prize for poetry in 2008. Her third, Byssus, is due to be published in early 2014. In addition to her poetry, she works as a writing tutor, a classroom assistant and a visual artist. Audio clips of her work are available at www.poetryarchive.org She blogs intermittently at rogueseeds.blogspot.com

The cost for both days is £25 and places are limited. Those interested in attending are encouraged to book a place asap via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Friday 1 March, 6pm, Mareel Shetland & Inspace Edinburgh

On Friday 1 March at 6pm, Screen 2 in Mareel will play host to the Shetland end of a poetry reading which will take place simultaneously in both Lerwick and Edinburgh. The reading will feature two of the country’s most acclaimed poets, Kathleen Jamie and Jen Hadfield. The event is run by The Scottish Poetry Library, Shetland Arts and Inspace.

Jen Hadfield will read in Shetland and be broadcast to Edinburgh, while Kathleen Jamie will read in Edinburgh and be broadcast to Shetland. We’ll also discuss whether technology and nature can support one another, how contemporary poetry responds to modern landscapes (rolling hills dotted with wind farms, for instance) and link up with live feeds from Scotland’s wilderness.

Jen Hadfield & Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie is a poet, essayist and travel writer, one of a remarkable clutch of Scottish writers picked out in 1994 as the ‘new generation poets’ – it was a marketing ploy at the time but turns out to have been a very prescient selection. She became Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Stirling in 2011. Her most recent collection of poetry, Overhaul, was shortlisted for this year’s TS Eliot prize, and she received an Eric Gregory award, at the age of nineteen. Her other eight collections of poetry include The Queen of Sheba, Mr & Mrs Scotland are Dead, Jizzen, and The Tree House which between them have garnered three TS Eliot Award nominations, two Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prizes, and two Forward Poetry Prizes.

Jen Hadfield has also received an Eric Gregory award for the completed manuscript of her first collection, Almanacs, and a Dewar award. Her second collection, Nigh No Place, (Bloodaxe) was nominated for the Forward Prize and won the 2008 TS Eliot poetry prize – she is still the youngest poet to have won this award.  A resident of Shetland, Jen is increasingly recognized as a nature poet is greatly inspired by the landscape, ecology and culture of her adopted home. Since 2008, Jen has been much in demand, both on the Poetry reading circuit, as creative writing tutor and not least as a reader of Residence in 2011, with Shetland Library, which was part of the Creative Futures Readers in Residence programme, funded by Creative Scotland and developed and administered by Shetland Arts.

Shetland Arts’ Literature Development Officer, Donald Anderson said: “This is an exciting event, not least because it features two poets of the highest quality with immense reputations. It is also exciting because we are able to run a literature event simultaneously in two places at once, thanks to the technology we now have available to us in Mareel. The implications of this are massive in terms of running literature events jointly with other venues and with literature organizations such as the Scottish Poetry Library, the Book Festival Scotland network and so on.”

He added that as the event was being staged in Screen 2 which has a relatively small capacity, anybody interested in coming along should get their ticket at the soonest opportunity. Tickets to attend the Mareel event are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

If you are a budding set or costume designer, a novice lighting or sound technician, a keen performer or musician, or if you want to learn more about stage and event management, come along.

Here is a quick outline of some ways you might get involved in the final production -

Actors – If you are interesting in performing, this is for you.  You will be involved both in creating scenes, developing stories and acting in them.  There will be lots of different ways to be involved, from bigger roles to being part of ‘group’ scenes.

Singers – You will sing specially-composed songs as part of a choir.  You do not have to be available for every performance to be involved.  We will create a ‘pool’ of singers, and look to have at least 20 for each performance.  We are also looking for people who are interested in singing solos.

Musicians – You will create music that will be used as the soundscape for the performance.  Music will be both pre-recorded and live.

Dancers – there will be an opportunity to create and perform in a new movement piece.

Ballroom Dancers – You will work with our parkour team to create  a movement piece as part of the production.

Behind the Scenes – there is the opportunity to shadow one of our professional technical team and be involved behind the scenes.

Find out more about how to take part here.

For further details contact – karen.allan@nationaltheatrescotland.com Tel – 0791 254 0137

Already well known in Shetland, Dean has been hailed by many as Scotland’s leading singer-songwriter. His first two self produced solo albums The Droma Tapes and My Town were both very successful and attracted significant critical acclaim. The follow up to these, Whisky Hearts, became the subject of a major national advertising campaign by Navigator Records, and the sleeve notes for the album were penned by Irvine Welsh of Trainspotting fame – a big fan of Dean’s. Other famous fans of Dean include Russell Brand, Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie, Aled Jones, and many others.

As well as touring throughout the world in his own right, Dean has opened shows and been tour guest for artists such as Steve Earle, Eddi Reader, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffiths, and Joan as Policewoman, to name just a few.

Dean spent 2011 delivering New York Hummingbird –mostly written and recorded in New York City – which was released in April 2012. And his latest album, Cash Back (Songs I Learned From Johnny) was released in November 2012 to terrific national acclaim. Dean is now touring this album and inviting audiences to join him as he takes them through some of his favourite songs; songs he learned from The Man in Black.

Dean said: “I’m very excited about this album. It’s a record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time and this year seemed the right time, being what would have been the year of Johnny’s 80th birthday.”

Dean Owens

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer for Shetland Arts, said: “We’re very pleased to welcome Dean back to Shetland for these gigs. Both Dean and Johnny Cash have huge followings in Shetland, so we’re sure these concerts will be very popular indeed! And Arthur Nicholson is an incredible local talent who is sure to add a completely unique-to-Shetland element to these gigs. These concerts also demonstrate the fantastic potential of Mareel for attracting big artists, who can then also perform in the more rural areas of Shetland too, making great live music more accessible to all in Shetland.”

Local support will also be announced soon. Doors for both concerts are at 8pm. Tickets for these concerts go on sale on Friday 8 February at 2pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Quotes from reviews of Cash Back (Songs I Learned From Johnny)

“A quiet little gem of an album” – The Sunday Times

“Reminiscent of Elvis Costello’s Almost Blue. Johnny would have been proud” – No Depression

“Fantastic stuff” – Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2

Chair of Shetland Arts’ Board, Jim Johnston, said: “We have been inundated with interest from individuals to help us take Shetland Arts forward into 2013 and beyond and have been thrilled with the response.  We were specifically looking for individuals to join the Board who could help Shetland Arts continue to deliver on its Business Plan.  In parallel to continuing to grow and strengthen Mareel’s success, the next stage of development for the organisation includes a continued focus on its operations right across the Islands, and continued growth of its income base, particularly funding from outside Shetland.  In looking for Trustees, we were particularly keen to draw on experience from inside and out with Shetland, to help bring additional connections and ideas and to strengthen the very considerable talent we already have in our current Trustees.  I am therefore delighted to welcome Steven Cheverton, Jill Franklin and Michael Palmer to the Board.”

Steven Cheverton has lived for over ten years in the west side of Shetland with his partner Angela and their four children. His background is in printing and publishing, with a particular focus on graphic reproduction, graphic design, and digital page make-up. The Shetland Arts’ Board was impressed by Steven’s passion for the arts and he will bring a wealth of business management and impressive track record in the training, development and leadership of staff.

Steven said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to be involved with arts provision in Shetland. Culture, both indigenous and imported, is vital for the health and well-being of any community. Shetland’s rich artistic heritage reflects the importance that has been placed upon this aspect of our communal lives. As a community, we are fortunate to possess so many people whose hard work ensures that traditions are preserved and that fresh perspectives are introduced into Shetland’s artistic weave; I look forward to enthusiastically supporting their endeavours.”

Jill Franklin has been an entrepreneur for nearly 10 years. She founded Franklin Rae in 2003 and has developed it into one of the UK’s leading PR agencies working in the entertainment industry. In 2009, Franklin Rae was awarded the PR industry’s ‘gold standard’ by industry body the PRCA, an accolade held by only 5% of UK agencies. In 2011, Franklin Rae became part of the James Grant Group, the media group which represents some of the UK’s leading TV presenters.  Jill’s experience includes work with STV, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC Documentaries, Ikon Gallery, Grange Park Opera, and many more.  She has a wealth of commercial experience, including strategy development and planning and managing growth. She also has wide-ranging contacts across advertising, television, and technology.

Jill has been a passionate advocate of Shetland ever since she first visited in 2005. She currently splits her time between Bixter, where she has lived since 2008, and London.

Michael Palmer lives and works as a community nurse in Whalsay. During the selection processes, Mike discussed the importance of art in bringing people together and allowing them to express themselves. He is an advocate of the arts and recognises the importance of art in the healing process, either in participation or simply as a spectator. He has an impressive track record as a trustee on other boards and looks forward to working with the Shetland Arts’ Board members to scrutinise Shetland Arts accounts, business plan, and to support the arts in Shetland generally.

Jim Johnston added: “I am delighted to see that we continue to attract a high calibre of Trustee to our Board.  The three new Trustees not only bring an enthusiasm for the arts, they each have individual skills, knowledge and contacts that we require to help take us to the next level. Improving community involvement, meeting the increasing demand for openness in our decision-making and continuing the excellent development work that our officers do will be improved by the appointment of these new Trustees. I look forward to working with them in the future.”

Ignition Parkour Director Chris Grant has been working with Northern Focus Parkour and they are ready to take you on a journey with a difference. Taking place around Lerwick, this performance will focus on travel and journeys without using roads. The cast will tell their stories through the movement discipline of parkour.

Get your tickets now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here: http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org/whats-on/ignition-1

Until now, audiences could only experience Cirque du Soleil from their seats at the live performances. With the help of the most advanced 3D technology, you will now soar with the aerialists, leap with the acrobats, plunge into the water, and see what the performers see from their points of view. You will be taken through the amazing visuals of the Cirque du Soleil on the big screen as the narrative unfolds – a love story of two aerialists who are separated and must find each other again in the world of Cirque du Soleil.

This special screening will take place on Sunday 17 Feb at 3pm and when tickets go on sale, you will be able to purchase them via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org or www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Younger singers are encouraged to join Singing Saturdays performance group, starting again in April.

Tim has been playing with Chick Corea for quite some time. He was invited to play in the band of the great jazz legend, a profound accolade for a British jazz musician, and he has collaborated over many years in most of Corea’s projects. This new band is being flagged up as one of the truly innovative bands of the decade.

Tim has won several BBC awards for his small ensemble projects and delights in fusing together differing musical disciplines. Particularly familiar with the worlds of contemporary orchestral and jazz music, Tim is also adept in creating music in the studio using electronic and pre-recorded material.  As well as Corea, he has formed lasting relationships with several internationally renowned musicians, often working onstage alongside them.

Tim Garland

Last year he worked with the UK National Youth Jazz Orchestra and they performed together at a BBC Prom in the Royal Albert Hall. Tim will be creating a similar event with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland Collective (the senior members of the orchestra) for a special Mareel performance on 16 February. This is a most innovative addition to the Shetland Jazz Festival, an internationally renowned artist working with young Scottish jazz musicians to create a new piece of music. It doesn’t get much better than that.

At the Mareel concert, Tim will also be featured with his own ground-breaking band Lighthouse, which features Tim on sax, as well as a variety of other reed instruments, Gwilym Simcock on piano and Asaf Sirkis on drums and percussion.

Celebrating their signing to the prestigious German label ACT, the hugely successful Lighthouse are back with their original personnel after two years working on other projects. The newly invigorated trio punch deep into exciting groove-based tunes inspired Celtic rhythms.

Grammy winner Garland and Barclaycard Mercury nominated pianist Gwilym Simcock are two of the most outstanding composers of our time in both jazz and classical genres and are regarded as among the very best in the world on their respective instruments. With Asaf Sirkis playing a custom-built percussion set of frame drums, bass Udu, Hang drum and more Lighthouse exude a very special energy and excitement in performance.

“Sure-footed virtuosity, a dazzling standard” was how their performance was summed up in The Times, and Jazzwise was even more hearty in their praise of the sax player: “Garland is quietly, but quickly becoming one of the most important British jazz musicians in years.”

Jeff Merrifield, director of Shetland Jazz Festival, is most enthusiastic about getting Garland to play in Shetland. He said:“I first engaged the young Tim Garland to play a gig at our Monkeys Jazz Club in Essex in the 1980s with his then new band Lamas. I have followed his career since then with great interest, the many collaborations with orchestras, his time with Bill Bruford and his celebrated work with Chick Corea, including a Grammy for his collaborative composition, New Crystal Silence with Corea and Gary Burton. This is a star jazz performer.”

Tim Garland can be seen at the Mareel on Saturday 16 February at 7.30pm with his own band Lighthouse and with the NYJOS Collective. There will also be some pieces performed by the young Shetland musicians of NYJOS created specially for the occasion. You can book tickets for this event via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here. To see a list of all Shetland Jazz Festival events, please click here.

The new programme of exhibitions for 2013 at Bonhoga begins this Saturday with the preview of Numbers, a group show by Veer North, from 11am – 1pm. Everyone is welcome.

Veer North is the most northerly group of visual artists in the UK. Set up in 2003, it is a professional association providing a supportive network in Shetland for visual artists of all disciplines, while encouraging debate and developing opportunities both within Shetland and beyond. They have established links with artists and organisations throughout Northern Europe, Faroe and Iceland and have exhibited widely.

Taking numbers as a focus for this exhibition, thirteen members of the group have created work in a wide range of media. Artists as varied in their styles as Ruth Brownlee, Howard Towll, Roxane Permar and Janette Kerr have generated a fascinating cohesion to the mixture of work through the theme.

Lois Walpole’s clutch bag is made from a large print Shetland Telephone directory, stitched with telephone wire and fastened with a number key from an old laptop. Peter Davis and June Redman have both used numbers to limit their palette in their paintings while in marked contrast, the installation by Roxane Permar and Susan Timmins uses the ‘four minute warning’ as the starting point for their exploration of the deserted operations block at former RAF Saxa Vord, part of NATO’s Early Warning Radar System during the Cold War.

With so many different styles and interpretations on display the exhibition is as much a brilliant display of work by Shetland’s artistic community as it is an intriguing meditation on a theme.

The café opens for business on Sunday 20^th January with its winter menu of soups, snacks, cakes and scones, alongside an exhibition of small watercolours by Linda Newington and craft from across the UK. All artwork, both in the lower and main gallery, is for sale and there is a huge range of work in all price ranges available. The gallery and shop will also re-open for business on Sunday with normal opening hours.

Angela Smith, Duty Manager at Bonhoga said: “It may seem like we are in the depths of winter darkness but Bonhoga is waking up to the new year with a colourful and diverse array of events, exhibitions and treats. We look forward to welcoming everyone.”

Tam Coyle has DJ’d at a myriad of high profile events including T in the Park and the official Hogmanay parties in Edinburgh, Glasgow’s George Square, and Stirling Castle. He has also provided a soundtrack for the Tartan Army manoeuveres across the globe, and has appeared at the prestigious SXSW music event in Austin, Texas. Having kept local crowds dancing into the small hours at the Tall Ships in Lerwick last year, Tam returns to DJ at the first ever Up Helly Aa Hop in Mareel. With the assistance of one of the noisiest and liveliest crowds he’s ever encountered, he aims to keep the party going with a set to be enjoyed by everyone from 18 to 81.

At Fiery Sessions, audiences are invited to start off their Up Helly Aa celebrations with an afternoon concert from some of Shetland’s best traditional musicians in Mareel. The 2013 bill for the concert includes one of the brightest new additions to Shetland’s folk scene, Vair, featuring Ryan Couper, Jonny Polson, and the Peterson brothers, Erik and Lewie, who are sure to get feet stomping. The bill also includes duo Kaela Jamieson & John Hutchison; consistently popular and a must-see act.

People can also come along to Mareel after the procession to warm up with Stand Up Helly Aa – a belly-busting bill of great comedians, featuring John Gavin, Paul Pirie, and compered by the always hilarious Sandy Nelson. Sandy, originally from Glasgow, has been on the circuit for 15 years. He is also an accomplished playwright and actor best known as Chris The Postie in BBC Scotland’s Still Game.

Scottish Comedian of the Year 2009, John Gavin, offers tales of his home life with a wife and 3 young daughters as a 6ft tattooed man who has been subjected to far too much High School Musical and pink fluffy toys. John has established quite a career since he first starting performing in July 2008 when, without his knowledge, his wife put him forward for a competition for newcomers at the Edinburgh Fringe. He had never performed comedy before. He did so well he got through to the final of ‘So You Think You’re Funny.’ Despite his relative newcomer status, he’s gone on to perform at The Stand, The Comedy Store and is part of the Gilded Balloon circuit tour.

Paul Pirie began his stand-up career in 2006, quickly establishing himself on the Scottish comedy circuit. With a driving force for achievement, Paul worked his way into the London clubs and was launched onto the UK comedy scene, emerging as one of the biggest Scottish acts on the UK comedy circuit. Paul’s career has encompassed TV, (appearing in Ikea’s April 2011 comedy based TV advert), Film, and Radio, alongside his skill as a stand-up. His hilarity and comedic ability has earned him huge popularity with comedy goers and bookers across the world, gigging as far abroad as Australia and for diverse audiences such as The Armed Forces. Paul’s work is superbly individual and put simply, delivers a refreshing burst of laugh out loud comedy that leaves audiences in raptures.

Shetland Arts Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “It’s very exciting to be holding our annual Up Helly Aa day events, Fiery Sessions and Stand Up Helly Aa, in Mareel for the first time, and tickets are already selling out fast! And our first ever Up Helly Aa Hop with DJ Tam Coyle is also looking like it’s going to be a brilliant night. Tam knows how to create a set guaranteed to get everyone dancing.”

The Up Helly Aa Hop with DJ Tam Coyle is an 18+ event and tickets cost £20. Tickets available be via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Fiery Sessions runs from 2pm-5pm, tickets cost £9 / £7, and all are welcome. Stand Up Helly Aa starts at 9pm and tickets cost £10. The show may include some adult content. Tickets for both events can be booked now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org

Tam Coyle kept local crowds dancing into the small hours at the Tall Ships in Lerwick last year, and returns to DJ at the first ever Up Helly Aa Hop in Mareel on Wednesday 30 January. With the assistance of one of the noisiest and liveliest crowds he’s ever encountered, he aims to keep the party going with a set to be enjoyed by everyone from 18 to 81. This is an 18+ event and tickets cost £20.

Tam Coyle performs at Hogmanay

Former Runrig frontman Donnie Munro has enjoyed considerable success as a solo artist and writer, recently embarking on a series of acoustic shows where he has taken the opportunity to revisit a wide range of material spanning his career with Runrig and with his own band. Shetland Arts is delighted to welcome such a talented musician to Mareel for a no-doubt memorable performance on Friday 29 March. Tickets cost £18 and all are welcome to attend.

Donnie Munro

One of the biggest bands of the 2-Tone movement, The Beat play with the sole aim of connecting with and entertaining their appreciative audience with their relentless energy and world class musicianship. Ska is very popular in Shetland and The Beat are sure to entertain a very large and very happy audience in Mareel on Saturday 6 April. Tickets cost £18 and all are welcome to attend.

The Beat

Familiar to thousands of music fans as the front man of the Scottish rock band Idlewild, Roddy Woomble is also a celebrated solo songwriter and performer, and played a sold out gig with Idlewild at the North Star in Shetland in 2002. Roddy is returning to Shetland on Monday 13 May for a performance featuring songs from his new album, both his previous solo albums, and several Idlewild numbers. Tickets cost £16 and all are welcome to attend.

Roddy Woomble. Photo by Thomas Curtis

Newly formed in 2012, Vamm is made up of Shetland born Catriona MacDonald (of Blazin’ Fiddles), Perthshire’s Patsy Reid (founding member of Breabach) and Norwegian Marit Falt. The group seamlessly creates a dynamic yet intimate sound that will take your breath away. This must-see concert in Mareel is on Sunday 26th May. Tickets cost £16.

Vamm

Shooglenifty is one of Scotland’s most unique musical exports, playing an infectious blend of Celtic traditional music and dance grooves that band members describe as “hypno-folkadelic ambient trad.” They are sure to provide a night in Mareel to remember on Saturday 1 June – so get your dancing shoes on and come along! Tickets cost £16 and the gig is open to all.

Shooglenifty

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce such a fantastic line-up of gigs in Mareel in the first half of 2013. We’re still busy filling up our calendar for the year and will be announcing even more great events in the new year, but being able to confirm these acts now is an excellent Christmas present for everyone! We’d also like to say thank you to Davie Gardner for his hard work in securing these world-class acts for performances which are sure-to-be unforgettable.”

Tickets for all these events will go on sale on Friday 21 December via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org or www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

The novel, which will be published in the UK by Pan MacMillan on the 31st of January, features the return of Inspector Jimmy Perez, who teams up with Willow Reeves to investigate the death of journalist Jerry Markham who was chasing a story in the heart of the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Ann Cleeves is well known in Shetland and has many friends here. She is best known for her Inspector Ramsay novels, set in Northumberland, her Shetland Quartet, and her Vera Stanhope series, which has recently been televised on ITV and stars Brenda Blethyn.

Ann Cleeves

BBC One produced a two part drama, starring Doug Henshall and featuring Shetland’s very own Steven Robertson, based on Red Bones the third novel from Ann’s Shetland Quartet.

Her novel, Raven Black, the first book of the Shetland Quartet, won the inaugural Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the richest crime-writing prize in the world, awarded annually by the Crime Writers Association.

As well as readings from the novel, by a Shetland actor, the event will feature a discussion between Ann and leading Forensic Pathologist, Dr James Grieve. Dr Grieve is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Medicine at the Department of Pathology at the University of Aberdeen and a Police Forensic Pathologist for the North East and Grampian area.

He has carried out numerous post-mortem investigations including sudden unexpected natural events, suicides, homicides and accidents, as well as deaths possibly resulting from medical mishap. He regularly gives evidence in the criminal courts and at Fatal Accident Inquiries.

Shetland Arts Literature Development Officer, Donald Anderson said: “This promises to be fascinating and a thoroughly enjoyable event for all readers of crime fiction and for anybody who is interested in the nitty gritty of forensic pathology. Ann Cleeves and Dr James Grieve are highly entertaining speakers. It is also a great privilege for us to have the opportunity to host the launch of this novel on the day of its publication.”

Tickets for the launch are free but booking is strongly recommended as the event is expected to be popular. Tickets will be available on Friday 21 December via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org or www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Dead Water will be published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 31st January 2013: it is already available for advance order from Amazon (ISBN: 978-0=2307-6017-2).

Dead Water

When the body of journalist Jerry Markham is found in a traditional Shetland boat, outside the house of the Fiscal down at the Marina, young Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted in from the Hebrides to head up the investigation.

Since the death of his fiancée, Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out the loop, but his interest in this new case is stirred and he decides to help the inquiry and, for Willow, his local knowledge is invaluable as the close-knit community holds many secrets.

Markham – originally a Shetlander but who had made a name for himself in London – had left the islands years before to pursue his burgeoning writing career. In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl, Evie Watt, who is now engaged to a crofter. He had few friends there, so why was he back in Shetland?

Willow and Jimmy are soon led to Sullom Voe, the heart of Shetland’s North Sea oil and gas industry. In a community where traditional values are held very dear by some, the advent of new energies, even renewables, is not always welcome. It emerges that Markham was chasing a story in his final days. One that must have been – for someone – significant enough to warrant his death…

At Fiery Sessions on January 29th, audiences are invited to start off their Up Helly Aa celebrations with an afternoon concert from some of Shetland’s best traditional musicians in Mareel. The 2013 bill for the concert includes one of the brightest new additions to Shetland’s folk scene, Vair, featuring Ryan Couper, Jonny Polson, and the Peterson brothers, Erik and Lewie, who are sure to get feet stomping. The bill also includes duo Kaela Jamieson & John Hutchison; consistently popular and a must-see act. As well as this, more great local acts will be confirmed in the new year.

People can also come along to Mareel after the procession to warm up with Stand Up Helly Aa – a belly-busting bill of great comedians, featuring John Gavin, Paul Pirie, and compered by the always hilarious Sandy Nelson. Unst resident, Sandy, originally from Glasgow, has been on the circuit for 15 years. He is also an accomplished playwright and actor best known as Chris The Postie in BBC Scotland’s Still Game. He is looking forward to hosting the fifth Stand Up Helly Aa at Mareel.

Sandy Nelson

Scottish Comedian of the Year 2009, John Gavin, offers tales of his home life with a wife and 3 young daughters as a 6ft tattooed man who has been subjected to far too much High School Musical and pink fluffy toys. John has established quite a career since he first starting performing in July 2008 when, without his knowledge, his wife put him forward for a competition for newcomers at the Edinburgh Fringe. He had never performed comedy before. He did so well he got through to the final of ‘So You Think You’re Funny.’ Despite his relative newcomer status, he’s gone on to perform at The Stand, The Comedy Store and is part of the Gilded Balloon circuit tour.

John Gavin

Paul Pirie began his stand-up career in 2006, quickly establishing himself on the Scottish comedy circuit. With a driving force for achievement, Paul worked his way into the London clubs and was launched onto the UK comedy scene, emerging as one of the biggest Scottish acts on the UK comedy circuit. Paul’s career has encompassed TV, (appearing in Ikea’s April 2011 comedy based TV advert), Film, and Radio, alongside his skill as a stand-up. His hilarity and comedic ability has earned him huge popularity with comedy goers and bookers across the world, gigging as far abroad as Australia and for diverse audiences such as The Armed Forces. Paul’s work is superbly individual and put simply, delivers a refreshing burst of laugh out loud comedy that leaves audiences in raptures.

Paul Pirie

Fiery Sessions runs from 2pm-5pm, tickets cost £9 / £7, and all are welcome. Stand Up Helly Aa starts at 9pm and tickets cost £10. The show may include some adult content. Tickets for both events can be booked now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org

Max, Hayden, and Norman are all music students currently studying at Mareel and perform regularly around the Isles. At the Jazz Session, Max will be playing piano, Hayden will be on double bass, and Norman will provide smooth melodies on the saxophone.

Shetland Arts’ Music Development Officer, Bryan Peterson, said: “This is an excellent opportunity to take a break from all the Christmas madness and sit back and relax to some smooth jazz from some fantastic young musicians.”

He continued: “Max, Hayden, and Norman are great examples of the high standard of students currently studying at Mareel, and they are sure to entertain jazz-fans and newcomers alike.”

The Sunday Jazz Session will take place in Mareel’s Café Bar on Sunday 23 December between 2pm and 5pm. All are welcome to attend.

For Cerys’ second appearance in Mareel this year – she also launched Mareel’s Official Opening Season with The Wonderful World of Cerys Matthews at the beginning of October – she’s feeling very festive indeed. Expect classic Christmas songs, candles, and plenty of opportunities to sing along.

Cerys is encouraging concert-goers to download and print lyrics for songs she’ll be performing in advance of the show, or if that’s not your cup of tea, to just pick up a copy on the night and join in if you can! She hopes to have everyone singing along to classics such as Ding Dong Merrily on High, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Baby, It’s Cold Outside (the title track for her new Christmas album on which she duets with Sir Tom Jones).

Cerys by Candlelight

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming Cerys back to Mareel for this special Christmas concert. It’s fantastic that she’s chosen Shetland as the last stop on her winter tour, and having her back at the end of Opening Season brings everything full circle. We hope the audiences will get in the spirit and show her how loud Shetlanders can sing!”

Cerys by Candlelight has been receiving rave reviews all throughout the UK and a number of the performances have been sell-outs.

Cerys Matthews is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and broadcaster. She hosts a Sunday morning music show on BBC 6 Music and makes documentaries for television as well as BBC Radio 2 and 4.

Tickets cost £23.50 and are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here: http://www.mareel.org/listen/events/cerys-by-candlelight/

Life of Pi

Mareel Cinema is programmed weekly from Friday to Thursday. This allows us to be flexible and continue films which are proving popular with our audiences once we have assessed how they have been received over the weekend. On Monday mornings we negotiate with film distributors about which films to continue showing from the previous week, according to audience demand and box office figures. This means that our films for any given Friday to Thursday week usually go on sale on Tuesdays, though some films do go on sale before this.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer Lisa Ward said: “When we first book films from distributors all we are usually able to confirm at that time is the date that the film will first show in Mareel, but not the exact times it will appear in the cinema. This is how the cinema industry across the UK operates as standard. For big blockbusters we are usually able to confirm the exact times around two weeks before they are due to show in Mareel, but for most films we are only able to confirm the times closer to the date. However, we were very aware that it would be beneficial for both our customers and for us if we could manage to confirm the film times for the festive period a little further in advance than usual. With that in mind, our staff and our programmers, City Screen – owners of the Picturehouse chain of cinemas, have worked very hard this week to negotiate with distributors to confirm the times further in advance than usual so that our customers can plan ahead, and maybe we can get a bit of a time off over the festive too!”

Film tickets are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Films @ Mareel in December

Mareel has generated strong opinion from the community since its inception nearly 20 years ago. During the construction phase of the building, Shetland Arts invited the public to record their feelings towards the building, positive, negative, neutral, or otherwise, in the form of a ‘hansel’ or ‘gift.’ The only requirements were that it should contain nothing illegal or organic, and must fit into a 3 inch screw-top jar. These jars were then buried within the walls of the building where they will remain forever. Three hansels were chosen to be displayed as a visual marker of the project. These are in the south wall of the Café Bar.

The Hansel for Mareel project will be officially launched on Sunday, 23^rd December at 4pm in the Café Bar. All are welcome to attend alongside those who contributed to the project to hear a short presentation and to be some of the first to see a brand new leaflet containing photos of the hansels with a map of Mareel showing where they are in the building. Christmas themed refreshments will also be available to all attending.

 Vaila Henderson’s Hansel buried within Mareel.

Shetland Arts’ Director, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “Mareel has been a project that has stimulated unprecedented debate amongst the Shetland community. Mareel is now a venue which has, in just a few months, been used by tens of thousands of people from all corners of Shetland. The decision to build Mareel in 2008 came just at the point in which fears were growing about the levels of funds Shetland Islands Council had to invest in large scale projects. The Council’s investment in Mareel stands at just under half the costs for the build; that investment continues to be one which attracts lively debate.

“Hansel for Mareel captures a small part of the story that led to the Mareel construction, caught in individual responses to Mareel and gathered from the Shetland community throughout the construction. The hansels were buried into the very fabric of the building locking away personal opinions in the form of gifts into Mareel forever.

He continued: “I feel it is important to acknowledge the broad range of responses Mareel has stimulated. It feels right for the building to be the home to the rigorous debate that has taken place, and for Mareel’s walls, ceilings and floors to hold that story in the form of what Mareel represents to individuals in the Shetland community.”

All are welcome to attend the launch in the Mareel Café Bar at 4pm on Sunday 23^rd December.

On a deathly dark night in November this year Shetland Arts ran a spooky story-telling and creative workshop, led by teacher Ria Moncrieff and visiting artist and writer Sally Kindberg. The twelve children who took part, ranging in age from seven to fourteen years old, were told the original history of the mill and documented accounts of the fates that befell some of the workers there. After discussion and spooky snacks (jelly ‘brains’ and chocolate fingers) the budding artists and writers began the retelling of the story using their own vivid imaginations to bring the story alive.

Ghost, by Seamus Malcolmson

Ria then took each piece of writing and tied it all together with additional facts from the historical accounts she researched in the Shetland Museum and Archives. Shetland Arts then combined these words and the pictures from the night and have turned it into a spectacular little storybook, for anyone with an interest in the dark side…

Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said, ‘it’s a brilliant book and a perfect last minute gift for Christmas. I am so proud of the talent and effort that each of the twelve children put into the retelling of the story and their illustrations are quite phenomenal.’

The book will be available at Bonhoga Gallery from next Tuesday, while each of the bairns involved will receive a complimentary copy in the post. Angela Smith, Duty Manager at Bonhoga, announced that the flurry of literary excitement will coincide with a pre-Christmas sale in the shop, a perfect chance to pick up last minute gifts and decorations before the gallery, shop and café close for the festive break on Sunday 23^rd December.

Sheila Henderson (local singer/songwriter) was involved in getting these monthly Singers and Songwriter nights established and said “we took a break over the summer period, and it has taken a little while to get back underway, but we hope we’ll now have Singers and Songwriters nights on a monthly basis. Islesburgh provided with us with an excellent space to get started, but Mareel seems the logical place to be. The Café/Bar provides an intimate setting for new and more established singers & songwriters to perform and it will be an excellent way to round off the weekend.”

Sheila Henderson

Lisa Johnson and Natalie Moffat have seen the benefit these Singers and Songwriters nights can bring. Both, very nervously, attended some of the events last winter and used the Open Mic sessions as a means of building their confidence in performing in front of an audience. They also established contacts through the Singers and Songwriters night with other musicians, including Jordan Ogg, who accompanied them when they took part in Shetland’s Got Talent last May. They narrowly missed out on the winner’s spot, but are growing in confidence with each performance and finding themselves in demand. Lisa and Natalie’s vocal styles are quite different, but their voices blend together beautifully, covering a range of different musical styles.

At the other end of the spectrum comes, Brian Nicholson. Brian could be described as an essential cog in the Shetland Music scene, having played his part in a wide range of local bands over the years, including No Sweat, Hom Bru and the Sheila Henderson Band and also receiving plaudits over recent years for his part in the highly successful duo that is, Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson. Brian is best known for his guitar playing, and it would perhaps be easier to list who Brian hasn’t played with, but he has recently stepped out of the comfort of being part of the band and released his first solo album Fae Da Crossroads.

The new 16-track album contains a diverse range of songs and tunes. There is everything from the dialect songs of Bobby Tulloch to a cover version of Richard Thompson’s Tear Stained Letter interspersed with Brian’s own compositions. Brian will be playing a selection of the album tracks on the evening and will no doubt have a copy or two of his new album to hand if people are looking for a stocking filler.

Brian Nicholson

Sheila added: “It would be great to see as many people as possible at this first night in Mareel. The Open Mic section of the night is there for songwriters to try out new material or for singers just to share their vocal talents and we have a couple of great acts lined up to play. You don’t have to be a singer or a songwriter to come along either! An appreciative audience is also an essential element in making the Singers and Songwriters night a success.”

The singer-songwriter and open mic night is open to all and begins at 7pm in the Mareel Café Bar this Sunday (16^th December).

In November Shetland Arts announced that, as a special festive treat, it would be showing its first ever “alternative content” (a filmed live event e.g. opera, theatre, ballet, and/or a concert) in Mareel on Sunday 30^th December at 3pm with a screening of The Nutcracker performed by the Bolshoi Ballet. This event went on sale on Friday 30^th November and sold out very quickly.

Shetland Arts’ Head of Development, Kathy Hubbard, said: “Originally we were told by distributors that we could only book one screening of The Nutcracker, but after receiving a huge amount of requests from customers who hadn’t managed to get a ticket for the show and who desperately wanted to see it, we asked our programmers to approach the distributors again to see if we could negotiate another screening.”

She continued: “Normally alternative content is only shown once in any given cinema. Although it took a little bit of work to negotiate a deal to book another show, we knew the demand was there and the programmers managed to secure another screening in the end.”

The cast includes an incredible line-up of dancers including Nina Kaptsova, Artem Ovcharenko, Denis Savin, and Pavel Dmitrichenko. The choreography is by the legendary Yuri Grigorovich who, after being accepted into the Leningrad Ballet School in 1946, went on to become a soloist at St Petersburg’s Kirov Ballet, where he stayed until 1962. He joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 1964, and was artistic director until 1995. His most famous works are The Nutcracker, Spartacus, and Ivan the Terrible.

The score for The Nutcracker is by Tchaikovsky, and it first opened in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It was Tchaikovsky’s last ballet. Composed in the space of a year, its score today is one of the most popular of all ballet scores. For The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky again joined forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty.

This version, choreographed for the Bolshoi by Grigorovich, is full of romanticism and philosophical reflections on ideal love. It is one of the great classics of the 20^th century and, alongside Spartacus and Ivan the Terrible, is one of Grigorovich’s most famous works.

It is Christmas Eve in the home of Mr and Mrs Stahlbaum and their children, Marie and Fritz. Family and friends have gathered for the night’s festivities. Presents are distributed to the children. Marie’s godfather, Drosselmeyer, gives her a strange toy: a wooden nutcracker, carved in the shape of a little man. At midnight, after the celebrations are over, all the toys magically come to life. The nutcracker grows to life-size and takes command of the tin solders, flying to the rescue of Marie, who is threatened by the Mouse King and his mouse army.

Tickets for this event cost £15 / £11 and go on sale this Friday, 14^th December, at 2.00pm via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult (18+) and you must bring ID to get in (Young Scot Card, Passport, & Driver’s Licence accepted). In the Front of House and Reception area there’ll be a soft drinks bar for non-drinkers. No under 18s may purchase drinks from the main bar area, but all are invited to purchase from the soft drinks bar.

So get your tickets now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here, and come along on Saturday to get your ID updated so you can come along to the gig, and to more events in Mareel in future!

The girls decided to come together as a band, being close friends and having played together informally for a number of years. Mary and Astryd were also founder members of the young Shetland band, Swingin’ Fiddles.

As Kollifirbolli, they have played widely throughout the isles, in events such as the Shetland Folk Festival, the Shetland Accordion and Fiddle Festival and Flavour of Shetland. They also played live on Tom Morton’s show on BBC Radio Scotland in 2008. More recently the girls were invited to play on the Danny Kyle Open Stage, at Celtic Connections 2011 and Astryd and Kaela also appeared at Cavan’s Fleadh Ceol in 2011.

Individually, each of the girls is an accomplished musician in her own right. Mary was Shetland’s Young Fiddler of the Year 2005 and Young Traditional Fiddler of the Year 2005. She often plays as a solo artist and also enjoys composing. In addition, she is a keen classical violinist, having achieved Grade 8 with the Associated board in 2006 and has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland (NYOS) for several years. Kaela also plays regularly as a solo artist and was Shetland’s Traditional Young Fiddler of the Year in 2007. She has taught classes in Fiddle Frenzy for a few years, and is admired for her swingy, individualistic style, and her interpretations of the old Shetland tunes. Astryd plays in local singer/songwriter Malachy Tallack’s band, as well as playing in the traditional style as taught to her by Violet Tulloch. She is also a keen classical pianist, achieving Grade 8 with the Associated Board in 2009. Astryd has more recently taken up the concertina in which she appears in several tracks.

The girls are joined by John Hutchison on guitar. John Hutchison is well known locally as a proficient and skilled musician playing fiddle, guitar and double bass. He has played with many esteemed musicians including Hom Bru, Fiddlers’ Bid and Debbie Scott.

Tracklist

1.Da Corbie an’ Da Craa (trad Shetland) /Da spirit o’ whisky (trad Shetland)/Da dance o’ da trowes (Debbie Scott) – We love arranging slow tunes and putting in harmonies. The first tune has a stunning melody and lends to so many harmonies that we couldn’t resist including it in the album. It is followed by two Shetland reels.

2.Rattigans/Martin Rocheford’s – A set of Irish reels. One of our favourite sets

3.Unst Bridal March (trad Shetland)/Da Aald Foula Reel (trad Shetland) – A traditional Shetland set with the fiddles tuned up to the old AEAE tuning.

4.Beeswing Hornpipe (James Hill)/ Mam and Dad’s Reel (Mary Rutherford) – A popular hornpipe followed by a tune Mary wrote for her parents – another winner of the Young Fiddler of the Year Tune Competition (2012).

5.Cello Brig/Da Stofa (Debbie Scott) – Another set of Debbie Scott tunes. The second tune was composed for the reconstruction of a traditional Viking house in Papa Stour. We played this tune at the opening ceremony.

6.Muckle Reel o’ Finnigirt/Da Back Reel (trad Shetland) – The Muckle Reel is one of the oldest known Shetland tunes. It was used at dances throughout Shetland.

7.Benort da daeks o’ Voe (trad Shetland)/Miss Langford’s (trad Irish)/Unknown (trad Irish) –Three traditional reels.

8.Bohemian Fiddle (Kaela Jamieson) – A slow air written by Kaela and named after her fiddle.

9.Da Sweerie Geng/Zorro The Crow (Debbie Scott) – A great set of reels composed by popular Shetland composer, Debbie Scott. A ‘sweerie geng’ is Shetland dialect for the first row in knitting. It was considered bad luck not to finish this row if a visitor came along. The second tune is named after a pet crow called Zorro. We always have a lot of fun with these tunes, especially with the shuffle bowing in the second tune!

10.The girl that broke my heart (trad Irish)/The maid behind the bar (trad Irish)/Mary Rock’s Reel (Mary Rutherford) – We call this the ‘GBH’ set and like to put in a variety of alternative words which can end with amusing consequences – or so we think! The first is a swingy Irish tune, followed by a popular Irish reel and then a reel Mary wrote for her granny for which she won the Young Fiddler of the Year Tune Competition in 2009 – Mary Rock not ‘Mary Rocks’!

Their first recording, The loveliest new version of a favourite style, was released as an EP in 2011.

CD available on 8th December 2012 from www.croftrecords.co.uk and High Level Music, Lerwick.

Digital downloads available.

Contact: Marvin Smith p: 07881 820094 e: marvin@subaudio.co.uk w: www.croftrecords.co.uk

www.facebook.com/kollifirbolli or follow on twitter @kollifirbolli

www.facebook.com/croftrecords

We are hoping that all Shetlanders will join us in a series of fun engagement activities that will focus on the car and where we can share and collect car and travel-related stories. We would love the public to come along to these activities and join in. By sharing your thoughts, work and stories you can be a part of the final Ignition performances that will be taking place in March 2013.

The upcoming events are:

Music Open Sessions
12-17 December, 6-9pm
Join Ignition Composer Hugh Nankevill and help create and play a new piece car-related music for The Road. Bring an instrument if you have one. All ages and abilities welcome.
12 Dec, Baltasound Hall, Unst
13 Dec, Mid Yell Hall, Yell
14 Dec, Ollaberry Hall, Northmavine
17 Dec, Carnegie Hall, Sandwick

The Road: Open Family Music Sessions
15 December, 10.30am-1pm, Mareel, Lerwick
An open music session for everyone to come and create music with Ignition Composer Hugh Nankivell, based on the road that runs from Skaw to Sumburgh. Bring an instrument if you have one. All ages and abilities welcome.

Sunday Tea on Wheels & Car Yarns ‘The Final Purl’
16 December, 12-5pm, Brae Youth Centre
The White Wife is back on the road with her Sunday Tea on Wheels. As well as enjoying a cup of tea and some home baking you can take part in the final Car Yarns event and help them finish knitting a Shetland wool cover for a car. The panels will be sewn together and the car dressed with its cover at the Ignition Open Day on 12 January at the Mareel.

On Da Buses
17-21 December
The White Wife will be resident in the back of the Shetland buses collecting travel stories and exploring the use, and need, for public transport. You can find her on the following buses:
Mon 17 Dec – Number 23
Tue 18 Dec – Number 1 (am) Number 2 (pm) Wed 19 Dec – Number 6 Thu 20 Dec – Number 9 (am) North Isles (Lerwick-Unst) (pm) Fri 21 Dec – North Isles (Baltasound-Lerwick)

We will also be hosting the Ignition Open Day & Media Call on Saturday 12 January at Mareel, Lerwick  – everyone is welcome to come along and join in the Ignition journey with a day full of car-related activities.

Next year’s competition is being organised by Valerie Watt and Vaila Grant on behalf of the Shetland Folk Society. They are pleased to announce that the judges for the Young Fiddler of the Year 2013 are Maurice Henderson, Claire White, and Peter Gear.

Valerie Watt said: “I think a lot of the young fiddlers will be looking forward to the opportunity to play in the new venue – it’ll be a very memorable experience for them.”

Maurice Henderson, one of the judges for 2013

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer for Shetland Arts, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Valerie and Vaila, on behalf of the Shetland Folk Society, have chosen to host the Young Fiddler of the Year 2013 in Mareel. Mareel’s Main Auditorium is designed with great acoustics in mind, and it’ll be a real pleasure to hear the young fiddlers playing in that space. There’s always a huge breadth of talent in the competition, and it’ll be an honour to welcome all the players, judges, and family and friends to Mareel in the spring of the year.”

The performances during the day on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 April are open to the public to drop in and attend for free, and the Finals/Concert in the evening on Saturday 27 April is ticketed with tickets going on sale in the New Year via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org

Klub Revolution and Shetland Arts are absolutely delighted to announce that The View have agreed to step in at short notice to replace the Happy Mondays as headliners for our event at Mareel on Saturday 15th December.

The View, who were formed in Dundee, are one of the UK’s best known rock bands and have a formidable live reputation. The band have 4 top 20 albums under their belt including their debut, Hats Off To The Buskers, which hit number 1 in the album charts in 2007.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: “We are very happy to now have our own in-house security team in place that, we believe, will make sure events at Mareel continue to be safe and enjoyable for all attending. We’d like to say a big thank you to Arctic Security and their staff, who provided our security as we put our own team together, for their professionalism during the venue’s start-up period and their enforcing of Mareel’s Door Policy, which we know has been difficult at times! We will continue to work with them on an advisory basis and we appreciate their ongoing support as we move into providing our own security.”

Some of the rules for events in Mareel which the new team will continue to enforce include warning gig-goers against dangerous behaviours that could compromise the creation of a safe and welcoming atmosphere for all. Some of these behaviours include: running in the venue, throwing objects, and crowd surfing. Gig-goers who behave in this manner will be asked to leave.

Gwilym added: “We want to create an atmosphere in Mareel that is welcoming and positive for all and we are confident that continuing to enforce these policies and procedures with our new in-house security team will help to ensure this. Our new team will work their hardest to continue providing a welcoming, safe, and fun place to visit with an excellent choice of food, drink, and entertainment for all.”

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In other news, Mareel is pleased to confirm that it now accepts Young Scot Cards as valid ID from those wishing to prove their age for alcohol purchases or attendance of 18+ events. Mareel operates under the Challenge 25 scheme, wherein customers who look under 25 will be asked to prove their age by showing valid photo ID (passport, driving licence, and now Young Scot Card) when attempting to purchase alcohol. Under this scheme, anyone under 18 attempting to purchase alcohol is deemed to have committed an offence and will be asked to leave the premises. Anyone attempting to pay with a tampered or forged card would also be removed and the police may be called. This scheme is used all across Scotland and is credited with helping to decrease underage and dangerous drinking.

Films at Mareel are generally shown a few weeks after their official UK release dates because this is when distributors are willing to be flexible about how many times a film shows each day, allowing five or six films to be shown in a week. With big blockbusters like The Hobbit the distributors insist that the films are shown virtually exclusively on Screen 1 for one, and sometimes two, full weeks in order to get them on the release date, so there has to be a high audience demand in order to secure them.

Head of Development at Shetland Arts, Kathy Hubbard, said: “We’ve been eagerly anticipating this film since Mareel opened. We know it is going to be a huge hit, and will no doubt look incredible on the big screen. We are urging people to buy their tickets asap because it’s sure to be very popular, and also encouraging everyone coming on Friday evening to get dressed up and join in the fun!”

As well as this, Shetland Arts is teaming up with the Anderson High School for a competition encouraging young people to read J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Young people can enter the competition by writing a review of the book and submitting to the school librarian. The winner will have their review displayed on Mareel’s website and receive 2 free tickets to the film. More information available from the Anderson High School library.

Tickets for The Hobbit  go on sale this Friday, 30^th November, at 10am via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555 and 01595 745 500, and online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

The cast includes an incredible line-up of dancers including Nina Kaptsova, Artem Ovcharenko, Denis Savin, and Pavel Dmitrichenko. The choreography is by the legendary Yuri Grigorovich who, after being accepted into the Leningrad Ballet School in 1946, went on to become a soloist at St Petersburg’s Kirov Ballet, where he stayed until 1962. He joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 1964, and was artistic director until 1995. His most famous works are The Nutcracker, Spartacus, and Ivan the Terrible.

The score for The Nutcracker is by Tchaikovsky, and it first opened in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It was Tchaikovsky’s last ballet. Composed in the space of a year, its score today is one of the most popular of all ballet scores. For The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky again joined forces with Marius Petipa, with whom he had collaborated on The Sleeping Beauty.

This version, choreographed for the Bolshoi by Grigorovich, is full of romanticism and philosophical reflections on ideal love. It is one of the great classics of the 20^th century and, alongside Spartacus and Ivan the Terrible, is one of Grigorovich’s most famous works.

Shetland Arts Marketing Officer Lisa Ward said: “We are honoured to welcome this special screening of The Nutcracker performed by the Bolshoi Ballet to Mareel as our first showing of alternative content in the cinema. We feel that this will be a very popular event and would urge anyone interested in attending to purchase their ticket as soon as possible. What better way to celebrate the festive season!”

It is Christmas Eve in the home of Mr and Mrs Stahlbaum and their children, Marie and Fritz. Family and friends have gathered for the night’s festivities. Presents are distributed to the children. Marie’s godfather, Drosselmeyer, gives her a strange toy: a wooden nutcracker, carved in the shape of a little man. At midnight, after the celebrations are over, all the toys magically come to life. The nutcracker grows to life-size and takes command of the tin solders, flying to the rescue of Marie, who is threatened by the Mouse King and his mouse army.

Tickets for this event go on sale this Friday, 30^th Novemember, at 10am via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555 and 01595 745 500, and online at www.mareel.org and www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Ignition is a project led by Wils Wilson (Director) and John Haswell (Associate Director) in Shetland, from October 2012 to March 2013. Over the course of 7 months, Shetlanders are being invited to explore our bittersweet relationship with the car – how it shapes us, defines us, supports us, frees us, challenges our attitudes towards our dwindling resources, and, sometimes, kills us. Spurred by the tragic death in November 2007 of Stuart Henderson, a young 18 year old Shetlander, in a car crash, Ignition explores the global and personal impact that our reliance on the car and its fuel has on our lives.

The dance classes explore our relationship with the car through creative dance and everyday movement. They are informal workshops which include improvising, having fun with movement, and creating dance material together.

Classes run weekly on a Wednesday evening. The next class will take place on Wednesday this week (28^th November), followed by two more weeks of classes until we break for Christmas. The classes run between 7pm and 9pm in the Mareel Auditorium.

John Morris said: “The class is off to a good start – we’re learning movement and starting to make up our own dances, however there are still spots available and I’d like to anyone who thinks they might be interested in taking part to come along and join in.”

To register your interest in joining the class, call Shetland Arts on 01595 743 843 or email info@shetlandarts.org.

The class is 18+ only. Open to all abilities and no dance experience necessary. Please wear loose clothing and bring water to drink.

Find out more about Ignition: www.facebook.com/groups/NTSIgnition

The Gallery will reopen at 2.30pm today.

A collaboration eight years in the making, Aidan Moffat and Bill Well’s paths first crossed in 2003 when Aidan’s band Arab Strap invited Bill to contribute some music to their new album, Monday At The Hug & Pint. It was then that Aidan and Bill (a respected bassist, pianist and experimental jazz composer) resolved to make an album together, with the first recordings taking place shortly after the Hug & Pint sessions.

The end product, Everything’s Getting Older, was an unmitigated success: winning awards and garnering widespread critical acclaim. Thoughtful and reflective, with Bill’s poignant scores underpinning Aidan’s increasingly peerless lyric writing, Everything’s Getting Older is now one of the albums of the year.

Shetland Arts Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are privileged to welcome Aidan and Bill, and their band, to Mareel for this one-off gig. I’d strongly advise those who are interested in seeing this unique performance to buy their tickets now, as this really will be a special evening. We’re very pleased to have secured such a rare one-off performance by these award-winning home-grown musicians, and we hope to see music-fans Shetland-wide coming out to enjoy this concert.”

Wells and Moffat have created a stunning album that assures us that death and decay is to come, but equally, they tell us, there is life still to be lived, and music like this to be heard. The album’s penultimate track sees the birth of a child, with Moffat declaring, “All life is finite, so use your time wisely, look after your teeth… and remember, we invented love, and that’s the greatest story ever told.”

Tickets are available now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555 or 01595 745 500, or online here.

My Favourite Place, a book about Scotland’s best-loved places by a variety of people, some famous, some not, including Michael Palin, Alexander McCall Smith and Liz Lochhead will be available, free, from Libraries and bookshops. The book will be available from Shetland Library and in Mareel.

Other events in Shetland will include a project run by Shetland Arts, with multi-award winning poet and former Reader in Residence, Jen Hadfield, which will see bairns from Happy Hansel and Dunrossness Primary Schools reading to service users in Wastview and Overton Lea care centres.

On Friday 30^th November, Mareel Café Bar will be the venue for a bookswap between 10am and 5pm. The upper café bar will be designated as the quiet area for the Reading Hour between 11am and 12pm, where people are welcome to come in sit down and relax with a good book and read for an hour and join in with thousands of people across the nation, on trains, in libraries, shops, work places who will all be reading too.

Shetland Arts’ Literature Development Officer, Donald Anderson said: “The benefits of reading are now known to go far beyond simple entertainment or the attainment of knowledge and learning. There is now evidence to show that reading can have a significant impact on people’s mental well being.”

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward said: “We’d like to encourage everyone to get involved in these events if they can. In particular, we’re welcoming everyone to bring a book or two to Mareel Café Bar and swap it with another book you fancy. Let’s all celebrate Book Week Scotland together!”

Find out more:

Reading Hour: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-week-scotland/reading-hour

My Favourite Place: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/myfavouriteplace

Book Week Scotland: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland-2012

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer, said: “We planned this gig with the aim of filling a gap in the market for quality visiting artists performing alongside original local talent. However, sadly and unexpectedly given the amount of requests we’ve had for events of this type in the past, it hasn’t generated the interest we hoped it would. We are keen to hear from music fans in Shetland, particularly young music fans, as to what kind of events they would prefer to see us put on, so we can better meet demand and avoid disappointment in future.”

Magnus Watt, 9 years old, and Fraser Watt, 5 years old, cutting the ribbon. Photo by Craig Birnie.

A number of other surprises were revealed across the Opening Weekend: 60̊ North, Promote Shetland’s online broadcasting initiative, successfully trialled live streaming the Opening Celebrations Speeches and Opening Weekend events, including Aberfeldy, Shetland Meets Appalachia, and Dougie MacLean, with the help of local volunteers and Mareel/UHI music students. These were viewed online by fans that couldn’t make it on the night and allowed the Opening Celebrations to be even more accessible to everyone interested.

As well as this, the brand new Mareel Ale, made by Valhalla Brewery in Unst, was launched and many a visitor was seen trying a bottle or two. The ale is described as “very light, with a clean, crisp, and slightly fruity finish, leaving its drinkers with an all-over glow.” It is on sale exclusively in Mareel and is no doubt set to become a familiar taste for visitors to the venue.

Mareel Ale, made by Valhalla Brewery. Photo by Craig Birnie.

Friday evening saw an enchanting performance by Scottish indie-band Aberfeldy – described by The Scotsman as “One of the most winningly diverse bands to emerge in recent years” – with a background of twinkling star cloth and solid support from singer/songwriter Chris Bradley.

Saturday saw Shetland Meets Appalachia – a exploration of our common musical roots featuring Bruce Molsky and Special Shetland Guests playing to a packed Main Auditorium. This was the last performance in a series of concerts across Shetland which featured performances in Muckle Roe and Cullivoe during the week. For his second visit to Shetland (his first was as part of this years’ Trans-Atlantic Sessions concert) Bruce teamed up with some of Shetland’s finest home-based musicians such as Gary Peterson, Maurice Henderson, Maggie Adamson and Brian Nicholson, the Cullivoe Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers, Lynda Anderson, Ryan Cooper, Freda Leask, Peter Woord, Hom Bru, Haltadans, Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag, and Sheila Henderson to explore the roots and commonality between the North American and Shetland traditions. And, as you would expect with such an incredible line-up, the session in the Café Bar afterwards lasted late into the night!

Dougie MacLean managed to draw an almost sell-out crowd on the Sunday evening, a testament to his enduring popularity and talent, and rounded off the Opening Weekend celebrations perfectly with many singalong moments.

During the day on Saturday there was live music in the Café Bar from midday to concert time, then on into the late hours, and then early on Sunday artist Callum Moncrieff opened the very first exhibition in the Upstairs Café Bar to an appreciative gathering of art-fans.

Session in the Cafe Bar. Photo by Craig Birnie.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We’re delighted with how well the Opening Weekend has gone. It was a real joy to see everyone who walked through the door cut a piece of the ribbon and declare the building officially open – exactly in the spirit of the weekend. The events, too, summed up exactly what Mareel is all about – showcasing excellent talent from Shetland and beyond, as well as emphasising Mareel’s links with venues around the Isles, as is the case for the Shetland Meets Appalachia events. The Official Opening Weekend was all about celebrating with everyone, so we’d like to say thanks to everyone who did pop in to mark the moment with us, and to all that didn’t make it – how about coming along to another event soon, perhaps this weekend?”

The next big gig in Mareel is Vic Galloway Presents: The Phantom Band, Honeyblood, and The Last this Saturday, 24^th November. Tickets for this event can be purchased via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555 or 01595 745 500, and online here.

The Phantom Band

As part of Mareel’s Official Opening Weekend, Shetland Arts is proud to present an exhibition of new work by Callum Moncrieff in the Upstairs Café Bar in Mareel this Sunday.

Callum was born in Shetland in 1954, but spent 20 years practising as an artist and teaching in various art colleges in the north of England. Giving up a job as senior lecturer, he returned to Shetland 4 years ago to paint. This exhibition is a result of that.

After leaving school, Callum was variously employed within the islands until leaving in 1984 to pursue a career in Art. He settled with his young family in the North West of England. Initially, Callum studied Technical Illustration, but soon realised he wanted to study Fine Art. After a period of illustrating car manuals, he gained a place at Liverpool Polytechnic (now John Moore’s University) to study for a B.A. (Hons.) in Fine Art Sculpture. In 1990 he gained a M.A. in Fine Art Sculpture from Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University)

After completing his M.A., Callum rented studio space in an old boatyard on the River Weaver in Cheshire and, between 1989 and 2008, taught on various Fine Art courses, from foundation to graduate level, in Liverpool and Chester as well as taking part in a variety of artist residencies and art projects. In 2008 he gave up his position as a senior lecturer and left England to return to his native Shetland to concentrate on his own Art practice.

Callum still lives in Shetland, and is developing a body of work that he hopes in some ways reflects thoughtfully, his experiences outwith Shetland in the context of his native land. He has works in collections in America, Canada, China, France, Italy and Britain, and said of his paintings in Mareel:

“The works for the show in Mareel have been shaped around the idea of, ‘a sense of place’. This place is my home the Shetland Isles. Since my return to Shetland my creative practice has centred upon the making of a body of painterly work that deals with my personal interpretation of these islands and their particular properties. From its oozing ragged edge, to its sheep-worn interior, where scrubby, ancient cut moorland offers dark brown pools edged with acrid yellows and greens, Shetland can become a compelling and irresistible subject for the artist.”

Callum’s paintings in Mareel are about capturing these properties and the marks they leave. Sometimes the work begins by the burying of a large swathe of canvas in a deep peaty bog. Left for weeks the canvas is removed and washed in a burn or loch, some deposit remains in the form of a stain. A beginning.

Clair Aldington, Shetland Arts’ Visual Arts Development Officer, commented: “By training a sculptor, the paintings in Mareel represent a journey Callum has been on since returning home to Shetland. Having seen Callum’s work progress and develop in his studio over the last few years, and his struggles with working on such a large scale in a confined space, it is a delight to now see them displayed in Mareel.”

Callum has recently been awarded a Visual Artist Award from Shetland Arts, which is a bursary scheme for developing new work run in partnership with Creative Scotland and Shetland Islands Council Economic Development Unit.

Callum Moncrieff’s exhibition will remain in Mareel until October 2013.  Everyone is warmly invited to come and meet the artist on Sunday 18 November from 11am – 12.30pm and help celebrate the opening of his exhibition and the Official Opening Weekend at Mareel.

Public opening: 15 November, 7-9pm

There’s a buzz at Bonhoga Gallery as the Christmas exhibition is being prepared for launch this Thursday, 15^th November, from 7-9pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy a glass of mulled wine, and take in the diverse array of contemporary art, craft and jewellery on show in the Upper Gallery and Craft Cabinets, and the postcard correspondence project between Sally Kindberg and Smirk on the Lower Gallery wall.

The exhibitions will run until Sunday 23 December, with planned late-night openings on four Wednesdays; 21^st and 28^th November, and 6^th and 12^th December, when the gallery, shop and café will all be open until 8pm.

BEES by Craig Fellows

Featuring amongst the work in the Upper Gallery is that of Ronald Robertson Lawson, a painter whose work reflects the vast open space and brooding skies of the Outer Hebrides, and celebrates the wild remoteness, peace and simplicity of that part of rural Scotland.

Celia Smith’s beautifully woven wire birds complement the organic forms of ceramicist Lok Ming Fung’s work, resembling magical fungi or rock pool gems. British print designer Craig Fellows has sent an extensive collection of his exquisite range of sillk scarves, purses, prints and accessories. Using traditional, contemporary and digital printing techniques, Craig transforms his illustrations of insects, flora or feathers into beautiful fashion and interior pieces.

Prints, photographs, ceramics and textile pieces from Shetland and across the UK will offer something for every taste. With many more beautiful and eclectic designs of bags, jewellery, scarves and even some gongs (!) the gallery will be buzzing this Christmas.

Likewise, the shop and craft cabinets will be bursting with exclusive Christmas gifts; beautiful Scandinavian throws and blankets, recycled leather bags in every colour of the rainbow, Christmas decorations and much more. Visitors can also purchase special Christmas Gift Tokens, which can be used in all Shetland Arts venues (Bonhoga, The Garrison and Mareel) and at all Shetland Arts events.

Running concurrently in the Lower Gallery is ‘Cartoon Correspondence – Smirk to Sally Kindberg, an illustrated dialogue’. This show is inspired by the hugely successful ‘Illustrators’ exhibition at Bonhoga in 2011 which included several envelopes illustrated by Axel Scheffler, widely known for his illustrations of The Gruffalo.

The ‘Illustrators’ exhibition coincided with Wordplay, Shetland Arts’ book festival, at which writer and artist Sally Kindberg was appearing. A chance meeting between Sally and local cartoonist Stephen Gordon (Smirk) led to the idea of an exhibition of postcards, inspired by Axel Scheffler, and so began an unexpected exchange of postcards illustrating news from the south and north.

Smirk and Sally

Sally said: “I didn’t know Smirk, but not knowing each other led to some sort of creative freedom of expression, and a great deal of fun. How could I resist a correspondence with someone whose alter egos include Pete Stack of the Rayburns and the louche Victor Vomit?”

Stephen Gordon (Smirk) is a Shetland born artist/cartoonist whose work appears regularly in the Shetland Times. Sally Kindberg’s recent series of comic strip books include The Comic Strip History of the World and The Comic Strip Book of Dinosaurs published by Bloomsbury. She is currently writing and illustrating a series of children’s books called Draw It!, also for Bloomsbury, and working on a graphic novel. She lives in London.

Both exhibitions run until the 23^rd December. Work from Buzz will be available for collection at prearranged times before, or at, the end of the show.

Homemade Soup of the Day £2.50
Crusty Bread 50p
Salt Beef Bannock £2.50
Mackerel Pate with Oatcakes £2.50
Cheese scone with cheddar and chutney £2.50

And, of course, the usual selection of freshly baked tasty cakes, scones and tab nabs.

Come along to Bonhoga Gallery, Cafe and Shop, open Tuesday – Saturday: 10.30am – 4.30pm, and Sunday: 12.00 – 4.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

Shetland Meets Appalachia – a exploration of our common musical roots featuring Bruce Molsky and Special Shetland Guests is a series of concerts across Shetland – in Muckle Roe on the 15^th of November and Cullivoe on the 16^th – which culminates in an Opening Weekend performance in Mareel on Saturday 17^th. For his second visit to Shetland (his first was as part of this years’ Trans-Atlantic Sessions concert) Bruce will be teaming up and collaborating with some of Shetland’s finest home-based musicians such as Gary Peterson, Maurice Henderson, Maggie Adamson and Brian Nicholson, the Cullivoe Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers, Lynda Anderson, Ryan Couper, Freda Leask, Peter Wood, and Sheila Henderson to explore the roots and commonality between the North American and Shetland traditions. In addition to this, groups such as Hom Bru, Haltadans and Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag will also be joining Bruce to add further to the musical fireworks that are bound to be created during this visit.

Some of the Special Shetland Guests for Shetland Meets Appalachia

Originally formed in 2003 Aberfeldy have consistently been hailed as one of Scotland’s leading indie bands. Their debut album Young Forever (2004) spawned the single Heliopolis by Night which NME nominated as their ‘Single of the Week’ while the album itself also entered the UK charts on its release. Further albums Do Whatever Turns You On (2006) and their more recent offering Somewhere To Jump From cemented the bands growing reputation and popularity, and secured them tour and support slots with the likes of REM, Blondie, and the Scissor Sisters. They have played Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party and entered millions of peoples’ homes thanks to their songs appearing on Argentinean beer and Diet Coke TV adverts.

Aberfeldy

Dougie MacLean is Scotland’s pre-eminent singer-songwriter. Perhaps his most famous composition is the near anthemic Caledonia – a song that has been covered by over 200 artists world-wide, including the likes of Ronan Keating, Frankie Miller, Paolo Nutini and Amy MacDonald. The song has even had a whisky named in its honour.

But Dougie is most certainly not a one-song-wonder – a fact supported by the many gold discs and other international awards and accolades he has collected throughout his career. Dougie tours globally on a regular basis, selling out large concerts the world over including venue’s such as New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. He was recently awarded an OBE for his contribution to music in the New Year’s Honours List.

Dougie MacLean

During the day on Saturday 17th there will be live music in the Café Bar from midday, and Opening Celebration speeches from 6pm – 6.45pm. On Sunday 18th from 11am – 12.30pm there will be an Exhibition Opening with Artist Callum Moncrieff.

Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome such a diverse and talented group of artists, both visiting and local, to Mareel for Official Opening Weekend. The events planned sum up what Mareel is all about – showcasing excellent talent from Shetland and beyond, as well as emphasising Mareel’s links with venues around the Isles, as is the case for the Shetland Meets Appalachia events. The Official Opening Weekend is about celebrating with everyone, so we urge anyone interested to pop in and join us in marking the moment.”

Tickets for the Opening Season events can be purchased via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org and www.mareel.org. Tickets for the Muckle Roe event can also be purchased from the Muckle Roe Hall Committee and tickets for the Cullivoe event can also be purchased from the Cullivoe Shop.

Shetland Meets Appalachia Lineup

Bruce Molsky

Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of North America’s (and Appalachia’s in particular) timeless folk music traditions. In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, Mozaik and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He featured on Nickel Creek’s farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden’s great Ale Moller. He’s also a regular guest on the famed ‘Trans-Atlantic Sessions’ concerts and TV shows series.

The Cullivoe Fiddlers are in the village of Cullivoe in Yell. This group focuses on Shetland’s musical traditions and in particular play in the old style of ringing strings – much of what they do being particular to the area they live in.

The Heritage Fiddlers is a mainly female group that focuses on Shetland’s traditions above all others. The group was originally started by Dr Tom Anderson many years ago when the members were all very young – they are now all in their mid to late 30′s.

Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson – Maggie is Shetland’s new young fiddle protégé. She has won many national competitions over her very young years, playing in both the local and Scottish style, culminating in her winning the Glenfiddich Scottish Fiddle Championship last year – only the 2nd Shetlander ever to do so. She is currently studying at the Scottish Conservatoire (RSAMD) and is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland – with whom she made an appearance at the Royal Albert Hall this year for the annual Proms (the lead violinist was Nicola Bernadetti). For his part Brian is without a doubt Shetland’s finest guitarist (both acoustic and electric) and has received accolades from the likes of Albert Lee.

Lynda Anderson is one of Shetland’s best kept secrets. Lynda has spent a lot of time outside Shetland – mainly in America – but is now back in residence here. Experienced in both the Shetland and many North American styles, she has played all over the states including the Grand Ole Opry.

Maurice Henderson with Haltadans and Fullsceilidh Spellemannslag -  Maurice is a member of Fiddlers Bid. However he not only has his own talents to bring to the table here, but also two of his local bands Haltadans and  Fullsceilidh Spellemannslag. ‘Spellemannslag’ is Norwegian to describe a lose gathering of musicians.

Gary Peterson and Hom Bru – Gary is an amazing banjo and mandolin player – indeed he’s internationally recognised in this respect. Hom Bru are nothing short of legendary in Shetland circles. They were the first Shetland folk band to go professional in the 1980′s and tour both nationally and internationally. They are still in demand on the UK touring and festival circuit today.

Sheila Henderson is one of Shetland’s most acclaimed country / Americana singer / songwriters. Sheila has a profile both nationally and internationally.

Ryan Couper is perhaps Shetland’s leading young guitarist in all styles of music. He has even shared the stage with the one and only Martin Taylor in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in the past.

Freda Leask is a very fine singer / songwriter from the islands – who also, on occasions sings in local dialect. She also specialises in Bluegrass.

Peter Wood is a top notch accordion player in many styles and a stalwart of the Shetland music scene. He is currently an accordion tutor in Shetland schools.

In the final, breathtaking fifth instalment in the record-breaking Twilight franchise, the now vamped Bella and Edward Cullen must face the malign Volturi council, who threaten the well-being of their newborn child. Moving towards a colossal final showdown between werewolf and vampire clans, this truly epic conclusion to one of the most successful film series of our time is among the most anticipated films of the year.

Films at Mareel are generally shown a few weeks after their official UK release dates because this is when distributors are willing to be flexible about how many times a film shows each day, allowing five or six films to be shown in a week. With big blockbusters like Twilight the distributors insist that the films are shown virtually exclusively on Screen 1 for one, and sometimes two, full weeks in order to get them on the release date, so there has to be a high audience demand in order to secure them.

Head of Development at Shetland Arts, Kathy Hubbard, said: “We know Shetland Twilight fans are very excited about the final film and we’ve had lots of requests to get it on release date. We negotiated with distributors and are happy to say we managed to secure it for 16 November. We expect it will be very popular!”

The cinema programming process is a collaboration between Shetland Arts and City Screen, owners of the Picturehouse chain of cinemas. Mareel Cinema is programmed weekly from Friday to Thursday. On Monday mornings the Programming Team negotiates with film distributors on which films to continue showing from the previous week, according to audience demand and box office figures. This means that films for any given Friday to Thursday generally go on sale on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays you can pick up a copy of the weekly film listings flyer from Mareel and Islesburgh, check the Mareel and/or Shetland Box Office website for listings, call Shetland Box Office on 01595 745 555, or check advertising in the local media.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday 6 November late afternoon via Shetland Box Office.

Words and Pictures is a weekend of creative fun for children at Bonhoga Gallery over 10^th and 11^th November. Designed for seven to fourteen year olds two separate workshops will focus on different ways of creating stories, using words on the Saturday and pictures on the Sunday.

The first of the two workshops is on a spooky theme. Led by teacher Ria Moncrieff, the evening of story-telling and creative writing will involve ghostly legends from the murky history of the Weisdale Mill and the chance to write some totally new ghost stories, that will then be published by Shetland Arts in time for Christmas.

Returning to Shetland after her appearance at Wordplay in 2011, artist and writer Sally Kindberg will be joining Ria to illustrate the stories as they are created on the night.  She will then lead a separate workshop at Bonhoga on Sunday morning, designed around her and Smirk’s Cartoon Correspondence exhibition that will be on show in the Lower Gallery (café).

Sally’s workshop will use the idea of a traditional ‘round robin’ Christmas letter as the starting point for some cartoon creations that will bring each child’s 2012 highlights to life and provide something creative to send out with the Christmas post this year.

Both workshops promise to be creative, challenging and most of all fun. Angela Smith, Duty Manager at Bonhoga said, “I can’t wait to see and hear what the bairns come up with over the weekend, Bonhoga is a perfect venue on a dark night… just about anything could happen…and Sally’s cartoon workshop will be a absolute blast!”.

Places are limited to 15 children for each workshop, at a cost of  £10 for the Saturday workshop (to include hot chocolate and snacks), £7 for the Sunday workshop or £15 for both. Bookings can be made through the Shetland Box Office (www.shetlandboxoffice.org).

Public opening: 6 November, 5.30-7.30pm

The Art of Ping Pong by Jono Sadilands is coming to Bonhoga for five days, combining sport, technology and creativity in a blend of colour and style. Jono Sandilands is taking over the gallery for what has become known as Renegade Week. This is the first year that the programming and curation team at Shetland Arts has scheduled in this week to the gallery programme, as a platform for some unusual and innovative projects.

Jono Sandilands is a designer and visual artist, whose work is exploring new technologies to enable a participatory experience for the viewer. The project started life back in 2009 in response to a brief set by a national student design award scheme. At this time it was simply to record where the ball makes contact with the table during a game of table tennis, to allow player interactivity to create original pieces of artwork. The conceptual outcome was commended and won the YCN National Student Award in 2009.

In 2010, supported by a Visual Artist Award from Shetland Arts in partnership with Creative Scotland and Shetland Islands Council Jono was able to develop the concept into a reality, exploring many different methods of tracking and also expanding his skills in programming software and hardware along the way.

Jono said, “Everyone enjoys a game of table tennis, or ping pong. Whether it’s a spot of fun or a sporting occasion; most people when asked if they would like to play will reply positively. After they have played they will say that playing was fun and yet most people never play regularly. What the Art of Ping Pong strives to do is to encourage people to play more table tennis.”

Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said, “This is a brilliant participatory artwork that will offer fun for all ages. In a year when sport has been on everyone’s radar I am delighted that we can add some creativity into the mix with Jono’s colourful project”.

The interactive table consists of a projector and a hacked Xbox Kinect that sits above a normal table tennis table. The ball movements are tracked on the table and sent back to a piece of software which tells the projector to display one of many different possible styles of artwork onto the correct location of the table. After a game has been played the ping pong- generated artwork will be automatically printed out and can be hung up on the gallery walls, to be displayed while further gaming commences.

Shetland Arts presents The Art of Ping Pong at its first public exhibition at Bonhoga Gallery from Wednesday 7 – Sunday 11 November. The public opening is on Tuesday 6th November from 5.30-7.30pm and will include live demos by Shetland Table Tennis Association and music by 45/33 Promotions DJs. Everyone is very welcome.

During this time, the lower gallery will also be playing host to Cartoon Correspondence – Smirk to Sally Kindberg, an illustrated dialogue.

In 2011 Bonhoga hosted a hugely successful exhibition curated by the children’s author Julia Donaldson. Included in the show were several envelopes addressed to the author from, and illustrated by, Axel Scheffler, best known for illustrating The Gruffalo and many of Julia’s other best-selling stories.

The exhibition coincided with Wordplay, Shetland Arts’ book festival, at which writer and artist Sally Kindberg was appearing. A chance meeting between Sally and local cartoonist Stephen Gordon (Smirk) led to the idea of an exhibition of postcards, inspired by Axel Scheffler, and so began an unexpected exchange of postcards illustrating news from the south and north.

Sally said: “I didn’t know Smirk, but not knowing each other led to some sort of creative freedom of expression, and a great deal of fun. How could I resist a correspondence with someone whose alter egos include Pete Stack of the Rayburns and the louche Victor Vomit?”

Stephen Gordon (Smirk) is a Shetland born artist/cartoonist whose work appears regularly in the Shetland Times.

Sally Kindberg’s recent series of comic strip books include The Comic Strip History of the World and The Comic Strip Book of Dinosaurs published by Bloomsbury. She is currently writing and illustrating a series of children’s books called Draw It!, also for Bloomsbury, and working on a graphic novel. She lives in London.

Saxophonist Smith is a good old Scottish local hero, one of our leading jazz musicians and composers, an internationally recognised soloist and bandleader since the late-1980s and the musical director and driving force behind the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, who were sensational at the recent Shetland Jazz Festival, and his own Youth Jazz Orchestra.
His appearances on recordings, since touring and recording the Whiz Kids (ECM Records) album with vibraphonist Gary Burton at the age of eighteen, includes a total of twenty-three albums under his own name for Hep Records, GFM, Blue Note Records, Linn Records and his own Spartacus label.

After playing with the highly successful Hue and Cry, Smith has worked in jazz groups and big bands, and has recorded and toured with world renowned jazz musicians including Joe Lovano, David Liebman, Benny Golson, Joe Locke, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Tommy Flanagan, John Scofield, John Patittucci, Miroslav Vitous, Arild Andersen, Trilok Gurtu, Jack DeJohnette, Jon Christensen and Kenny Wheeler. Is that impressive, or what?

Karma is a genius band all round with the magnificent Steve Hamilton on keyboards, Kevin Glasgow supreme on electric bass and the remarkable drummer Alyn Cosker who is developing something of a love affair with Shetland. Together they create music with drive, intricacy, funkiness, freewheeling expressive jazz of the highest order. In Mareel they should be sensational.

The gig, which is part of a national tour, is on Sunday 11 November at 8pm and tickets are available via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.  Not to be missed!

Spooky story writing on Saturday 10th November, from 6-8.30pm

and

Cartoon Correspondence on Sunday 11th November, from 10.30am-12pm

More details and tickets available from www.shetlandboxoffice.org

A limited number of tickets have been released for this event, which will feature episode 1 of the two part drama followed by a Q&A session with the programme makers, author Ann Cleeves, and actor Steven Robertson. The evening will be hosted by Jane Moncrieff of BBC Radio Shetland.

Doors open at 6.15pm. Refreshments will be served. The screening will at be 7pm followed by Q&A. This is a free event.

Terms & Conditions:  maximum 2 tickets per booking.  Over 16’s only.

Tickets are available from 6pm this evening (Thursday 25 October) via Shetland Box Office in Mareel and Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or www.mareel.org

For more information, please contact Donald Anderson or Clair Aldington at Shetland Arts on 01595 743843 or email donald.anderson@shetlandarts.org or clair.aldington@shetlandarts.org

This will be Mareel’s first sell-out music event. The Main Auditorium has a maximum capacity of 600.

We are advising anyone who has booked a ticket but has not yet picked it up, to pick it up from Mareel or Islesburgh as soon as possible to avoid large queues at the door/reception tomorrow evening.

We look forward to seeing you!

A creative project led by Wils Wilson (Director) and John Haswell (Associate Director) in Shetland, from October 2012, resulting in a series of performances on Shetland in March 2013.

Over the course of seven months from October 2012, all 23,000 inhabitants of Shetland are invited to explore our bittersweet relationship with the automobile – how it shapes us, defines us, supports us, frees us, challenges our attitudes towards our dwindling resources and, sometimes, kills us. Spurred by the tragic death in November 2007 of Stuart Henderson, a young 18 year old Shetlander, in a car crash, Ignition will explore the global and personal impact that our reliance on the car and its fuel has on our lives.

Set in Shetland, a beautiful, remote archipelago of over 100 islands, host to Europe’s largest oil terminal and a centre for renewable energy research and development, the project promises to excavate personal ‘car stories’ through a programme of unique, car-related, but unmistakably Shetland-flavoured engagement activities, climaxing in a large scale outdoor performance.

The team will begin engaging with the people of Shetland from October 2012 with six performances in Shetland in March 2013.

The creative team include: Wils Wilson (Director), John Haswell (Associate Director), Chris Grant (Parkour Director), Becky Minto (Designer), Janice Parker (Movement Director), Hugh Nankivell (Composer)

Shetland Arts’ John Haswell said: ‘Shetland Arts is proud to be working in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland on this important project. It has been a long journey of almost five years since the tragic death of Stuart Henderson but now I am absolutely delighted that Ignition is really going to happen. It is wonderful to be working with such a talented group of people and I am certain that this dynamic project will engage with the Shetland public and that their engagement will help shape the final piece into something that will have an impact for many years to come.’

Director Wils Wilson said: ‘It’s absolutely wonderful to be asked back to Shetland (after Home: Shetland 2006) to create Ignition with John. Firstly there’s Shetland, and its people, who will make, dance, write, drive and dream Ignition into being. Then there’s the scale of the thing, the ambition behind the project to touch the lives of so many people and create something together, to ignite creativity and community. And there’s the car: that confusing, complex, powerful, iconic, dangerous, provocative, exciting invention that has been inventing us for more than a century.  Get in and buckle up!’

Ignition received over £167,000 through Creative Scotland’s Year of Creative Scotland programme.

Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland said: ‘Ignition will create first in a lifetime experiences for the Shetland community to enjoy and participate in creative activity where they might not otherwise have the opportunity. The location with its inherent transport challenges, whilst also being an oil centre of global significance, makes Shetland uniquely placed to artistically explore our relationship with the car. We hope as many islanders as possible get involved in this exciting project as part of the Year of Creative Scotland 2012.’

Planned activities include:

School Events:

Dream Cars – from October; workshops will take place in primary and secondary schools with the pupils designing their dream cars and planning their dream journeys as well as devising a giant live car game. Workshops will also take place with youth groups around Shetland who will be working with old cars and bringing them back to life.

Parkour – 3 December-March 2013; a parkour specialist will run workshops in schools looking at the different ways that they can map and travel across the local landscape.

Pop Up Events:

The White Wife – 13-22 Oct; the White Wife of Shetland folklore will be hitch hiking her way around Shetland and asking drivers to give her a lift and share their car stories on the journey.

Sunday Teas – 21 Oct, 16 Dec, 10 Feb; the White Wife will be bringing Sunday Teas to Shetlanders around the islands. These will take place at care homes, hospitals and community venues (21 Oct) as well as popping up at bus stops (16 Dec) and on ferries (10 Feb) around Shetland.

Back of the Bus – 14-22 December; The White Wife will be resident in the back of the Shetland buses collecting travel stories and exploring the fractured relationship between bus drivers and young Shetlanders.

Ferry Tales – 11-16 Feb; the White Wife will be back to collect more stories but this time she will be on the inter island ferries and at the ferry terminals collecting more stories.

Public Events:

Car Yarns – from 25 October; Inviting all Shetland knitters to knit squares to create the panels of a car, from bumpers and windscreen wipers to headlights and doors. Drop In sessions will be taking place at Shetland Library (5.30-8pm on Thursday 25^th Oct, 1^st, 8^th & 15^th Nov) and Mareel Café Bar (6.30-9.30pm on Tuesday 6^th, 20^th & 27^th Nov) where knitters will be encouraged to ‘mak’ (knit) and ‘yarn’ (share stories). Tea, coffee and cake (yarn fuel) will be available.

Ignition Open Day – 12 January; Mareel, Lerwick; An opportunity to become involved in Ignition and enjoy the installation of the car panels used in Car Yarns, the dressing of the car with its knitted gansey, parkour workshops, remote control car rallys, road safety workshops, an interactive journey following the White Wife’s story so far, Dream Car workshops, listen to car stories and join in a series of lectures, seminars and invited speakers on the future of Shetland, oil, transport, innovation, energy.

New Journeys in Familiar Places – 22-24 Feb; Northern Focus Parkour will take an audience of 12 on a journey with a difference. Taking place around Lerwick it will focus on travel without using roads using the discipline of parkour and invisible theatre. Tickets will be available from Mareel Arts centre on 01595 745555.

Ignition – 25-30 March 2013; final performance details to be announced.

Himmerland is a group of five traveling musicians, each carrying very different life stories and traditions in their rucksacks. They come from three regions of Denmark – Bornholm (an island in the Baltic Sea), Copenhagen, and Northern Jutland – and from Poland and Ghana, in West Africa.

They compose original music and infuse it with all the different traditions of their heritage. They have played across Europe, Russia, Canada, South America, Australia and New Zealand, representing a Denmark where people from around the world can meet, live together and all contribute to a sweetly simmering cultural melting pot.

Shetland Arts Marketing Officer Lisa Ward said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming Himmerland to Mareel. They are an incredibly unique and dynamic band that I’m sure will be very much appreciated by Shetland audiences and folk-fans. We’re also very pleased to have Mirka supporting Himmerland for this event, showcasing local talent alongside a visiting artist in Mareel.”

The concert begins at 7.30pm and tickets cost £12 (£10 concessions). Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Himmerland is:

Ditte Fromseier (violin & vocals) is from the small Danish island of Bornholm. She is a remarkable violinist, singer and composer, and she is involved in a wide variety of bands and projects in Denmark and internationally. Ditte is also an associated professor at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts Southern Denmark. She has been touring around the world, with her duo Fromseier & Hockings, and with great Danish bands like Habbadám and Fiolministeriet.

Andrzej Krejniuk (electric bass-guitar) is from Poland but has lived in Denmark most of his life. He is an extraordinary musician as well as composer, and a outstanding solo player on the electric bass. Andrzej has wide experience from the jazz and world music scenes, performing and recording with international names like “Lelo Nika”, “Afenginn” and ”Bjonko & Copenhagen Chalgija – not to mention his own jazz fusion band, “Abstract Virtuality”.

Ayi Solomon (percussion) is from Ghana, but has been living in Copenhagen for many years. Solomon has been recognized a fantastic percussionist and dancer wherever he has appeared during the last 20 years. He performs and tours all over the world with a large number of top professional bands and projects. Further more Solomon has released two albums with new music in his own name. He is also known from his touring with people like Pierre Dørge & The New Jungle Orchestra, Moussa Diallo Trio and Palle Mikkelborg.

Morten Alfred Høirup (guitars & vocals) is from Copenhagen. Morten has been traveling the world during his more than 25 years as a professional musician, working with world leading folk musicians. He is the front journalist at Danish folk and roots media, and a member of the board in The Danish Society for Jazz, Rock and Folk Composers. Morten has won several Danish Music Awards (Danish “Grammy”), including “Folk Composer of the Year 2004″. He is known for his work with the Danish duo Haugaard & Høirup and the Danish-Finnish-American trio American Café Orchestra.

Eskil Romme (soprano sax) is from the Danish island of Funen. Eskil has been mixing traditional Danish music, jazz and related genres during his 30 years of playing. While traveling Scandinavia and the British Isles, he developed his own “North Sea” mix of styles. In 2009 he released the album “Himmerlandsmelodier”, which has been the starting point for this project. Eskil is also the artistic director of the small but exclusive folk and world music venue “Halkær Kro”, as well “Halkær Festival. Eskil is known from his touring with the bands Færd and Kryss.

Originally from Nikolaev Southern Ukraine, Oksana now lives in Glasgow, Scotland. She is a lyric soprano with coloratura, which gives an easiness and brightness to her voice allowing a varied repertoire.

From a very early age Oksana was passionately interested in music and persuaded her parents to send her to the local Music School and then Music College where she graduated with distinction in Choral Conducting. She then furthered her studies with Prof. L. Stefanova at the Sofia Music Academy in Bulgaria (1997- 2002) and received a Bachelors and a Masters degree. During her time in Sofia she took part in a large number of concerts and performances and won prizes in Academic and National competitions, as well as a laureate of the National Operetta Competition.

In 2000 she was awarded the ‘George Soros Scholarship’ for her outstanding study. After graduating with high achievement she decided to continue her education and moved to Germany to study under Prof. M. Schiml (2004-2006) at the Musikhochschule, Opernschule, Karlsruhe. While studying there she attended master classes with L. Bizzi and H. Zadek. Prior to completing her studies in Germany, she participated in a number of concerts and sang Belisa in the Paisiello Opera ‘Il re Teodoro in Venezia’ performed in Karlsruhe Operahaus. In 2008 she completed a Pg dip in opera singing in the RSAMD under Patricia Hay. Since 2010 Oksana is Deputy Conductor of Glasgow male Philharmonic Choir.

Along with classical and opera music she enjoys singing contemporary music and has worked with Jannot Heinen (Luxemburg) and in Bulgaria took part in the contemporary music festival ‘Musica Nova’ as well as working with Artin Potourlyan. Oksana is keen to promote Slavic music in Europe and as such has sung concerts of Russian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian music in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Baden Baden and Shetland.

Anna Mavromatidi was born in Russia. She studied the piano at the State Saratov College of Music and the State Saratov Music Conservatoire, specialising in teaching accompaniment and chamber music. In 1996 her family moved to Greece where Anna taught and performed extensively. Anna’s further education took her to the RCS (formerly Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ) Glasgow, where she obtained her Postgraduate Diploma in Performance (Solo) in 2001 and a Masters Degree in Performance (Chamber Music) in 2002. Throughout her time at the RCS, Anna has been heavily involved with Chamber music.  She has won numerous prizes and awards, including The John D Miles Prize (Accompaniment) and The Ian D Watt Award (Chamber Music).

Currently Anna is a lecturer at RCS Piano Department. She is also accompanist to Glasgow Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and Glasgow Cathedral Choral Society. Anna also teaches piano at Clifton Hall School, Edinburgh.

In August 2011 Anna collaborated with Oksana to record her first CD, Romantic Russian Songs.

Shetland Arts Music Development Officer, Bryan Peterson, said: “It’s a real pleasure to welcome Oksana and Anna back to Shetland for what is sure to be two absolutely enchanting performances. Classical music and opera lovers are in for a real treat.”

Oksana and Anna’s concert at Busta is on Saturday November 3, and the Mareel concert is on Sunday November 4. Both concerts begin at 7.30pm and tickets cost £12 / £8. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or www.mareel.org.

The Mareel business plan has an annual target of 39,834 cinema sales. Gwilym announced to the conference audience in Mareel and live webcast online that, with the venue having been open for 7 weeks tomorrow, there has already been 14,619 cinema sales. Targets for the initial 7 weeks in the business plan are 5,362, meaning that the venue has exceeded its cinema sales targets for this period by an impressive 9,257.

Thank you all to have visited during this time, and we look forward to seeing you in Mareel again soon!

Aziz Ibrahim might be best known as the former guitarist (post-John Squire) for The Stone Roses and Ian Brown (solo), but he hides a history of studio and live work with a diverse roster of artists – ranging from Paul Weller, and The Players, to Simply Red, Steven Wilson and Asia, amongst many others. But, as anyone who has seen one of his own recent live shows will tell you, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Drawing equally on his Pakistani/British heritage and performing in a duo alongside tabla player Dalbir Singh Rattan, the Mancunian guitarist gives free rein to an incredibly broad mix of influences that he blends into what he calls ‘The Asian Blues’. His live shows are known for their incredible musical journeys and infectious creativity.

From jazz beginnings to DJ culture, Stuart McCallum’s music is a new hybrid of composition, production and performance. It embraces simple, memorable melodies, bass lines and drum beats, with electronica and improvisation enriched by elegant orchestral writing. Stuart has a wealth of experience in many different musical environments and genres. After being invited to join the Cinematic Orchestra in 2004, Stuart has performed on and contributed to the writing of the band’s critically acclaimed albums, ‘Ma Fleur’ and ‘Live At The Royal Albert Hall’. In addition he has contributed to the award winning Disney nature documentary soundtrack, ‘The Crimson Wing’, and the remix of Radiohead’s ‘Exit Music For A Film’ for Radiohead’s remix compilation album, ‘Exit Music: Songs For Radio Heads’. Stuart will be accompanied by his drummer and a bank of sampled tracks which, together with his unique use of effects, create a rich and multilayered orchestral sound.

Stuart will be supporting Aziz on the Friday, and Aziz will supporting Stuart on Saturday, each with short solo spots, giving all festival attendees a chance to see these headliners.

Stuart and Dave will be collaborating with some of the Mareel / Shetland college HNC music students for a part of Stuart’s performance at Mareel on Saturday. The students are Norman Wilmore on tenor sax, Hayden Hook on double bass & cello, Max Tyler on trumpet & piano, and Martha Thompson on violin.

Stuart and Dave will also be hosting a workshop on Saturday afternoon, 2pm to 4pm, in Mareel. Topics covered will include music technology, music business, guitar technique and an open ended range of other subjects. The workshop is open to all. Tickets cost £5 and are free for Shetland College / Mareel music students.

The Shetland Guitar Festival is a celebration of guitar with concerts and educational events held in autumn each year. The event is dedicated to the memory of the late great ‘Peerie’ William Johnson, the highly regarded guitarist who pioneered the jazz influenced accompaniment style now prevalent in traditional Shetland music. Willie was heavily influenced by the jazz musicians he heard on the radio as a young man, the festival always has a healthy dose of jazz guitar in the mix.

Shetland Arts’ Music Development Officer Bryan Peterson said: “We’re delighted to be hosting two of the UK’s most original and visionary guitarists. Aziz and Stuart both seamlessly meld a range of contemporary and traditional influences and ingenious use of technology to create their signature sounds. It’ll be a great experience for our music students to have the chance to collaborate with such fine musicians too.”

Tickets Friday 26 at Bigton Hall cost £10 / £8 and doors open at 7pm. Tickets for Saturday 27 at Mareel cost £14 / £12 and doors open at 7pm. Tickets for these concerts, as well as the Saturday workshop, are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or www.mareel.org.

A documentary about the making of Stuart McCallum’s album Distilled:

A video of Aziz and Dalbir performing:

One Pig is a musical performance made entirely out of the sounds of a single pig’s life, from birth to plate. Matthew recorded the birth, the life, and the butchering of the pig – though was unable to record the slaughter due to legal restrictions. These recordings were then used to create the critically acclaimed One Pig album (2011), on which the performance is based.

The album generated controversy before it was even released, when it was condemned by PETA as making “entertainment” from animal cruelty, apparently without first checking key details about Herbert’s intention and methods.

The live show debuted at the Royal Opera House, London, in September 2011 and has since toured the world, performing at Berghain Berlin, STRP Eindhoven, Club Silencio Paris, Liquid Room Tokyo, Ancienne Belgique Brussels, headlining at Future Everything in Manchester, the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

One Pig explores and questions the life, death, and consumption of the pig. A chef cooking onstage brings the sound and smell of cooking pig, and the performance features a brand new custom instrument – the “Sty Harp”, built and performed by Edinburgh-based artist Yann Seznec. This representation of the pig’s home is used to trigger and control elements of music, forming an integral part of the 5 piece band.

Herbert and his fellow musicians will also be leading educational activities for music students in Mareel on Tuesday 8 November and a free pre-show workshop open to all at 7pm on Wednesday 7 November where they will discus the technology behind the production. The performance on Wednesday will begin with Herbert discussing the background to the piece and audience members will be invited to ask questions.

Shetland Arts Music Development Officer Bryan Peterson said: “Matthew Herbert is a true pioneer of sampling and electronic music and his body of work is astounding. The show will be quite challenging and provide a thought-provoking perspective on agriculture and food production that I’m sure will be of interest to Shetlanders.”

One Pig will take place in Mareel on Wednesday 7 November. The free pre-concert workshop will run from 7pm – 7.30pm, and the concert will begin at 8pm. Tickets for the concert cost £15 / £12 and are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel/Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here. This production is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Tour details
November 2012
3rd – Glasgow, Tramway
4th – Dundee, Dundee Rep Theatre
5th – Inverness, Bogbain Farm
7th – Shetland, Mareel
8th – Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
9th – Dunfermline, Carnegie Hall
10th – Banchory, Woodend Barn (Sound Festival)
http://www.onepigscotland.com/

About Matthew Herbert
Matthew Herbert is an established musician and producer working in the field of electronic music. Known for stretching boundaries and breaking the conventions traditionally associated with the genre, he is one of the few independently minded artists to have made a considerable impact on both media and public whilst striving to be innovative and experimental. As a recording artist since 1996 he has released music on a variety of record labels under aliases such as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Wishmountain and Radio Boy and has performed live in the United States, Japan, Australia, Asia and extensively across Europe. In 2012, Herbert was appointed as the creative director of the newly revived BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the famous experimental music unit responsible for creating seminal works including the Doctor Who theme tune. He has supported Björk at the Hollywood Bowl, played the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and The Big Chill in England, as well as headlining at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. He was recently appointed creative director of the Radiophonic Workshop.

Matthew Herbert talks about the story behind One Pig

Tickets for Saturday 13 October are all transferable for Saturday 24 November.

If you can’t make it along on that date, please contact Shetland Box Office for a refund.

These are the first films that Mareel has shown on release date, having spent the first six weeks catching up on the summer blockbusters.

Head of Development, Kathy Hubbard, said: “At Mareel, we aim to offer a variety of films for all tastes. Most of the time we will show films a few weeks after their official UK release dates because this is when distributors are willing to be flexible about how many times a film shows each day. This allows us to put on five or six films a week. However, with huge films like Skyfall and Madagascar 3, which will no doubt be October-holiday favourites, the distributors insist that we show the films virtually exclusively on Screen 1 for one and sometimes two full weeks in order to get them on the release date, as is the case with all the other cinemas in the UK. The programming process is a collaboration between ourselves and City Screen, who do their very best to get us what we ask for, but ultimately, if we want a film on its release date, we have to accept the terms set by the distribution companies.”

The programme also includes regular weekly slots such as Babes in Arms screenings on Monday mornings, Senior Screenings on Wednesday afternoons, and Film Wednesdays, where you will find the best of world cinema, classic films and documentaries.

Shetland Arts is contracted with City Screen, owners of the Picturehouse chain of cinemas, to programme Mareel, liaising on the cinema’s behalf with companies like Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Disney and many more large and small film distributors.

Mareel Cinema, as is the case with most cinemas throughout the UK, is programmed weekly from Friday to Thursday.

Kathy Hubbard added: “On Monday mornings we negotiate with film distributors on which films to continue showing from the previous week, according to audience demand and box office figures from across the UK. This means that our films for Friday – Thursday go on sale on Tuesday, so please pick up our weekly listings flyer on Tuesdays, check the Mareel and Shetland Box Office’s websites, or check the Shetland Times on Friday for film times. We will also be producing a monthly information leaflet about forthcoming films, so you can get an idea of what’s coming soon.”

Jo Blair, Senior Programmer from City Screen added: “I look forward to working with Kathy and the team at Mareel in the long-term to provide a varied film programme, and also some of the key films of each year on their UK release dates. It is a pleasure to book films into such a stunning venue.”

There are many ways to book your Mareel Cinema tickets. Get them  from Shetland Box Office in Mareel and/or Islesburgh Community Centre, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.mareel.org and/or www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

In honour of the spooky occasion, The Revellers will be dressing up and encouraging the audience to do the same. They’ll be playing classic covers, from The Levellers through to Steve Earle, as well as a number of their own foot-stomping tunes. The group will be supported by First Foot Soldiers.

Craig Birnie, bass player in The Revellers, said: “We felt that there weren’t a lot of Halloween-specific events for adults out there, and we’d always planned to play at Mareel as soon as we could, so this seemed like the perfect way to do it. We approached Shetland Arts when Mareel opened and worked together to come up with this event. It’s already shaping up to be an excellent gig, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone there on the night.”

Shetland Arts Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We’re very pleased to be working in association with The Revellers to host such a fun Halloween concert in Mareel. At Mareel we want to showcase both visiting and local talent, and the popularity of this gig demonstrates that the Shetland public has a healthy appetite for good local music as well as visiting artists.”

Halloween with The Revellers is an 18+ only event and doors open at 8pm on Friday 26 October. Tickets cost £12 (£8 concessions) and are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel and/or Islesburgh Community Centre, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here.

Date: 18 October 2012
Location: Mareel, Lerwick, Shetland
Time: 10am – 5pm
Workshops: 10.30am – 1.00pm
Live webcast seminar:  2.00pm – 3.45pm
Cost:  Free
Registration: http://ambition-roadshow-mareel.eventbrite.co.uk/

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts is to headline Mareel’s first arts conference on 18 October.

Gwilym will offer insights into Shetland Arts’ pioneering collaboration developed with online radio/podcast producer 60° North to maximise the reach, scale and accessibility of events held live in Mareel’s Main Auditorium.

The talk is part of a free one-day Roadshow hosted by AmbITion Scotland and which is open and relevant to people from all types of arts, cultural, heritage and tourism organisations.

Gwilym commented: “I cannot think of a more fitting first major conference to take place in Mareel than AmbITion Scotland. Mareel’s connectivity and digital content generation capabilities along with live broadcast, recording facilities now place Shetland in a global market place.

“AmbITion Scotland has a strong track record of inspiring cultural bodies to think differently about how IT can enhance their offer both in terms of quality and reach. Their contribution over the years has been an inspiration to us and it is fantastic to welcome them to Shetland and into Mareel to see an idea realised.”

Shetlanders from performing and visual arts organisations, cultural and heritage venues, cultural events, community arts groups and festivals will learn how some of Scotland’s most remote artistic projects and cultural organisations are using digital tools to create global reach, scale, and access to their local work – engaging and increasing their audiences both locally and globally.

Alongside Gwilym and Shetland Arts, featured workshops include:

• Hannah Rudman of Rudman Consulting offering a practical guide to the Basics of Webcasting;

• Lucy Conway, Director of Eigg Box (Eigg) & Stef Lewandowski Geek-In-Residence with insider tips to help you Choose and Use Free Online Tools;

• Cape Farewell Sea Change Artist (Barra), Stephen Hurrel demonstrating  Environmental Sound Recording and Mixing using available/free media and tools;  

These workshops are available exclusively to delegates attending in person.  They draw on expertise developed by arts organisations on some of Scotland’s other island communities.

Since October 2011 Lucy Conway has been developing Eigg Box.  Planned to open in 2015, Eigg Box will act as a cultural enterprise hub, bringing together local creative businesses with artists from around the world.

Conway says: “Eigg Box turns on its head the notion that a centre of entrepreneurship and creativity needs to be at the centre of population.  Eigg Box makes the remote central.”

“Established as a self-sustaining social enterprise, Eigg Box will be a powerhouse of creative activity, entrepreneurship, inspiration and collaboration.  However, unlike its urban counterparts, Eigg Box’s eco-built studios and creative workspace are on the Isle of Eigg; a community-owned, renewably-powered island, off the north-west coast of Scotland with a population of less than a hundred.”  http://www.eiggbox.com/

As part of Cape Farewell’s Sea Change commissions, artist Stephen Hurrel – along with two social ecologists – has been collecting stories and gathering information from the older fishermen on Barra and capturing this process on film. In collaboration with Voluntary Action Barra & Vatersay, Stephen has been awarded First in a Lifetime funding from Creative Scotland to develop the project within the community and to develop a digital prototype version with work beginning in October. http://www.capefarewell.com/seachange/barra-maps/

The morning workshops will be followed by a seminar, webcast live to online audiences featuring:

• first hand case studies of projects from Shetland, Eigg and Barra that have implemented glo/cal principles through utilising digital tools;
• practical advice on how digital tools can help cultural organisations to deepen participation and engagement with their global and local audiences;
• information about how projects have created living archives and how they have also devolved programming into the hands of audiences, crowd sourcing curation and participation; and
• a live and online Q & A session with in person and online delegates.

To learn more and register: ambition-roadshow-mareel.eventbrite.co.uk

AmbITion Scotland is a digital development programme specifically designed to support individuals and organisations working in the arts, culture and heritage sectors in Scotland. It helps organisations and individuals grow in their capability, capacity, creativity and confidence to make the most of the opportunities of digital technologies.  AmbITion helps organisations become digitally fitter so they can adapt to the social, cultural, and economic changes of the digital technology revolution.

Funded by The National Lottery via Creative Scotland (as part of Creative Scotland’s Cultural Economy programme), AmbITion is designed and project managed by Culture Sparks in partnership with Rudman Consulting.

www.getambition.com  / https://twitter.com/getambition / https://www.facebook.com/getambition

Vic Galloway has hosted his own self-titled radio shows on both BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 1 for the past eleven years. He has also hosted Radio 1’s Rock Show and recently sat in for Marc Riley on BBC6 Music. He is often likened to the legendary John Peel, given he un-unashamedly champions new, emerging and often revolutionary music on his shows.

Over and above his radio career he also hosts BBC TV’s annual coverage of T in the Park and coverage of other festivals such as South x Southwest from Austin Texas and the Connect festival in the UK. Other television commitments include BBC 2’s Music Show, BBC 4’s Caledonia Dreaming and Channel 4’s Transmission, while as a respected music journalist he has also written for many national publications.

Vic Galloway

The Phantom Band originally formed in 2006 and are now signed to the legendary Glasgow label Chemikal Underground. The Phantom Band are one of Scotland’s most acclaimed indie-rock bands, having toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe and North America in recent years. They have two critically acclaimed albums to their credit, 2009’s Checkmate Savage and 2010’s The Wants. The band’s cross genre approach appeals to a wide audience and they are the ideal band to headline Mareel’s first Vic Galloway Presents event.

The Phantom Band

Honeyblood are an Edinburgh based duo touted by many in the industry as one of Scotland’s leading up and coming bands. Similar in approach to the White Stripes with their guitar, drums and vocal approach, 2012 has been their emerging year on the national scene, a year that’s seen them playing increasingly high profile gigs.

The Last need no introduction to Shetland audiences as they are already established as one of the most popular and acclaimed bands on the local scene. Their EP Halos and Heartaches has attracted regular air-play on SIBC while the band also made a hugely successful appearance on the main stage at last year’s Tall Ship’s event.

Vic Galloway said: “I’m excited and delighted to be part of the opening season of events in Shetland’s new venue with our Vic Galloway Presents series. There are some great established and new and up-and-coming bands on the scene right now and I look forward to presenting a number of these in the months to come in Shetland. It will also be great fun to round the evenings off with a DJ set. The Phantom Band, Honeyblood and The Last is certainly a great way to christen this particular series.”

Shetland Arts is privileged to welcome Shetland Meets Appalachia – an exploration of our common musical roots featuring Bruce Molsky and Special Shetland Guests, to Shetland in November, and to Mareel specifically on Saturday 17 November.

Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of North America’s (and Appalachia’s in particular) timeless folk music traditions. In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, Mozaik and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He featured on Nickel Creek’s farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden’s great Ale Moller. He’s also a regular guest on the famed ‘Trans-Atlantic Sessions’ concerts and TV shows series.

Bruce Molsky

Appalachian musical tradition and authenticity deeply informs Bruce music – but his influences and skills reach out much wider than that. Whether performing an ancient reel from Virginia, a Swedish waltz or a loping cowboy ballad, Molsky also presents himself as exactly who he is personality wise and that’s perhaps the key to his enormous appeal as a live performer. He’s a unique blend of musical virtuoso and humble, all-round nice guy that is quite simply irresistible to audiences.

For his second visit to Shetland (his first was as part of this years’ Trans-Atlantic Sessions concert) Bruce will be teaming up and collaborating with some of Shetland’s finest home-based musicians such as Gary Peterson, Maurice Henderson, Maggie Adamson and Brian Nicholson, the Cullivoe Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers, and Sheila Henderson (to name but a few) to explore the roots and commonality between the North American and Shetland traditions – taking in concerts in Muckle Roe, Cullivoe and Mareel along the way, together with a series of school based and adult fiddle workshops into the bargain. In addition to this groups such as Hom Bru, Haltadans and Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag will also be joining Bruce to add further to the musical fireworks that are bound to be created during this visit.

Special Shetland Guests

“I’m so looking forward to this visit” says Molsky. “The common elements between our two musical heritages and traditions are there for all to see and this factor has attracted me for some time, so I think it will be a very exciting and rewarding visit and I’m especially looking forward to working with and alongside all your great Shetland musicians. Who knows where the music will take us – but I’m certain it will be a very exciting journey for all concerned”.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Bruce and all the local acts to celebrate the Official Opening of Mareel. Shetland Meets Appalachia is a fantastic representation of Mareel’s ethos and I’m sure audiences will be in for a real treat.”

Davie Gardner of local firm Atlantic Edge Music Services said “It’s been a genuine privilege for me to be such a significant part of the planning for, and delivery of, Mareel’s Opening Season of events, especially the official opening weekend events featuring Aberfeldy, Chris Bradley, Bruce Molsky and Dougie McLean – not forgetting of course all our wonderful, homegrown local artists into the bargain. The series of concerts, including ones in Muckle Roe and Cullivoe, together with the various music related workshops aimed at our younger musicians, demonstrates Shetland Arts commitment to both a local and international programme of events in Mareel and indeed beyond. I look forward to being part of more exciting announcements in the very near future.”

Highlights include Vic Galloway Presents, which is the first in a series of regular music showcase concerts hosted by BBC Radio 1 & Radio Scotland DJ Vic Galloway, followed by a DJ set by the man himself, The Shetland Guitar Festival with headliners Stuart McCallym and Aziz Ibrahim, the return of DJ Kutski, a foot-stomping performance by Danish folk band Himmerland, Scottish duo Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells, and of course, the ever popular Happy Mondays.

Vic Galloway

Plans are taking shape for celebrations over the weekend of 16 – 18 November to mark the moment of Mareel’s Opening. Popular Scottish indie-band, Aberfeldy – described by The Scotsman as “one of the most winningly diverse bands to emerge in recent years” – will entertain audiences on the Friday night with support from singer-songwriter Chris Bradley, and Saturday will see the culmination of a week-long celebration linking Mareel with musicians from all over Shetland as well as from across the ocean.

Aberfeldy

Shetland Meets Appalachia – an exploration of our common musical roots features American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer Bruce Molsky alongside special Shetland guests including Gary Peterson, Maurice Henderson, Maggie Adamson, Sheila Henderson, Brian Nicholson, the Cullivoe Fiddlers, the Heritage Fiddlers, Lynda Anderson, and more. Workshops will take place all week in schools across Shetland, as well as a Saturday workshop in Mareel, culminating in concerts on Thursday 15 in Muckle Roe, Friday 16 in Cullivoe, and finally, Saturday 17 in Mareel.

Bruce Molsky

Special Shetland Guests

Sunday 18 will see Dougie MacLean, Scotland’s pre-eminent singer-songwriter, take to the stage. Perhaps his most famous composition is the near anthemic Caledonia – a song that has been covered by over 200 artists world-wide, including the likes of Ronan Keating, Frankie Miller, Paolo Nutini and Amy MacDonald. The song has even had a whisky named in its honour.

But Dougie is most certainly not a one-song-wonder – a fact supported by the many gold discs and other international awards and accolades he has collected throughout his career. Dougie tours globally on a regular basis, selling out large concerts the world over including venue’s such as New York’s famed Carnegie Hall. He was recently awarded an OBE for his contribution to music in the New Year’s Honours List.

Dougie MacLean

Director of Shetland Arts, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce such a packed programme of high-quality events for Official Opening Season at Mareel. We have had a huge amount of interest so far and we expect that things will only get busier in the run up to the festive season.”

Also during Opening Season, Shetland Arts will be launching Mareel’s much-anticipated cinema promotions – Gold & Silver Cards, Family & Friends Discount, and Ten4Nine.

As a special Opening Season promotion Mareel will be offering customers a one-time only Gold/Silver Card Taster Package. This is a three month package allowing customers to see how the Mareel Gold or Silver Card fits their lifestyle, without having to commit to a full 12 month contract straight away.

Customers pay for three months up front (£45 for the Gold Card, £30 for the Silver Card) and receive use of their card for three months from the date of that payment (this could be any time from October to December). After three months Shetland Arts will get in touch to see if they want to commit to the full 12 month contract.

The Gold Card gives customers access to unlimited film at Mareel for just £15 a month. The Silver Card gives customers access to unlimited off-peak film at Mareel for £10 a month. A valid Gold Card entitles customers to one seat for any 2D film screening, subject to availability and one seat for any 3D film screening at a significantly discounted rate (£1 per screening, glasses must be purchased separately or brought to screening, glasses cost £1). This also applies to the Silver Card, but only for off-peak times. Off-peak is defined as all day Monday to Wednesday, before 5pm on Thursday and Friday, and before 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday.

The Family & Friends Discount allows groups with two children or more and one adult or more to all pay children’s prices for any U, PG, or 12A film. Adults are defined as aged 16 and above and children are 15 and below. Ten4Nine is a special group booking discount for any customers buying 10 tickets in one purchase for a single event: buy ten tickets for the cost of nine.

Official Opening Season at Mareel runs from October to December 2012.  More events may be announced at a later date. Tickets for most events will go on sale Monday 1 October.

Download the listings for Official Opening Season as a pdf by clicking here. View as an image below:

Opening this Friday at Bonhoga Gallery is an exhibition of work by six of Shetland’s most innovative contemporary textile designers. The project promises to take the conventional view of Shetland craft truly out of the box.

Text-Isles is a collective of designers who work together to promote the Shetland textile industry. They form an active, unified and creative group who aim to promote Shetland textiles nationally and internationally, bringing global attention to the unique qualities of contemporary Scottish textiles.

Work for this exhibition started many months ago, with each of the six designers preparing a box of objects and artefacts that represented their interpretation of Shetland heritage and folklore. To this each added basic starter materials such as cotton, Shetland wool, a notebook and some fleece or fibre.

On a dark night in February the six makers – Jo Jack, Wendy Inkster, Suzanne Shearer, Andrea Williamson, Donna Smith and Emma Blain met at Bonhoga to swap their boxes with each other and start the second phase of the project. Each, with their new box of delights, set about interpreting the contents and using them to inspire new pieces of work for display.

It is these boxes, sketchbooks and finished works that make up the unusual and inspiring exhibition that runs until 4^th November.  To coincide with the opening of the exhibition two members of the group will be giving an informal talk in the gallery on 22^nd September at 11.30am, while from 11-1pm in the café on the same day, two more members of the group will be running an informal drop-in workshop for bairns to come along and get creative (no booking needed for either, just turn up!).

To complement this show there are ranges of cutting edge textiles from around the UK including Lost Values, a design initiative from London creating knitwear using a reflective yarn and Yu-Ping Ling, a textile jeweller originally from Taiwan whose intricate and beautiful range of work is inspired by origami and kaleidoscopic patterns. On a different scale, Shetland designer, Wendy Shaw is exhibiting a colourful collection of contemporary interior pieces and accessories in knitted cotton, and Emma Palmer revives the textile technique of tatting in colourful contemporary jewellery.

In contrast to all this work, but equally beautiful, is an exhibition in the café of photographs by Shetlander Christopher Rocks, taken during a seven month stay as a recent graduate in Kenya in 2011. These powerful images have been chosen to reflect an outsider’s glimpse of a very different culture, documenting a challenging project to improve the livelihoods of women and children in an east African slum.

Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said, ‘the range of work on show at Bonhoga just now offers a brilliantly rich mix of eclectic influence, style and concept. From the cool colours of Christopher’s incredible images to the sparky textiles from Shetland and the UK, there is a vibrant feel to all the exhibitions at Bonhoga this autumn.’

The preview is on Friday 21^st September from 5.30-7.30pm and everyone is very welcome.

Thanks to very helpful feedback from our customers about our previously unreserved seating, we have decided to change to a “best allocated seats” system. This means that, when booking, your seats will be automatically assigned to you to ensure that those making group bookings will be sitting together, wherever possible.

Your feedback is welcomed while we test this new seating system.

From Monday onwards, the opening hours will be: Sunday – Wednesday 10am – 11pm, Thursday – Saturday, 10am – 1am.

Book your tickets now for the Workshop – An exclusive chance to get up close with Cerys and her guests as they give intimate performances and answer your questions in the Mareel Café Bar during the day before they perform in the evening. Cerys and her guests are particularly keen to meet and hear from local musicians, so book your tickets now for this exclusive opportunity. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online here.

After this, Mareel’s Official Opening Season will kick off in style with a concert in the Main Auditorium. The Wonderful World of Cerys Matthews concert will feature an eclectic and dynamic mix of the best music and poetry from around the world, hosted and performed by Cerys and guests. See unique and exclusively live performances of songs, from original pieces to cover songs from the likes of Johnny Cash to Sydney Bechet, from melody to spoken word, from the obscure and the exotic to guitar driven classics. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online here.

Normal opening hours will continue tomorrow (Saturday 15 September).

Thank you for your cooperation.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) Principal Oboe Katy MacKintosh will perform two concerts with acclaimed Shetland musicians Maurice Henderson and Margaret Scollay, as well as her father, pianist Graeme MacKintosh.

The concerts feature a mixture of Scottish traditional music, presented in a context of Scottish literature and inspired by the sea. What promises to be a vibrant and imaginative programme, it takes as its starting basis Scotland’s rich and diverse musical heritage, the first half consisting of works by James Scott Skinner and Niel Gow, played by the MacKintosh’s, and Margaret Scollay and Maurice Henderson will perform a selection of Shetland tunes. The second half will feature a newly-composed work, Spöndrift, written especially for the performances during Katherine’s return to Shetland.

RSNO Principal Oboe Katy MacKintosh: “It’s great to be back in Shetland for my third visit. Margaret, Maurice and I had great fun on Unst last time, composing and performing new music, and I am very happy to have the opportunity of developing our musical relationship further.”

Katy’s visit to Shetland follows the RSNO’s critically-lauded week-long visit in March 2012. Its visit comprised of five days of rehearsals and performances, education and community activities, and workshops and masterclasses across the Islands. In the Year of Creative Scotland, Out and About in Shetland formed the most northerly element of Music Nation, the UK-wide weekend of music-making and what was the first nationwide countdown event to the London 2012 Festival.

The concerts are on Friday 14 September, 2012, 7.30pm at The Long Room in Busta House, Busta and Saturday 15 September, 2012, also at 7.30pm, at Boat Hall, Shetland Museum, Lerwick. Tickets are available from the Box Office – £8 or £5 for concessions, tel. 745555.

Outside opening hours, snacks, and hot & cold drinks, will be available at reception for those attending films. Our Foyer Snacks menu is available for download here.

Buy your tickets now for the Workshop: http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org/whats-on/workshop-cerys-matthews

Buy in person from Mareel or Islesburgh, or over the phone on 01595 745 555.

Tickets go on sale today (Tuesday 11 September) at 1pm from Shetland Box Office. You can buy your ticket in person from the reception at Mareel, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online from www.shetlandboxoffice.org. Tickets cost £50 and are limited to a maximum purchase of 4 per person. Over 18s only.

Happy Mondays are one of the most influential bands to emerge from the 1990s Britpop era, whose turbulent history has seen them split and reform several times. The 2012 incarnation features the original line-up of front man Shaun Ryder, his brother Paul on bass, Gary Whelan (drums), Rowetta (backing vocals), Mark Day (guitar), Paul “PD” Davis (keyboards) and dancer Mark “Bez” Berry.

Klub Revolution is a music promoter run by Shetlander, Alan Mcleod. He said: “It’s [the Happy Mondays] only date on their European tour and they said it’s the one that is really standing out for them… They are absolutely looking forward to it, and they are very impressed with the venue and its technical specifications.”

Shetland Arts runs Mareel, the UK’s most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre. Situated in the prominent quayside area in Lerwick, next to the Shetland Museum and Archives, Mareel has a live performance auditorium, two cinema screens, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, education and training spaces, a digital media production suite, broadcast facilities, and a café bar with free high speed wi-fi internet access. Mareel provides Shetland with a year round programme of film, live music and other performance events.

Shetland Arts Development Agency is the leading arts agency in Shetland, promoting a year round programme of music, craft, theatre, literature, visual arts, dance and film events; the agency also runs the Garrison Theatre in Lerwick and Bonhoga Gallery in Weisdale.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: “Shetland Arts is delighted to be working with local promoter Klub Revolution to put on this excellent event. This opportunity demonstrates Mareel’s potential, as a quality venue in a unique location, to attract renowned acts to Shetland as they tour Europe.”

Normal opening hours will continue on Saturday 15 September.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Snacks, and hot & cold drinks, will be available at reception for those attending films today. Our Foyer Snacks menu is available for download here.

Mark will be in the upstairs Café Bar interviewing Screenplay guests such as Bill Forsyth, and also Shetland Arts’ own Head of Development, Kathy Hubbard, about the excellent selection of screenings at Shetland’s sixth annual film festival taking place in the new venue until Sunday 9 September.

Screenplay 2012 runs from 31 August to 9 September and is curated by celebrated film critics Mark Kermode Linda Ruth Williams. It features a feast of film screenings, lectures and panel discussions involving national and international film industry professionals and film academics.

This will be the first ever live national broadcast from Mareel, the UK’s most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre. BBC Radio Shetland’s Good Evening Shetland was broadcast locally from the venue in August. Parts of Good Evening Shetland will be broadcast from Mareel again tonight, and the show will include interviews with Mark Kermode, Bill Forsyth, and local filmmakers Marjolein and Dirk Robertson.

Situated in a prominent quayside area in Lerwick next to the Shetland Museum and Archives, Mareel has a live performance auditorium, two cinema screens, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, education and training spaces, a digital media production suite, broadcast facilities and a cafe bar with free high speed wi-fi internet access. Mareel will provide a year round programme of film, live music, education and other performance events.

Director of Shetland Arts, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Kermode and Mayo will be broadcast from Mareel on BBC Radio 5 Live this afternoon. The team are busy setting up the broadcast equipment in the upstairs Café Bar right now, and it looks set to be an excellent show with a packed programme of Screenplay events to discuss. We are also pleased to welcome back BBC Radio Shetland this evening for a great show which will include interviews with both local and national Screenplay guests.

Kermode and Mayo starts at 2pm today on BBC Radio 5 Live. Good Evening Shetland starts at 5.30pm on BBC Radio Shetland.

Broadcaster and writer, Sally Magnusson will need little introduction to viewers of Reporting Scotland and Songs of Praise, or listeners to Radio 4. On Saturday evening, she will appear in the Mareel Auditorium to talk about her book, Life of Pee, and answer questions from the audience.

Scottish Opera are also staging three performances of A Little Bit of Northern Light, which they have been touring around a variety of venues in communities throughout Scotland. The show, for bairns aged 4-8 (and their parents/carers) lasts for half an hour, and features a story-teller, two instrumentalists and a singer. It tells the story of the re-commissioning of a lighthouse on an island.

Tickets are still available for Horace the Haggis (for ages 5-9), which as well as an appearance by the eponymous haggis, will feature his creators author Sally Magnusson and illustrator Norman Stone who will take you into the amazing world of Horace the Haggis and friends, with readings, on-the-spot drawings and even some animation.

Horace the Haggis

Other events include appearances by literary luminaries such as John Burnside and Robin Robertson, both of whom are winners of the Forward Prize for poetry. Like Robin Robertson, John Burnside is renowned as a fine reader of his work, and he holds the distinction of having won both the Forward Prize and the TS Eliot prize for the same volume of poetry, Black Cat Bone, which he will be featuring in his reading on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday will see readings by Rodge Glass, author of Bring Me The Head of Ryan Giggs, and Neil Butler who has recently published The Roost, a collection of short stories which has been described as Shetland’s answer to Trainspotting, and has received excellent reviews. This will be a feast for lovers of contemporary fiction and a rare chance to meet two very fine writers.

The festival will end with a reading chaired by Mary Blance, presenter of BBC Radio Shetland’s Book Programme, which will feature Karin Altenberg and Christine De Luca. Christine De Luca was born and raised in Shetland and is perhaps better known for her poetry, though in this session she will feature her novel, And Then Forever… which she launched at Wordplay 2011. Karin Altenberg was born in Sweden and now lives in the UK. Her first novel, Island of Wings, set in St Kilda was nominated for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the 2011 Saltire Award (First Book) and shortlisted for the 2012 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards (First Novel).

Speaking about the festival, Literature Development Officer Donald Anderson said, “We are delighted with the way Wordplay has been going so far this year. Mareel is proving to be an excellent venue and already there has been feast of lively readings, discussion and debate and this seems set to continue over the coming weekend. We are proud to be featuring the quality and variety of writers who will be appearing and look forward to welcoming people of all ages to the events.”

Tickets for all events are available from Shetland Box Office, Mareel or Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Chris recorded his solo parts for the Brave soundtrack in the world-famous Air Studios in London, alongside the London Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack was based on an original score by Patrick Doyle.

Chris said: “When they first called and asked me to be on the soundtrack, I didn’t realise how important the film was to become. I didn’t even realise it was Disney and Pixar! When it become clear that I would be recording with the London Symphony Orchestra in Air Studios I started to realise how important this could be. Even just to get the opportunity to record in those studios with the London Symphony Orchestra was an amazing opportunity for me, let alone being on the soundtrack to such an excellent film.”

Chris in Mareel.

Unfortunately Chris missed the UK premiere of Brave because he was touring in Ireland at the time, but he later went to see a screening in Glasgow.

He said: “It was just me and a bunch of kids on a weekday afternoon and I swear, I was laughing louder than any of them! It was a really incredible experience to be involved in the production of the music for such a magical film. I’m so pleased that Shetlanders will get the chance to see it on the big screen in Mareel and I’d urge everyone to go see it.”

Brave will be showing in 3D and 2D in Mareel until Monday 17 September. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office, Mareel or Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Sat 1 Sept, 1500-1600
Screen 2, Mareel
Free (book tickets here)

Extra Event:
Mon 3 Sept, 1300-1400
Shetland Library
Free

Angus Reid is a writer and filmmaker. He has published three volumes of poetry, The Gift, White Medicine and The Book of Days. His plays include How to Kill, Believer, and Mundus et Infans; his films include Brotherly Love, The Ring, and the forthcoming Primary School Musical! His work has won national and international awards. For more information see
www.angusreid.co.uk

Angus Reid has been invited to install his poem, Call For a Constitution in the members area of the Scottish Parliament and decided to embark upon a journey, installing the poem in venues- galleries, theaters, schools, village halls – all over Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland.

As well as installing his poem in Mareel & Shetland Library, Angus will give a lecture and poetry reading.

Normal opening hours will continue on Saturday 15 September.

Thank you for your cooperation.

We will release the full regular cinema programme, which begins on the 10 Sept, on the website soon.

The regular cinema programme will include new films, premieres, summer catch-up films, family films, international films, independent films, classic films, documentaries, Film Wednesdays screenings, Adult & Baby Screenings, Senior Screenings, and Kids’ Club screenings.

We look forward to seeing you!

With Ice Age: Continental Drift for children and families, King of Devil’s Island and Jackpot for followers of Scandinavian film, Trollhunter for those who like a dark tale, and Inni, a filmed concert by Iceland’s Sigur Rós for music lovers, there’s plenty to get folk in the mood for ten days of screen treats. This year’s themed screenings go under the banner of ‘It’s Dark Up North’, and from now until 9th September there will be lots of opportunity to see how our Scandinavian neighbours approach the darker side of life in cinematic terms – from the 1957 Ingmar Bergman classic, The Seventh Seal to Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.

Shetland Arts Head of Development, Kathy Hubbard said: “Audiences are in for a unique treat mid-week with the visit of Colorado-based film maker Alexandre Philippe, and two of the funniest documentaries you are ever likely to see – The People Vs George Lucas and The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus. Neither of these wonderful films has been on general release in the UK, so this represents a very special opportunity for Shetland audiences.”

The former is about the unparalleled passion the original Star Wars trilogy inspires in its fans. Using interviews taken from over 700 hours of footage and peppered with extraordinary Star Wars recreations lovingly immortalised in needlepoint, Lego, claymation and puppets, this hilarious documentary asks the question: Who truly owns that galaxy far, far away? The man who created it or the fans who love it?

The second of Alexandre’s films takes a wry look at the world’s most celebrated cephalopod – Paul, the octopus who correctly ‘predicted’ the outcome of eight games in the 2010 Football World Cup. Described as a ‘biopic of tentacular proportions’ it looks at the kind of celebrity mania that dominates 21st century culture. Alexandre will be there to discuss his films and answer questions, and is guaranteed to charm and entertain audiences.

Alexandre O. Philippe

There are two other mid-week treats for film fans: first, the chance to see the last ever concert by the LCD Sound System, Shut Up and Play the Hits on Tuesday evening (opening across the UK that night in selected cinemas only) and the second is a preview of the bootlegging drama Lawless, which opens in the UK later in the week, and which comes to Shetland courtesy of the distributors, Momentum Pictures (it will have a longer run at Mareel later in September).

With two screens now available, the festival is able to offer more than one opportunity to see many of the films on offer, although events attended by guests such as Miranda Richardson and Bill Forsyth are one-off occasions. The single screening of Prometheus is already sold out, but Shetland Arts would like to reassure audiences that there will be more chances to see this remarkable film in the coming weeks.

Free screenings of the short films from across the UK that made up Shetland Arts’ Cultural Olympiad project, A Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back will be showing throughout the week, and all are welcome to drop in and be inspired by the creativity of non-professional film makers young and old. Shetland’s own film makers will be showcased next Friday at the Home Made screening – always a sell-out so book early!

Tickets can be purchased at Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555 or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Screenplay / Wordplay 2012 Programme

While Scotland debates its political identity in preparation for an independence referendum, Edinburgh artist Angus Reid considered it was time to answer this question for himself. As a film-maker and visual artist as well as a writer, he decided to invite people across Scotland to join him in giving thought to the fact that – as he says – “We have no written constitution… no form of words that define a contract between a people and a government.” Mr Reid believes that the result of having no such defined constitution is that “certain values are easily over-ridden.”

He has written a poem, ‘Call for a Constitution’, which will be displayed in the members’ area of the Scottish Parliament from 17th-28th September. Before then, Mareel in Lerwick is one of a variety of locations across Scotland including Dunbar and Uist where the poem will pop up, encouraging the Scottish public to engage with the quest to define the values by which a people’s government takes political action in their name.

The democratic process of making a personal mark as an individual within society is the device Angus Reid uses to bring his poem to life as an inter-active art installation. In each venue, the poem will appear in a unique public space, chosen to allow the passer-by to connect with the reflective purpose of the words.  Beside the poem will be space for the public to leave their own mark, comment or handprint, joining MSPs and other communities in Scotland in a national response to the idea.

Angus will be installing two versions of his poem in Mareel, today (Friday 31st August). The largest version is a translation of the poem into Shetland Dialect, by Christine De Luca. He will also give an illustrated talk and poetry reading in Screen 2 at 3pm on Saturday 1st September, as part of Wordplay 2012.

Angus Reid.

He said: “Christine De Luca has produced a beautiful translation of the poem, very precise, but somehow leavening the seriousness of intent with a tone that is light and familiar… The installation in Mareel will be the largest of those I am installing across Scotland. The man that makes my vinyls still cannot believe it.”

He added: “The idea that a poem can speak a common language, can define shared values, can invite people to make our democracy and our parliament their own – these are clearly ideas that are recognisable in Shetland.”

Also happening this weekend is a poetry reading by Fife poet, Joan Lennon, in Bonhoga Café at 7.30pm today (Friday 31st August) which will include contributions by Shetland maker, Sarah Riley. Their work is currently on display in the venue, and is part of Farlin, a project which features collaborations between poets and makers in Fife and Shetland. The project is run by Shetland Arts, in partnership with Fife Contemporary Arts and Crafts.

Both these events are free.

The first weekend of Wordplay concludes with a poetry reading, also in Screen 2 in Mareel, at 3pm on Sunday 2nd September. This features Ron Pretty, from Australia, who will be reading alongside Shetland poet, Jim Mainland.

Ron Pretty’s seventh book of poetry, Postcards from the Centre, was published in July 2010. He has also written about writing in Creating Poetry, which was revised and reissued in 2002. He has edited the literary journals SCARP and Blue Dog: Australian Poetry. Until 2007 he ran the Poetry Australia Foundation and was Director of Five Islands Press. In 2012 he has a residency at the Whiting Studio in Rome.

Jim Mainland, Shetland author, is a poet and fiction writer who writes primarily in English. He has published widely in The New Shetlander – he is a committee member – and other magazines. His first collection A Package of Measures (2002) displays a quietly philosophical mind, coupled with genuine virtuosity, in poems such as ‘Nibon: an elementary grammar’, which was chosen by Lise Sinclair as the opening poem of her suite Ivver Entrancin Wis.

Wordplay is supported by investment by Creative Scotland and sponsorship by BP/Sullom Voe Terminal.  ‘A Call for A Constitution’ is supported by investment by Creative Scotland.

Wordplay / Screenplay 2012 Programme

Hard copies can be picked up from Islesburgh Community Centre, Mareel, and various local shops.

Wordplay Screenplay Programme 2012

Shetland Arts’ Director Gwilym Gibbons said: “The excellent NYJOS Summer MusicFest, which includes two showcase concerts on Saturday and Sunday (25 & 26 August), wasn’t programmed to take place in Mareel, but we are very pleased to be able to move it there to kick off the public’s first experiences of the building in style.”

Corinna Gregory, Jazz Ensembles Manager for NYJOS, said: “We’re delighted to be the opening act in Mareel and with the warm reception we’ve received in Shetland. We’re going to create a real buzz while we’re here!”

Shetland Arts’ Music Development Officer, Bryan Peterson is looking forward to the educational activities. He said: “We’re excited to start inducting students for courses in Mareel next week. The educational opportunities provided in Mareel are world-class and learning is embedded into all aspects of the venue’s operations. The NYJOS concerts are also a very fitting way to open the doors because several of the local members of NYJOS are actually students on the forthcoming courses.”

From Friday 31 August, Shetland Arts’ annual film and book festivals, Screenplay and Wordplay, will open in Mareel with an excellent selection of events and film screenings, and classical music lovers will also be in for a real treat the night before, Thursday 30 August, when Neil Georgeson performs a classical piano recital in the Main Auditorium.”

Neil Georgeson is originally from Shetland and now lives in London. He said: “For the recital in Mareel I have chosen the concept of Preludes to mark or reflect the beginning of a great new development in Shetland. I will be including Preludes by Bach, Chopin, Debussy, and Rachmaninov, as well as sonatas by Mozart and Prokofiev.”

Shetland Arts would like to sincerely thank everyone who has worked so hard to get us to this point. The Mareel team has put in an astounding effort towards getting the building open and we are very grateful to everyone involved.

Tickets for these events are available from Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The aforementioned “letter” was actually a comment posted on Shetland Times’ website by said individual, quoting a private message he received from Shetland Arts as part of our standard moderation procedures. Shetland Arts’ did not make this information public at any point. We are disappointed that this misleading statement was published and saddened that we have been forced to comment publicly on this matter.

View Diary as PDF WPSP-Diary2012 (3.8MB)

From 23^rd August a select group of players will take up residency in Shetland for 4 days as part of a Summer MusicFest.  This festival of music follows on from earlier workshops held in Shetland in June 2012 and will comprise 2 further workshops, open jam sessions and jazz club style performances each evening, culminating in two live performances on Saturday & Sunday 25^th & 26^th August.

The NYJOS summer tour received rave reviews as the orchestra played sold out shows in Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness and Skye.  Thanks to generous funding from Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI), Artistic Directors Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain will be leading free workshops open to local high school students from all musical backgrounds.  The pupils will have the chance to work with and play alongside pre-professional musicians from the NYJOS Collective ensemble including two previous winners of the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, Ru Pattison (Sax) and Andrew Robb (Bass).  They will also be joined by Mairi Chaimbeul (Clarsach) and selected string players from the main NYOS symphony orchestra, including fiddler Maggie Adamson.

NYJOS Collective provides performance opportunities for students on the cusp of their career as professional musicians. It is a small and flexible ensemble of around 12–15 players who have taken part in concert tours throughout Scotland, residencies with other bands and recording sessions.

Moving beyond traditional ensemble roles, all musicians will improvise and perform unique, daring repertoire without a conductor. The aim is to break down the traditional barriers between improvised and written music, inviting each participant to move beyond their comfort zone in order to inform and broaden their musical experience. This is a cutting edge ensemble and a clear sign NYOS is looking to the future, continuing to promote excellence in music education within a constantly evolving mainstream.

Shetland audiences are in for a treat! Malcolm and Andrew successfully directed and recorded this style of cross genre collaboration back in 2011, with captivating results.  Opportunities to hear and see these unique performances live will be on Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th August with concerts performed from 8pm onwards in Lerwick Town Hall.

Over and above the formal, planned live performances we would like to take this opportunity invite local musicians of any age and from all backgrounds to come along and join us each evening from 23^rd August to get involved, as we host informal jam sessions in the Shetland Museum and Archives.  Each evening will be kicked off by a local band and then the floor will be open to all.

Tickets can be purchased from Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The schedule below may change slightly in terms of the musicians involved and the types of collaborative work occurring, but the planned dates for rehearsals, jam sessions and concerts are as follows:

Thurs 23 & Fri 24 Aug

11.00 – 13.00: 2 concurrent music workshops for local students in the Lerwick Town Hall. One aimed at beginners with main focus on improvising and the other aimed at more advanced players, led by Malcolm and Andrew and supported by senior NYJOS students.

14.00 – 18.00: ensemble rehearsals led by Malcolm and Andrew for all NYOS students in the Lerwick Town Hall.

Evenings – informal jam sessions open to all, with a mix of organised trad and jazz ensembles. This will take place in the Shetland Museum and Archives.

Sat 25 & Sun 26 Aug

Further ensemble rehearsals (with open rehearsals in the afternoon), with a public performance each evening followed by a jam in the Lerwick Town Hall. In addition to our own ensembles performing, we are hopeful that the students involved in the earlier workshops will be able to perform with us on the Sunday evening.

Wordplay 2012 features guests such as Sally Magnusson, Norman Stone, Val McDermid, Ron Pretty, Jim Mainland, Angus Reid, John Burnside, Rodge Glass, Luke Jennings, Christine De Luca, Karin Altenberg,  Neil Butler and Robin Robertson.

Bibliophiles both young and old alike will benefit from the new special family ticket (£18 for 4 tickets, must be 1 adult in the party) available for Sally Magnusson and Norman Stone’s family event ‘Horace the Haggis.’

Sally Magnusson

Horace the Haggis, homeless and hunted, finds refuge among the animals of Acre Valley. But Angus McPhee, chief of the haggis-hunters, and his deadly cat are out to trap him.

Horace the Haggis gives children a world of fun, adventure, secrets and unforgettable characters and is both comfortingly timeless and engagingly modern. And in Acre Valley the exploits of Horace and his friends will have you laughing one minute and on the edge of your seat the next. Illustrated by the author’s husband and based on ideas from their own children, this is a family book for other families to read together and enjoy.

Author Sally Magnusson and illustrator Norman Stone will take you into the amazing world of Horace the Haggis and friends, with readings, on-the-spot drawings and even some animation. Stand by for a personal appearance by a larger-than-life Horace the Haggis himself.

The event is suitable for ages 5-9, children must be accompanied by an adult.

And those who would like to see more events will delight in the new festival package: £40 (£30 concessions) to attend all 7 paid events during the festival. This includes Q&A sessions, readings and talks.

Tickets can be booked via Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555.

The Shetland Arts’ offices in Toll Clock Centre will be closed on Friday 24 August, and Monday & Tuesday 27 & 28 August for moving. Thereafter the offices will be based in Mareel. Thank you for your patience.

The ‘Cerys by Candlelight’ Tour will make its way to Mareel in December for a festive feast of music, poetry, and the purely unexpected that makes each and every Cerys Matthews live show a unique experience.

It’s a long way from her late 90s huge Catatonia hits and media bits that were essential to the zeitgeist of the times. Her talents have since emerged in her widely successful solo albums, ranging from ‘Cock A Hoop’, recorded in Nashville in 2003, through to 2009’s ‘Don’t Look Down’ and the more recent ‘Explorer’ (2011) which did what it said on the tin – taking the listener around the world in the same way that Cerys’ hugely popular BBC 6Music radio programme has made its reputation as a must-listen for any real music lover on a Sunday morning.

Cerys will also have a new album ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ (2012), featuring 15 winter favourites, sung with great gusto and humour, two qualities that no doubt Cerys will be looking for when she visits Mareel in Shetland.

There will be candles and songs so familiar that you will have little option but to sing along (with a sheet in your hand). It will be winter warming magic, and the perfect way to start your Christmas Holidays with all the family.

Tickets are £23.50 (£20 under 14s for the 5:45pm concert) and can be booked via Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, or online here.

Screen 1, view from the top.

Screen 1, view from the bottom.

Dramatic view of Screen 1.

Screen 2, from the top.

Screen 2, from the bottom.

Main Auditorium, from side.

Stage in Main Auditorium.

Mareel Cafe Bar.

Food and drink served 7 days per week.

Mareel Recording Studio and Live Room.

View of upstairs and downstairs foyer.

Film posters in downstairs foyer.

Popcorn machines.

Mareel from outside.

It’s a long way from her late 90s huge Catatonia hits and media bits that were essential to the zeitgeist of the times. Her talents have since emerged in her widely successful solo albums, ranging from ‘Cock A Hoop’, recorded in Nashville in 2003, through to 2009’s ‘Don’t Look Down’ and the more recent ‘Explorer’ (2011) which did what it said on the tin – taking the listener around the world in the same way that Cerys’ hugely popular BBC 6Music radio programme has made its reputation as a must-listen for any real music lover on a Sunday morning.

Cerys will also have a new album ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ (2012), featuring 15 winter faves, sung with great gusto and humour, two qualities that no doubt Cerys will be looking for when she visits Shetland.

The concert will take place on 20 December in Mareel – the perfect way to open the Christmas Season.

Tickets will go on sale soon. Please check Shetland Arts’ website regularly for further details.

The DJ Kutski gig scheduled to be in Mareel on Saturday 18 August has been moved to Hamnavoe Hall, same date and time.

Ticket-holders who would like to receive a refund are advised to take their ticket back to where they purchased it (either High Level Music or Shetland Box Office in Islesburgh) before Saturday.

Those who would like to purchase a ticket for the event can do so by visiting High Level Music at the Market Cross or Shetland Box Office in Islesburgh, phoning 01595 745 555, or online by clicking here.

The NYJOS summer tour received rave reviews as the orchestra played sold out shows in Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness and Skye.  Thanks to generous funding from Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI), Artistic Directors Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain will be leading free workshops open to local high school students from all musical backgrounds.  The pupils will have the chance to work with and play alongside pre-professional musicians from the NYJOS Collective ensemble including two previous winners of the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, Ru Pattison (Sax) and Andrew Robb (Bass).  They will also be joined by Mairi Chaimbeul (Clarsach) and selected string players from the main NYOS symphony orchestra, including fiddler Maggie Adamson.

NYJOS Collective provides performance opportunities for students on the cusp of their career as professional musicians. It is a small and flexible ensemble of around 12–15 players who have taken part in concert tours throughout Scotland, residencies with other bands and recording sessions.

Moving beyond traditional ensemble roles, all musicians will improvise and perform unique, daring repertoire without a conductor. The aim is to break down the traditional barriers between improvised and written music, inviting each participant to move beyond their comfort zone in order to inform and broaden their musical experience. This is a cutting edge ensemble and a clear sign NYOS is looking to the future, continuing to promote excellence in music education within a constantly evolving mainstream.

The Shetlanders are in for a treat!  Malcolm and Andrew successfully directed and recorded this style of cross genre collaboration back in 2011, with

captivating results.  Opportunities to hear and see these unique performances live will be on Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th August with concerts performed from 8pm onwards.

Over and above the formal, planned live performances we would like to take this opportunity invite local musicians of any age and from all backgrounds to come along and join us each evening from 23^rd August to get involved, as we host informal jam sessions.  Each evening will be kicked off by a local band and then the floor will be open to all.

Venue and ticketing details will be released later this week.

Shetland Arts’ beach workshop at St. Ninian’s last week was a huge success, not least because it was a beautiful day and the sun shone throughout – it was more like the Bahamas than Shetland! The workshop was lead by artist Anne Bevan, whose exhibition runs at Bonhoga Gallery and the Pier Store in Lerwick until mid-September, and was funded by Scottish Natural Heritage as part of a Community Action Grant awarded to Shetland Arts for the project.

The workshop, for all ages from 5 to 105, was designed to explore the subject of Anne’s exhibition – unseen (microscopic) organisms present in the marine environment. Those on the workshop were invited to consider the sand beneath their feet, arguably in more depth than they had ever done before. For this Anne was accompanied by Professor Kate Darling, eminent marine bio-geologist, Jen Hadfield, award-winning poet, and a wide collection of microscopes, magnifiers and sampling equipment. Through art, poetry and science children and adults alike were mesmerised, inspired and amazed by the knowledge, insight and imaginations of Anne and her colleagues.

Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said: “It was a delight to see so many people keen to learn about the unseen natural wonders all around us, and in the company of such a stellar line-up of brilliantly creative minds. We are very grateful to Scottish Natural Heritage for their support in this venture and we are looking forward to hosting more workshops before the close of the exhibition.”

She continued: “Anne’s exhibition takes something microscopic and uses it as a platform from which to consider wider issues or sustainability and existence, and this is what makes it so interesting. The fossilised remains of the microscopic organisms that Anne portrays exist in the oil we depend on for our modern existence, so we have plenty to contemplate.”

Anne is hoping to involve more groups of people in similar workshops towards the close of her show in mid-September, which will be publicised nearer the time.

more photos

He said: “We have been very busy these past few months working behind the scenes training our staff on how to ensure the positive atmosphere we’d like to see in Mareel. This has included training on our new Door Policy, ServeWise training, and training on the Challenge 25 scheme.”

“We want to “change the thinking on drinking” in Mareel and emphasise the venue as somewhere to come to enjoy creative events first and foremost, not just to drink alcohol. We also want to make sure that, for those who would like to drink, there is an emphasis on drinking for enjoyment and pleasure, not to get intoxicated. We will be stocking a number of high quality wines, beers and cocktails, allowing customers to savour these drinks for their taste and quality.”

Mareel. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

Mareel’s Door Policy promotes this positive atmosphere around drinking, with policies set to be put in place such as: regular searches conducted upon entry to the venue and anyone refusing to be searched or trying to bring concealed alcohol into the venue will be refused access. Other policies include: anyone discovered with alcohol that hasn’t been bought from the bar in Mareel will be removed from the venue, and anyone arriving at the venue intoxicated will be refused entry.

Mareel will also operate under the Challenge 25 scheme, wherein customers who look under 25 will be asked to prove their age by either showing a driving license or a passport (no other form of ID accepted) when attempting to purchase alcohol. Under this scheme, anyone under 18 attempting to purchase alcohol is deemed to have committed an offence and will be asked to leave the premises.

Gwilym added: “We want to create an atmosphere in Mareel that is welcoming and positive for all and we are confident the policies and procedures we have developed will help to ensure this. We have put together great Bars and Catering and Front of House teams led by Amy Jenner and Autumn Robinson, who together I’m sure will create a welcoming, safe and fun place to visit with an excellent choice of food, drink and entertainment for all ages.”

The festival is curated by acclaimed film critic Mark Kermode and distinguished film historian Linda Ruth Williams.

There is a lot to squeeze in over ten days, including music, screenings, and Q&A sessions with Miranda Richardson and Bill Forsyth, and some terrific documentaries, including Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia for the Light, which brings together cosmology and human rights, and Anthony Baxter’s You’ve Been Trumped, for those who have been watching events unfold across the water in Aberdeen.

Miranda Richardson. Copyright Nick Haddow 2012.

This year’s themed series is “It’s Dark Up North”, a homage to our Scandinavian cousins who do darkness better than anyone else. This will include André Øvredal’s Trollhunter, the Ingmar Bergman classic The Seventh Seal, Lars von Trier’s remarkable Melancholia, Magnus Martens’ Jo Nesbø’s Jackpot, The King of Devil’s Island with the fantastic Stellan Skarsgård, and last but not least, Timo Vuorensola’s undeniably weird Iron Sky, much admired by one of our curators, Mark Kermode.

But it’s not all darkness up North – Bent Hamer’s Kitchen Stories is a wry and humorous offering from Norway and Sweden, an excellent antidote to all that gloom.

Bill Forsyth (with film guru/critic/professor David Bordwell) taken at Rogert Ebert’s festival in Ubrana Illinois 2010.

For children we will be screening Ice Age – Continental Drift, something we all missed seeing in Shetland during the summer. And as a rare treat we have a special double bill; The Itch of the Golden Nit is the result of collaboration between Aardman Animation and the Tate Movie Project, involving children between the ages of 5 to 13 years. This will be playing alongside a Wallace and Gromit favourite, A Matter of Loaf and Death. Following its popularity at last year’s festival, the London International Animation Festival is sending programmes of short films for children and young people from 0 – 14 years.

We are incredibly fortunate to host Alexandre O. Philippe who will present two of the funniest films you are likely to see in a long time: The People vs George Lucas is a hymn to Star Wars fans and film geeks everywhere, whilst The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus looks at the fuss that surrounded the hapless cephalopod who correctly predicted the outcome of the final eight games of the 2010 Football World Cup.

Screenplay will open with the 30th anniversary release of the legendary Chariots of Fire, a chance to re-live the emotion generated by the 2012 Olympic Games. Continuing this theme, Screenplay finishes on 9th September, the last day of the Paralympic Games. To celebrate, we will be screening the finale of Shetland Arts’ nationwide Cultural Olympiad project, Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back. We’ll be screening short films made by Shetlanders and by people and groups from all over the UK – there is immense variety and masses of creativity on show here, so don’t miss it.

Shetland Arts Arts’ Development Manager Kathy Hubbard said: “With school screenings and outreach activities going on over the whole period, this will be ten days in which to glue your eyes to the big screen and celebrate film making and cinema in all its glorious diversity. Come and join us at Mareel!”

The full programme will be available on Shetland Arts’ website www.shetlandarts.org soon and tickets for events at Screenplay and Wordplay, Shetland Arts’ annual book festival which runs alongside Screenplay, will go on sale via Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, www.shetlandboxoffice.org, in the coming weeks.

Bosquoy is a series of new works by Orcadian artist Laura Drever. Laura studied at Edinburgh College of Art, returning to Orkney in 2003 and visited Shetland last year as part of Wordplay to promote her project with poet Lesley Harrison, Ecstatics; a Language of Birds.

Her work is heavily influenced by her experience of the landscape and wildlife around her and the process of walking and observing is closely connected to the work she produces. She uses the memory of a direct experience in the landscape to create her drawings and/or paintings without working from sketches.

The work exhibited in Bosquoy is delicate and beautiful, with shapes and traceries suggestive of land masses and human and/or animal presence. It complements perfectly the work of fellow Orcadian Anne Bevan in the main gallery whose work examines microscopic elements of the marine environment.

In the craft cabinet and stairwell is Farlin, an exhibition of craft and poetry by partnerships between poets and craft-makers in Shetland and Fife. Jewellery, poetry, contemporary textiles and craft objects are shown as finished pieces or works-in-progress, illustrating a series of responses to work by another individual.

Molly Ginnelly & Bruce Eunson, from a poem, ‘Maybe This Isn’t a Tree.’

The randomly-paired Farlin poets and craft-makers used email, skype, social media and the postal service to create a virtual creative community, sending each other influences through the forms they make, a shared theme, their materials, or a line from a poem.

The exhibition marks the first six months of the Farlin project, which continues until a final presentation and exhibition at StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival in Fife, in March 2013. The project is a collaboration between Shetland Arts and Fife Contemporary Art & Craft. Based on farlin –  a shared container of herring, it represents a unifying resource of work and nourishment common to both Fife and Shetland.

The exhibitions run from 4 August to 16 September and are free to attend.

Gallery talk at Bonhoga Gallery: 4 August, 11.30am

Shetland Museum & Archive Pier Store Opening: 4 August 2.30pm

Beach Workshop: 6 August 2pm

Shetland Arts is privileged to show the work of eminent artist Anne Bevan at the upcoming Bonhoga exhibition, Particle – Things Unseen. Anne Bevan has an MA in Fine Art from Edinburgh University/Edinburgh College of Art and has exhibited nationally and internationally. She now lives in Edinburgh and lectures at ECA, though she still has strong connections to her home, Orkney, and the influence of the landscape and marine environment are obvious in her work.

The exhibition will take place at Bonhoga and the Shetland Museum and Archives Pier Store. The work brings together visual art, marine science and creative writing to explore the histories, technological developments and change associated with the marine environment: which is often invisible and unseen. Anne has used sand samples from beaches in Shetland for some of the work in this exhibition, focusing on the microscopic organisms they contain and their relation to ocean temperature change in the North Atlantic.

Anne Bevan, Ghost (Ammonia beccarri) giclee print from CT scan with Dr Ian Butler & Michael Wolchover, 2012

The project has involved cross-disciplinary work with science, industry and other creative practitioners. Anne is working closely with marine bio-geologist Dr. Kate Darling who is doing field research in Shetland coinciding with the exhibition, thus creating a very ‘live’ connection between the creative art’s and current scientific marine research. Further collaboration is happening with creative writers Jen Hadfield, Robert Alan Jamieson, Alan Spence & Janice Galloway. There will be an informal talk on the exhibition with Anne Bevan and Kate Darling, in Bonhoga at 11.30am on Saturday 4 August and everyone is welcome to this free event.

To connect the work in the gallery with the natural environment and encourage audiences to consider the wider issues of marine ecology and conservation, Shetland Arts will be running a beach workshop at St. Ninians on Monday 6 August for children and adults from 2-4pm. It will be lead by Anne Bevan and Dr. Kate Darling and will be focusing very closely on the sand beneath everyone’s feet. Places are limited and can be booked through the Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Shetland Arts is grateful to Scottish Natural Heritage for assistance in the funding of this project. Jane Matthews of Shetland Arts said: “Anne’s work is beautiful, insightful and thought-provoking, and the combination of sculpture, print and video offers many ways to address the mind-boggling wonders of the natural environment. Shetland is the perfect place to exhibit this work and for us all to consider our place in the landscape.”

Anne’s exhibition is complemented in the Lower Gallery by Bosquoy -an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Orcadian Laura Drever and work from Shetland Arts poetry and craft project Farlin.

We’re looking forward to welcoming guests from across the world that will enjoy the concerts side-by-side with local audiences.

Shetland Arts is hopeful that guests and audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy some of these events in Mareel, pending final touches to the venue. Shetland Arts has made plans to re-locate events where possible, so those purchasing tickets should keep an eye on local media and the Shetland Box Office website for updates during the week.

To book your tickets for the concerts, please click on the concert titles below to book online or book in person at Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, or over the phone on 01595 745 555.

Peter Cooke Lecture
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

During the 1970s, Dr Peter Cooke visited Shetland to study the distinctive Shetland fiddle style, its players and the various regional styles in existence at that time. His recordings and publication ‘The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Islands’ generated an valued archive of some styles which can no longer be heard. We are delighted to welcome Peter back to Shetland, to present his talk ‘Shetland Fiddle Playing: From the Box Bed to Youtube’, which will explore the changes in fiddle styles and traditions in Shetland playing, from his early fieldwork to the present day. His presentation will include audio and video archive material and will be followed by a panel discussion of changes in playing and style over the years. A must for all fans of musical history and Shetland fiddle.

Fiddle Frenzy: Harris Playfair
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

For the third year, Harris Playfair will spend a week working with young traditional and jazz musicians in Shetland to form an original, eclectic and energetic Big Band, fusing traditional and jazz styles. Providing a demanding but thrilling learning curve for the participants, the musicians rehearse for a week prior to Fiddle Frenzy to rehearse and arrange tunes, and will perform their achievements as the opening concert for Fiddle Frenzy. Be prepared for an energetic, mind challenging, jazz-fused take on traditional tunes.

Support Acts: Laura Smith (Young Fiddler of the Year 2012) and Kaela Jamieson.

Concert followed by Dance in Islesburgh with Jim Halcrow Band.

Fiddle Frenzy: Jenna Reid Band
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

Since releasing her debut solo album in 2005 and being awarded ‘Best Up and Coming Artist’ at the 2005 Scots Trad Music Awards, Jenna Reid has undoubtedly remained one of the brightest young talents ever to grace the traditional music scene. Jenna has appeared all over the world with Shetland fiddling sensations, ‘Filska’, Scottish super group, ‘Deaf Shepherd’ and ‘Dochas’, winners of ‘Best Up and Coming Band’ at the 2004 Scots Trad Music Awards. Following the success of her first album, Jenna was invited by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas to perform on the third and fourth series of BBC’s Transatlantic Sessions Jenna will perform with a 5 piece line up of her hand which first performed at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in 2007.

Support from Mirka and Iain Williamson

Fiddle Frenzy: Bryan Gear with Violet Tulloch
At Walls Public Hall, Walls.
Unreserved Seating.

Bryan is a student of the late Willie Hunter, and embodies much of his teacher’s style, grace and emotion in his playing. From heart-wrenching slow airs, to fast paced reels, Bryan plays with meticulous skill to thrill audiences in Shetland each year, and has also travelled to perform at festivals around the world. Bryan performs with one of Shetland’s best known pianists, local musical legend Violet Tulloch, who has performed with many of Shetland’s best known musicians from Tom Anderson to Aly Bain, including a number of TV performances. Together, these two amazing musicians combine to form one incredible duo.

Support from Jim & Berndette and Fradner Gamla.

Fiddle Frenzy: Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicolson
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

Maggie is a young Shetland fiddler of well renowned technical skill. Her talents have reaped her many awards, from Shetland Young Fiddler of the Year 2008 to national Glenfiddich Fiddle Champion 2011. She has wowed audiences locally and abroad with a unique mix of everything from traditional Shetland favourites to gypsy jazz. Brian Nicholson brings equal skill and virtuosity with his guitar accompaniment, to build a duo that will keep you entranced, entertained and wishing for more.

Support from Fiddle Frenzy Tutors and NE3 Folk.

Fiddle Frenzy: Ross Couper & Tom Oakes
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

Fiddle and guitar duo, Ross and Tom combine traditions of Scotland and Ireland, delivering a highly dynamic mixture of power and fragility with warmth and humour. Ross’ explosive fiddle playing lies at the heart of some of the biggest acts on the Scottish folk scene including 2009 Scots Folk Award winning (Band of the Year) Bodega. Tom is a multi-award winning guitarist and flautist, founder member of the genre defying Auvo Quartet.

Support from Fraser Tait (Traditional Young Fiddler of the Year) and Hansel.

Fiddle Frenzy: Corran Raa
At Burravoe Hall, Yell.
Unreserved Seating.

A Scottish band, heavily influenced by the traditional music that has flowed across the North, Atlantic and Irish Seas. Moving melodies, lush harmonies, soulful vocals and inventive accompaniment. Corran Raa have a passionate interest in their native music. Originating from the length of the country, from Shetland to London, their intertwined musical paths eventually converged on Taransay in 2005. http://corranraa.co.uk.

Support from Lynda & Jean Anderson and Cullivoe Fiddlers. Dance with Leeshinat.

Fiddle Frenzy: Blazin’ Fiddles
At the Garrison Theatre.
Unreserved Seating.

From remote village halls to the Royal Albert “Village” Hall, Blazin’ Fiddles have delighted audiences with their highlands and islands fiddle music and tales. Fiddles and bows blaze away with guitar and piano for one of the most exciting and memorable fiddle ensembles ever to take the stage. www.blazin-fiddles.co.uk.

Support from Fiddle Frenzy Students and Linda Irvine.

This morning at 8:12am, the aptly named Belle Spence, alongside 40 others of all ages, rang a bell for three minutes as quickly and as loudly as possible on Skaw beach in Unst, Shetland’s most northerly Isle, heralding the beginning of the Olympic Games across the UK. This was broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland via live satellite uplink and was also recorded by BBC Radio Shetland.

Prior to ringing the bell on Skaw Beach, Belle appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, talking about the unique part she and her fellow community members were set to play in this nationwide project.

Belle being interviewed

Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes, aka All the Bells, is a project created by Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed. Creed attended the Slade School of Art in London and has had numerous solo exhibitions and projects around the world. All the Bells was commissioned by the London 2012 Festival to welcome the beginning of the Olympic Games.

The project saw bells ringing simultaneously all across the UK for three minutes this morning. This included church bells in more than 5,000 locations, school bells, town hall bells, bicycle bells and doorbells. The bell used by Belle to ring in the games is an antique, handheld bell, kindly loaned by the Unst Boat Haven, which was originally used by the Baltasound Herring Station to signal when fish were going to be auctioned.

Work No. 1197: All the bells – Skaw Beach – Unst (Artist: Martin Creed) from Shetland Arts on Vimeo.

During her interview on the Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, Belle expanded on the story behind the bell: the Baltasound Herring Station was actually a floating fish market which took place on board the Lunde, a Norweigian boat, in the 1900s, which moored in the entrance to Baltasound.

Baltasound is in Unst, the most northerly populated island in the UK. Sited on a 12 by 5 mile area and with a population of approximately 700, the land remains unspoilt and visitors are always welcomed.

Belle Spence lives in Unst, near to Skaw Beach. She is an enthusiastic marathon runner and is the driving force behind Shetland’s yearly record-breaking fundraiser, Relay for Life. Belle was also a torchbearer when the Olympic Torch visited Shetland in June.

Belle was accompanied on the beach by 40 other people from Unst, including her own family. Her family members also rang antique bells with unique back stories. They rang school long-handled bells, one from the Westing School which shut down in the mid 1940s, another from the Haroldswick School, which shut down around 15 years ago, and another from the Baltasound School.

Bell ringers on the beach

Belle said: “It’s been amazing getting to take part in this. I felt very special being asked to be a torchbearer and now I’ve also got to ring this bell to signal the start of the Games; I’m really pleased to get to be both the UK’s most northerly torchbearer and the UK’s most northerly bell ringer.” She added that it is very important for local communities to feel involved in the Olympics and this project did just that.

Shetland Arts’ Director, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “It’s fantastic to have been part of an historic moment in which the whole of the UK came together to ring in the start of Olympics, and there is something very special about being part of the moment on the UK’s most northerly beach with members of the Unst Community.”

Shetland Arts has made sure that this special moment has not gone undocumented by working with local sound artists to capture the unique soundscape of the 40 bells, including school bells, sleigh bells, crystal bells, and cow bells, ringing with the sound of the waves, wind and wildlife in the background.

Val McDermid

Val McDermid graduated in English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before going on to be an award winning journalist for sixteen years. She has now had published many novels, including, Wire in the Blood, The Distant Echo, and the newly released, Vanishing Point, and has won many awards, including the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year in 2007 for, The Torment of Others.

Sally Magnusson

Sally Magnusson is well known as a journalist and broadcaster who works on both radio and television. She has written numerous books, including Horace the Haggis: Horace and the Haggis Hunter, Life of Pee, The Flying Scotsman: a Biography of Eric Liddell and Dreaming of Iceland: The Lure of a Family Legend.

 Norman Stone

Norman Stone is an acclaimed writer, director and producer for film and television who has won many awards. His work includes Shadowlands, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Florence Nightingale and the BAFTA nominated, Scotland’s Brand New Bank. He is also the illustrator for Sally Magnusson’s Horace the Haggis and friends and will take audiences into the amazing world of Horace with readings, on-the-spot drawings and even some animation.

Ron Pretty

Ron Pretty’s seventh book of poetry, Postcards from the Centre, was published in July 2010. He has also written about writing in Creating Poetry, which was reissued in 2002.  He has edited the literary journals SCARP and Blue Dog: Australian Poetry. Until 2007 he ran the Poetry Australia Foundation and was Director of Five Islands Press.

Jim Mainland

Jim Mainland, Shetland author, is a poet and fiction writer who writes primarily in English. He has published widely in The New Shetlander – he is a committee member – and other magazines. His first collection A Package of Measures (2002) displays a quietly philosophical mind, coupled with genuine virtuosity, in poems such as ‘Nibon: an elementary grammar’, which was chosen by Lise Sinclair as the opening poem of her suite Ivver Entrancin Wis.

 Angus Reid

Angus Reid is a writer and filmmaker.  He has published three volumes of poetry, The Gift, White Medicine and The Book of Days. His plays include How to Kill, Believer, and Mundus et Infans; his films include Brotherly Love, The Ring, and the forthcoming Primary School Musical!  His work has won national and international awards.

 John Burnside

John Burnside writes poetry, fiction and memoir. His most recent novel, A Summer of Drowning, is set in the Arctic Circle; his most recent poetry collection, Black Cat Bone, was awarded the Forward Prize for Poetry and the T.S. Eliot Prize, and he is also a recent recipient of the Petrarch Prize for poetry. He teaches at St Andrews.

 Rodge Glass

Rodge Glass is the author of the novels No Fireworks and Hope for Newborns as well as Alasdair Gray: A Secretary’s Biography which won a Somerset Maugham Award. Recently he was co-author of the graphic novel Dougie’s War. He is a Senior Lecturer at Edge Hill University, also Associate Editor at Cargo Publishing. His latest novel, Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs, was published in April 2012 by Tindal Street Press.

Luke Jennings

Luke Jennings is the author of Blood Knots: Of Fathers, Friendship and Fishing, recently short-listed for the 2010 Samuel Johnson and William Hill prizes, and of three novels: Beach Candy, Beauty Story, and the Booker Prize-nominated Atlantic.

Christine De Luca

Christine De Luca was born and brought up in Shetland but lives in Edinburgh. She writes in both English and Shetland dialect. She has had five collections of poetry published, most recently North End of Eden (Luath Press 2010), and won the poetry Prix du Livre Insulaire 2007 for a tri-lingual Selected. Her poems have been translated into many languages and she has attended festivals in Norway, Finland, France, Italy, India and Canada as well as all over Scotland. Christine is active in Edinburgh’s poetry scene and in promoting art and literature projects and children’s books in Orkney and Shetland.  Her first novel And then forever was published by The Shetland Times. H

Karin Altenberg

Born and brought up in southern Sweden, Karin Altenberg moved to Britain to study in 1996. She holds a PhD in Archaeology. Her thesis was published in 2001 and won the Nordenstedska Foundation Award. Recently, she has worked in the fields of international arts management and cultural heritage. Her novel Island of Wings was nominated for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the 2011 Saltire Award (First Book) and shortlisted for the 2012 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards (First Novel)

Robin Robertson

Robin Robertson is from the north-east coast of Scotland. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he has published four previous collections of poetry and has received the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and all three Forward Prizes.

Neil Butler grew up in Lerwick.  His first book, The Roost, was – no surprise – about kids growing up in Lerwick.  His next, Troll, is – no surprise – about trolls, though the Internet kind (in the main).  The Roost is a perilous tidal race off the coast of Shetland.  In these unique stories, Neil Butler renders the lives of young people as no less swift and dangerous.   Romance today is tough: on every mobile there’s a threatening message, a compromising photo. For every aspiration to leave this place, there’s a bottle of vodka or a line of coke. Despite their wild yearnings, some of these teenagers remain bound to tradition, while the waters of The Roost sweep their friends away into uneasy adulthood.  The Roost is a remarkable debut comic, eerie, risky and, above all, compassionate.

The festival will feature an excellent variety of events including writing workshops, author events, book launches and children’s events, including a visit from Scottish Opera with ‘A Little Bit of Northern Light’ for 4 – 9 year olds,’ and the festival programme will be available soon. Tickets will go on sale in August, keep an eye on www.shetlandboxoffice.org for updates.

Shetland Arts Literature Development Officer Donald Anderson said, “It is immensely exciting to see such a wide variety of writers and the public can keep an eye on Shetland Arts’ website for the release of the full programme soon.”

The pay is £7.15 per hour, inclusive of Islands Allowance.

Please see the Job Profile, and Application Letter for more information.

To apply, please download and complete an Cleaner Application Form, and return to us.

If you would prefer a form be posted to you, please phone us on 01595 743 843 or email jobs@shetlandarts.org.

Deadline: Monday 6 August @ 9am.

At 8:12am on Friday 27 July, the aptly named Belle Spence will ring a bell for three minutes as quickly and as loudly as possible on Skaw beach in Unst, Shetland’s most northerly Isle, creating a unique soundscape of birds, waves, wind and the crisp, clear ringing of the bell, to herald the beginning of the Olympic Games across the UK. This will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland via live satellite uplink and will also be recorded and covered by BBC Radio Shetland.

Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes, aka All the Bells, is a project created by Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed. Creed attended the Slade School of Art in London and has had numerous solo exhibitions and projects around the world. All the Bells was commissioned by the London 2012 Festival to welcome the beginning of the Olympic Games.

The project will see bells ringing simultaneously all across the UK for three minutes on the morning of Friday 27 July. This includes church bells in more than 5,000 locations, school bells, town hall bells, bicycle bells, doorbells, and, of course, the antique bell, kindly loaned by the Unst Boat Haven, which was originally used by the Baltasound Herring Station to signal when fish were going to be auctioned, on Skaw beach in Unst.

Skaw Beach, Unst. Photo by Willie Angus

Unst is the most northerly populated island in the UK and is unique in terms of its scenic beauty and charm. Sited on a 12 by 5 mile area and with a population of approximately 700, the land remains unspoilt and visitors are always welcomed.

Belle Spence lives in Unst, near to Skaw Beach. She is an enthusiastic marathon runner and is the driving force behind Shetland’s yearly record-breaking fundraiser, Relay for Life. Belle was also a torchbearer when the Olympic Torch visited Shetland in June.

Belle said: “It’s really great to get to take part in this. I felt very special being asked to be a torchbearer and now getting asked to ring this bell to open the Games! I’m really pleased to get to be both the UK’s most northerly torchbearer and the UK’s most northerly bell ringer.”

Shetland Arts’ Director, Gwilym Gibbons, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Shetland Arts will be playing such a unique part in this incredible UK project, and we are very thankful to Belle Spence and the Unst Boat Haven for their part in the event. We are confident that the haunting ringing of the bell, combined with the musical sounds of Shetland’s wildlife, and the dramatic crashing of wind and waves, will create a completely unique and magical soundscape, welcoming the opening of the Olympic Games all the way from the northen most beach in the UK.”

Anyone visiting the three country shows is invited to get involved with the project by bringing along some of their favourite music (all formats accepted: CD, cassette, vinyl, mp3 or live vocal/instrumental performance if you bring your own instrument) and Buzzbeak will remix the music and play it back. Those who contribute a piece of music will also receive an exclusive thank you card and invitation to book a free ticket to a final celebratory event with Buzzbeak on Sunday 12 August.

All of Buzzbeak’s recordings collected at the country shows will be turned into a specially created piece of music by local musician Tirval Scott which will be performed at the final event.  The sounds of Shetland will then be played to the rest of Scotland as the condor visits Roofless events across the country.

Artist Sumit Sarkar, in collaboration with Duncan Turner of Carbon Lighting Ltd, created Buzzbeak from the parts of a LandRover Discovery. Sumit Sarkar said: “The idea for Buzzbeak was inspired by Transformers lore, most notably the characters Soundwave and Buzzsaw, who transformed from a tape player and cassette to a robot and condor, and were my first ever Transformer toys way back in 1984.  For Engine Tuning I have reinvented the Transformers mythology to a positive, musical and cosmic rhetoric, and am very excited about premiering the robot in Shetland.”

Shetland Arts’ Visual Arts Development Officer Clair Aldington said: Shetland Arts is delighted to be working with UZ Arts and to be involved in a national project of this scale. We are particularly excited about the opportunities for local people to be involved both through being employed for elements of the project and through bringing items of music to Buzzbeak at the country shows.”

Shetland is one of five areas of the country selected to take part in Roofless, a project created and produced by Scottish events company UZ Arts. In its first year, Roofless aims to involve tens of thousands of Scots in free public arts events, setting up collaborations between professional artists and local communities to create a series of large-scale, spectacular experiences in places where you might not expect them.

All of these events will be brought about by the community working with Roofless artists in some way, and Shetland artists will benefit from the interconnected artist network Roofless will establish across the country. The other participating areas are Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Falkirk.

A Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back is a relay of screenings of short films made by the public across the UK as part of the London 2012 Festival, celebrating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The relay started on June 10 in the Garrison Theatre in Lerwick, Shetland, and reaches its halfway point in Southampton on July 15. It will then work its way back through a total of 24 locations to reach its climax back in Shetland on September 7 and 8 for a marathon screening of highlights in Shetland Arts’ brand new venue, Mareel, as part of the agency’s annual film festival, Screenplay, which runs from 31 August – 9 September.

At each stop the audience enjoy films from Shetland, films from their area and films from the previous stop in the relay. All the films have been made by non-professionals.

Photo by Billy Fox Photography

The Culture Show will cover the relay and screening in Berwick upon Tweed, which took place on the 24of June, and includes an interview with Mark Kermode and Paul Bruce, the director of one of the short films, Zombie Asockalypse.

The films are being relayed from venue to venue by ‘runners’ – creative individuals who have devised their own methods of delivery. So far there have been vintage car drivers, a cyclist, a busking fiddler, a motorcyclist with sidecar and even a pantomime horse, to name but some. And at least one person is actually going to run their section of the race.

Shetland Arts’ Hansel of Film Project Manager, Kathy Hubbard said: “We have had such a warm welcome at the venues visited so far, and great enthusiasm for the films. And we applaud the runners, many of whom have had to do their bit under some of the most challenging weather conditions a British summer can throw at them. Not even the deluge has lessened the sense of celebration we have experienced on our journey so far.”

Tickets for the events are free but booking is strongly recommended. To book tickets and/or find out more, visit www.hansel2012.org

On board the bus will be drummers from Aestaewast and a large group of enthusiastic ‘movers and shakers’  – volunteers from the community who have rehearsed a 5 minute piece to perform at each stop. The band will then carry on playing for a further 20 minutes, giving everyone who comes along the chance to dance together and socialise.

The bus will begin its journey in Yell with a performance and interactive dance session at the Yell Leisure Centre between 10:40 and 11:10. It will then journey to Brae Leisure Centre for a stop between 12:30 and 13:00. The next stop will be Aith, and the West Mainland Leisure Centre, between 13:50 and 14:20. The bus will then make its way to the south of Shetland’s Mainland, with a stop at the Sandwick Social Club between 15:30 and 16:00, before finishing up in Lerwick at the Museum and Archives from 16:50 to 17:20.

The dancers’ routine has been put together by choreographers John Morris and Jane McLaren over three rehearsal sessions, and they would also like to see members of the community join in with the interactive dance session at each stop. Emphasis will be on celebratory, fun dance and participation is welcomed from all – those with little or no experience, all ages, all shapes and all sizes.

The Dance Bus events are possible thanks to funding from Creative Scotland’s Big Dance Fund.

The Creative Writing Course will be tutored by TS Elliot Prize winner Jen Hadfield and former George Mackay Brown Fellow Pam Beasant. It will run from the evening of Monday 3^rd September through to Friday 7^th September.

The schedule will be as follows: Monday evening – introductions and warmup, Tuesday to Friday mornings – 3 hour creative writing workshops, Tuesday to Friday afternoons – one to one support from tutors.

The price to book onto the course is: £360. Free admission to Wordplay events, admission to the Festival Club and teas and coffees are all included in this price.

For further information please contact:
Donald Anderson, Literature Development Officer at Shetland Arts
donald.anderson@shetlandarts.org 01595 743 843

To book online: please click here.

To book by phone: call Shetland Box Office on 01595 745 555.

Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland’s Big Dance Fund, on Saturday 14 July the ‘Dance Bus’ will be making its way around a number of different venues in Shetland. On board the bus will be drummers from Aestaewast and hopefully, a large group of enthusiastic ‘movers and shakers’

At each stop this group will perform a five minute rehearsed dance accompanied by the musicians. The band will then carry on playing for a further 20 minutes, giving everyone present the chance to dance together and socialise.

The dancers will work with choreographers John Morris and Jane McLaren over three rehearsal sessions to create the piece. The choreographers are keen to stress that the emphasis will be on celebratory, fun dance rather than on complicated technique and would welcome participation from those with little or no experience, all ages, all shapes and all sizes.

It’s hoped that around 30 people will volunteer to be part of the dance group. The only restriction is that participants must be aged 16 or over.

Speaking about the project, John Morris said: “I would love it if we could fill the bus with a whole range of people – those who love dance and also those who think they have two left feet but are willing to have a go. It would be great if some men came on board as well.”

Rehearsals will be at Islesburgh Community Centre on Sunday 8 July (afternoon) and the evenings of Tuesday 10 July and Thursday 12 July. It is anticipated that on the performance day the bus will travel to Yell, Brae, Aith, Sandwick and Lerwick. Full details will be announced shortly.

Participation is free but numbers are restricted by the number of seats available on the bus so booking is advised.  To reserve a place please contact Shetland Arts on 01595 743843.

Shetland stars Douglas Henshall of Primeval fame and is based on the Shetland Quartet crime novels by Ann Cleeves.

The drama features Up Helly Aa as a backdrop to a thrilling cat and mouse chase between detectives and suspects. With the assistance of the UHA Committee and the Guizar Jarl, there will be a recreation of the proclamation at the Market Cross, the march through Fort Charlotte, and the lighting of the torches at Lower Hillhead.

Volunteers are required throughout the day from 3pm – 2am. People of all ages are welcome, but those under 16 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or chaperone over the age of 18.

If you’re interested in taking part and available for all, or part, of the day please contact: shetlandextras@gmail.com

Eamonn, from Sandwick, has been playing drums in local bands for a number of years but also, more unusually, developed a passion for using computer software to compose symphonic scores.

Eamonn said: “While being a bit nervous, I really cannot wait to introduce my debut album to the people of Shetland. I’ve been composing with software since Advanced Higher and it has continued to develop up to the point where I will now be releasing this CD. I hope that my compositions will make a good impression on people and I look forward to seeing everyone at the CD launch at the Bonhoga Gallery.”

Eamonn playing the keyboard

Recently Eamonn was contracted to compose music for a BBC Learning short film. He composed two tracks: a song in Moroccan style and an orchestral composition inspired by Scottish melodies called The Raconteur. The latter will also appear on his album.

Bryan Peterson, Music Development Officer at Shetland Arts and lecturer on the NC Music course said: “Eamonn wrote, recorded and mixed the album himself as part of a college project, an amazing achievement given the complexity of his compositions. It’s fantastic for a young Shetland composer at an early stage of their career to be producing music for the BBC. A future as a composer bodes well for Eamonn.”

Eamonn will be continuing his studies as one of the first intake of the new Shetland College HNC Music students based in Mareel later this year. Other full time courses delivered in partnership between UHI Shetland College and Shetland Arts include NC Music and the new BA Music degree delivered as a networked course across the UHI region.

A digital version of the 11-track album can be purchased for £3 at his website oozles.bandcamp.com. You can also purchase the CD for £5 at the launch party in Bonhoga Gallery on 27 June, 7.30pm – 9.30pm. Entry is free and light refreshments will be available.

The motion reads: “The Parliament acknowledges the opening of the Hansel of Film 2012, a UK-wide relay stretching from Shetland to Southampton of screenings of short films as part of the London 2012 Festival, in Shetland on 10 June; understands that the films will be relayed between participating venues by runners who must use any method of transport available to get the films to the next scheduled venue on time; commends Shetland Arts on its initiative in putting together a successful bid to secure funding for what it considers this innovative project;  welcomes the extensive and positive publicity for the Shetland arts community on the Hansel of Film’s official website, which, it considers, accurately describes the vibrant cultural life of the islands, and considers the diversity of festivals held in Shetland, covering all walks of cultural life and strands of music to be a leading example for Scotland.

The motion was supported by: Bill Kidd, Humza Yousaf, Rob Gibson, Annabelle Ewing, Sandra White, Jamie McGrigor, John Finnie, Mike MacKenzie, Joan McAlpine, Anne McTaggart, Stuart McMillan, Richard Lyle, Chic Brodie, Tavish Scott, Margaret Burgess, Colin Beattie and Gordon MacDonald.

Photo by Billy Fox Photography

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts, said: “We are very pleased the launch of Hansel of Film has been recognised in the Scottish Parliament and would like to thank Jean Urquhart and those who supported the motion for commending Shetland Arts on the project. Hansel of Film is a truly unique project and will demonstrate Shetland’s artistic talent across the whole of the UK.”

She added: “2012 has seen a lot of national recognition of arts and culture in Shetland, including a motion in Parliament commending Shetland Arts and the RSNO on bringing a successful series of concerts to the Isles earlier this year, and we hope this will continue as we move into the latter part of 2012.”

A Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back is a relay of screenings of short films made by the public from all across the UK. It is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012. The films are relayed between participating venues by ‘runners’; that is, individuals who employ whatever means of transport they can devise to get the right films to the right venue on time.

Hansel of Film launched on Sunday 10th June with a screening of excellent Shetland films at The Garrison Theatre. You can follow the relay online at http://hansel2012.org and follow Hansel of Film’s Facebook and Twitter for regular updates. 

The films showing this weekend are American Pie: Reunion (15) and Marvel Avengers Assemble (12a).

Marketing Officer Lisa Ward said: “This is a very exciting time for Shetland Arts: we’re working hard behind the scenes to put together a great programme of film for the opening of the Mareel and very much looking forward to providing a wide selection of excellent cinema for the Shetland public 7 days a week, 2 to 3 screenings per day, year-round. We are very pleased with the success that Films @ The Garrison has had over the years and the last screenings will be a memorable event for us.”

American Pie: Reunion will show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 15-17 June, at 8.30pm. The film once again stars Jim and the guys, thirteen years after they graduated High School, and have all moved on and have adult responsibilities. Jim and Michelle are married with a young son, Oz is a successful sports presenter with a supermodel girlfriend, Kevin is married and working as an architect, Stifler works in an investment firm and Finch appears to have gone missing. The gang are invited to a high school reunion where they each try and shake themselves out of the ruts they’ve found themselves in, and relive the greatest days of their lives.

The new smash-hit Marvel Avengers Assemble will show on Friday 15 June at 5pm and on Saturday and Sunday 16 and 17 June at both 1.30pm and 5pm. The blockbuster starts with the Earth being threatened by Thor’s evil brother Loki, and Nick Fury, the Director of the international peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D., is forced to revive the Avengers Initiative. Unfortunately, Earth’s mightiest heroes are neither willing nor able to play nicely or join the team. However needs must, and Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Hulk reluctantly assemble to save humanity and pull the world back from the brink of disaster. The film stars Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth.

Tickets are £6 (£4 concessions) and available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555, online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or on the door.

Shetland Arts would also like to acknowledge Islesburgh Trust for its work in putting together the very first film programmes in The Garrison Theatre.

Set in contemporary Iran, this is the emotionally gripping story of a married couple (played by Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami) who are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after the husband’s deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s Disease.

The conflict between them drives the mother, Simin, to seek a divorce but the Court is unconvinced. When she leaves the family home anyway, the husband, Nader, hires a woman to look after his father at home whilst he is at work and his daughter is at school, with catastrophic results.

Asgar Farhadi’s A Separation has been deservedly garlanded with awards from film juries across the world, including an Oscar and a BAFTA.  Played with utter dedication by an excellent cast, this film could be an advert for mediation as it demonstrates what happens when communications break down between warring parties, when no-one is there to help them connect.

A Separation carries a PG certificate and is subtitled. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555.

The List allows users to create profiles describing and showcasing their work – telling people what they do, linking to websites and social media, and uploading examples of their work.

The List is divided by art form: craft, dance, drama, film, literature, music, and visual art, and when users make a profile they select the most suitable art form(s) to represent their work. The list has been divided in this way because Shetland Arts delivers arts development across these arts forms through a dedicated team of specialist officers, who can provide support to creative people working in each art form.

Screenshot of the Creative List

Users can also tag their profiles with keywords, for example ‘photography’ or ‘screenwriting,’ in order to allow people to search the List for profiles of people providing specific creative skills. This will provide Shetland Arts, and other people, groups and companies who promote creative activities in Shetland, with a comprehensive online resource of creative people in Shetland, in order to find and contact them in case a suitable opportunity presents itself.

Marketing Officer Lisa Ward said:  “We are absolutely delighted to be launching the Creative List – a truly unique resource for creative people in Shetland. We would encourage everyone – from those working in the creative sector professionally to those who do creative work as a hobby – to sign up for the List, personalise your profile and let us know about what you do.”

The Creative List is available on Shetland Arts website at www.shetlandarts.org/support/creative-list

The week will kick off in style on Sunday 5^th August with a performance by the Harris Playfair Big Band, this will be the culmination of 6 days intensive workshops with young Shetland Musicians led by the innovative Harris Playfair. Traditional themes develop in exciting jazz arrangements providing the audiences with a real musical treat. Reviewers of last year’s Fiddle Frenzy described the event as “sensational.”

The Jenna Reid Band return to Fiddle Frenzy on Monday 6^th highlighting material from Jenna’s acclaimed new CD Morning Moon. Last seen in Fiddle Frenzy performing Jenna and Bethany’s moving Shetland Bus suite the line up of, Jenna, Bethany Reid, Harris Playfair, James Thompson and Iain Sandilands are guaranteed to provide another memorable musical evening.

On Tuesday night Walls Hall will host the festival and be treated to the popular duo and top quality performances of Bryan Gear with Violet Tulloch. On Wednesday in Mareel, award-winning Maggie Adamson will headline with Brian Nicholson, and Ross Couper and Tom Oakes on fiddle and guitar will provide the high-energy highlights in Thursday night’s concert.

The festival returns to the Isles for Friday night when Corran Raa will start the weekend with a performance in Burravoe Hall, Yell, and award-winning Scottish group, Blazin’ Fiddles, will round off the week on Saturday night in Mareel.

The Festival Club will run from 10pm to 1am on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at Mareel. There will also be post-concert dances on Sunday in Mareel, Tuesday in Walls, and Friday in Burravoe, Yell.

Students at Fiddle Frenzy 2011. Photo by Richard Wemyss.

In May, Shetland Arts announced the tutors for Fiddle Frenzy. This year they will include sisters Jenna and Bethany Reid, alongside Angela Fraser, Pauleen Wiseman, Lois Nicol, Cathy Geldard, Helen Whitham and Ross Couper. This year’s guitar tutor is John Hutchison. Jenny Bradley will be teaching knitting and Amy Fisher will once again be tutoring eager students in drawing and painting.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer, said: “We’re very pleased to be announcing the headliners for this year’s Fiddle Frenzy. The line-up is fantastic and I’m sure students and those attending the concerts will really enjoy the performances from these talented musicians.”

Fiddle Frenzy is a celebration of the music and the musicians that have made Shetland one of the world’s most highly acclaimed fiddle playing regions. A must for all fans of traditional music; each year students come from around the world to experience this event.

A marathon seven-day and night event, Fiddle Frenzy offers students the opportunity to learn and immerse themselves in Shetland-style fiddle music with some of our best tutors and musicians. There are courses suited to beginners, through to more experienced players, as well as tutoring in other skills such as guitar-playing, knitting, drawing and painting.

To register as a student for Fiddle Frenzy 2012, you must pay a non-refundable deposit of £25 (£12.50 for >18s only). You can book for the full week or for part of the week – prices depend on the number of days or workshops you are attending (minimum charge £25 / £12.50). You can book now via Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh, online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or by calling 01595 745 555.

The cost for the week is £400 (£200 for >18s). This covers the cost of workshops, trips and concerts, some transport around the Isles (to Walls and Burravoe) and some meals. It doesn’t include accommodation or travel to Shetland. Prices for individual days/part weeks are available on application.

Please check Shetland Arts website, www.shetlandarts.org/fiddlefrenzy regularly for the full programme of events. The concerts will go on sale as individual events in July. Keep an eye on www.shetlandboxoffice.org for more details.

Programme of Concerts
Sun 5 August – Harris Playfair Big Band @ Mareel
Mon 6 August – Jenna Reid Band @ Mareel
Tue 7 August  – Bryan Gear with Violet Tulloch @ Walls Hall
Wed 8 August – Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicolson @ Mareel
Thu 9 August – Ross Couper & Tom Oakes @ Mareel
Fri 10 August – Corran Raa @ Burravoe Hall, Yell
Sat 11 August – Blazin’ Fiddles @ Mareel
Sun 12 August – Survivors Session @ The Lounge Bar, Lerwick

The work has stemmed from a month long residency Susan completed at the Booth in Scalloway in July 2010. During this time Susan spoke to Shetlanders to find out where they went, why they stayed, why some returned and how they kept in touch with family back home whilst away. The residency was funded through Homecoming Scotland, and facilitated by Shetland Arts for an artist who lived away from Shetland but had connections to the Isles and who would explore the notion of Shetland’s diaspora through their work.

Sammy Leask, Susan’s Grandfather, at the helm of the Racer – Lapwing, c1930

Susan lives and works in Liverpool, and although her father was from Shetland, she had not visited the islands since she was a child. Her father was one of six surviving children born in the first decade of the 20^th century. He was one of three siblings who left the islands. The other three stayed.

This exhibition is a direct response to conversations had and stories she was told whilst in Shetland and includes drawings, photography and lightworks. Susan is an installation artist who has created and exhibited work all over the world. She makes works in a variety of materials for both indoor and outdoor sites. Most of the work involves rigorous research into each location, looking at the history, geography and social aspects of the site.

Clair Aldington, Visual Arts Development Officer for Shetland Arts said, “Shetland Arts is delighted to have worked with Susan over the last couple of years to develop this exhibition, which we hope will have resonances with many people through its strong connections with Shetland, and through Susan’s exploration of her own story, as well as the stories of others. Susan has created the work specifically for Bonhoga so it will be a contrasting exhibition to those shown recently in the gallery.”

Bonhoga Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30 – 4.30 and Sunday 12.00 – 4.30. Admission is free.

In order to cover the cost of running this service, from software licenses through to staffing and credit card charges, Shetland Box Office will be changing its charging system. Keeping in line with other leading ticketing service providers, from 1^st July 2012, a service charge will be added to each online transaction sold through Shetland Box Office.

The charge of £1.50 will be levied irrespective of number of tickets bought. For face to face and phone sales a 50p transaction charge will be levied on all card sales (credit/debit cards etc). These charges will apply to all tickets bought online except cinema tickets. Shetland Arts will absorb the charges for cinema ticket purchases. Cash sales will not incur any charge. Postage rates will remain the same at £1 per order.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts, said: “In order to continue to deliver, as well as further develop, the best possible service that we can, we are introducing this new service charge. The introduction of this charge brings Shetland Box Office in line with other major ticketing service providers and will enable us to continue to provide the public with an exceptional 24 hour ticketing service across the Isles and beyond.”

Shetland Box Office is the result of a special relationship between Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Arts Development Agency. Shetland Box Office is based in Islesburgh Community Centre and can be reached on 01595 745 555 or at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Read our letter to promoters and other users of Shetland Box Office here.

Shetland Arts’ Facebook pages include:

• Shetland Arts
• Mareel
• Bonhoga Gallery
• Shetland Fiddle Frenzy
• Hansel of Film

Adventurer and photographer L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his apartment with a broken leg. To pass the time he watches the goings-on of his motley assortment of neighbours, including a salesman, Thorwald (Raymond Burr) and his invalid wife.

One day the wife inexplicably disappears, and Jeff suspects that Thorwald may have murdered her. However, he has no proof and no-one believes him. Jeff persuades his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) and his nurse (Thelma Ritter) to take part in a plan to catch the killer red-handed; but doing so could put all their lives in danger.

Boasting a phenomenally stellar cast, this is a piece of cinematic genius from the master of suspense himself, and was reputed to be one of James Stewart’s favourite Hitchcock films.

Rear Window carries a PG certificate and tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555.

A mysterious man – The Driver (Ryan Gosling) – who has multiple jobs as a garage mechanic, aHollywoodstuntman and a getaway driver seems to be trying to escape his shady past as he falls for his neighbour (Carey Mulligan). Her husband is in prison and she is looking after her child alone. Meanwhile, his garage mechanic boss is trying to set up a race team using gangland money, which implicates The Driver as he is to be used as the race team’s main man. Gosling’s inscrutable character gets more than he bargained for when he meets the crook who is married to the woman he loves.

Drive carries an 18 certificate, and tickets can be obtained from Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555.

Film Wednesdays are an opportunity to see some of the best in independent and world cinema, and this intense psychological thriller, directed by Guillem Morales, stars Belen Rueda as the eponymous heroine, a woman suffering from progressive sight loss worsened by emotional trauma.

Compelled to uncover the truth behind the alleged suicide of a similarly afflicted sister, Julia retraces her twin’s footsteps to discover the faceless spectre of a mysterious man lurking always at the periphery of her vision. As she does so, she finds herself in terrible danger.

According to critic Mark Kermode, who greatly admires the film: “As the darkness of her condition closes in, Julia’s mental state starts to collapse. Morales does an effective job of letting us see the world through Julia’s eyes, the camera lens occluding as her vision fails, but it is Rueda who convinces us that such dramatic devices are real….her pitch-perfect performance simply never misses a beat.”

Julia’s Eyes has a 15 certificate and is subtitled. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555.

DF Concerts & Events is one of Europe’s leading arts and concert promotion companies, bringing the best live music and events to audiences in Scotland. It works with a huge number and a diverse range of artists, from cutting edge unsigned talent to the music industry’s biggest acts, across club, arena, stadium and green field shows. The company also owns the legendary King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow and organises one of the world’s most successful music festivals, T in the Park.

DF Concerts & Events’ partnership with Mareel will see a number of high profile gig dates in Shetland and give Mareel access to early discussions with artist agents who are planning to tour acts in the UK. The agreement will also place Shetland in line for acts keen to start their UK/European tour in Scotland and who are looking for exclusive warm up dates in a quality purpose built venue in front of one of the world’s most appreciative musical audiences.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts said: “I believe that our partnership between DF Concerts & Events and Mareel is a hugely exciting development in the life of this ambitious project. DF Concerts & Events will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the success of Mareel and I believe Mareel will provide DF Concerts with a base in the UK’s most northerly music venue, in an extraordinary inspiring location that I hope in time will feel like a second home to their prestigious Glasgow based venue King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.”

Geoff Ellis, CEO of DF Concerts & Events

Geoff Ellis, CEO of DF Concerts & Events said: “We are delighted to be working with Shetland Arts on what will be a really exciting project. Mareel is a beautiful venue set in a stunning location and will offer touring artists a unique live experience.  We look forward to announcing a great bill of acts over the coming months”.

Davie Gardner has been involved with the Shetland music scene for many years organising and promoting a number of highly successful concerts and festivals in the Isles.

Atlantic Edge Music Services was set up by Davie in November 2006. The business offers management and agency services to established musicians and helps to introduce new and exciting musicians and musical acts. The company not only represents artists from Shetland and Orkney, but also musicians from Scotland, Canada and Scandinavia.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been asked by Shetland Arts to programme a series of events into the exciting and challenging project that is Mareel, as part of their overall monthly events programme. I also look forward to doing this in effective conjunction with others, both in and outwith Shetland, to ensure we deliver a dynamic, varied and popular programme that comfortably sits alongside other events in the venue and within the local community in general.”

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts said: “We are very pleased to get to work with Davie Gardner and Atlantic Edge Music Services forming a strong locally-based partnership providing some of the programming for Mareel. I’m sure it will be a very fruitful partnership, providing a varied programme of events for the public’s enjoyment.”

The closing date for entries is Saturday 30 June.

Your entry must be in notation; no recordings will be accepted. We will accept multiple entries.

To enter, submit a manuscript and your name, address, telephone number and email address. Do not put your name and/or contact details on the manuscript, please provide these separately.

Then email this to: fiddlefrenzy@shetlandarts.org

OR

Post to:

Shetland Arts Development Agency
Toll Clock Shopping Centre
26 North Road
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0DE

Good luck!

Calling All Knitters! A Knitting Challenge for Shetland

For Dementia Awareness Week in June 2012, Shetland Arts is collaborating with Alzheimer Scotland in attempting to create a knitted blanket measuring 710 square metres, made up of 71,000 squares. It represents the number of people in Scotland who had dementia in 2010. The record attempt will be held at a Fun Day at Inverary Castle on 23rd June, then the blanket will be separated into 1m x 1m rugs and donated to charity.

The giant blanket is an attempt to raise awareness of Dementia by breaking the current world record for the largest handknitted blanket (non crochet), currently 557.34 square metres.

We would really appreciate you helping us by knitting squares in any yarn, or any pattern, measuring 10cms by 10cms (4” square).

When you have knitted some squares please bring them along to Shetland Arts at the Toll Clock Centre in Lerwick, by 30th May. Ideally the squares should be sewn into strips of 10, or into blankets 1m x 1m.

We look forward to seeing you, the office is open 9-5, Monday to Friday.

We hope the record attempt will also encourage people from all over Scotland and Shetland to pass on the skill of knitting to someone they know. Please pass on this invitation to anyone who would like to join us in this record-breaking attempt for Dementia awareness raising.

Thank You for supporting Dementia Awareness Week 18-24 June 2012

For more information call:
Ann Williamson – 01595 745257 Dementia Advisor, Viewforth House. Lerwick, Shetland
Hazel Hughson –01595 74 3843 Shetland Arts, Toll Clock Centre Lerwick, Shetland.

Shetland is one of five areas of the country selected to take part in Roofless, Scotland’s biggest, most ambitious outdoor arts programme, run by Scottish events company UZ Arts and co-produced by Shetland Arts, which launches today. In its first year, Roofless aims to involve tens of thousands of Scots in free public arts events, setting up collaborations between professional artists and local communities to create a series of large-scale, spectacular experiences in places where you might not expect them…

In Shetland, Roofless is working with Shetland Arts on a project called Engine Tuning. Artist Sumit Sarkar in collaboration with Duncan Turner of Carbon Lighting Ltd, will create a giant robotic ‘condor’ constructed from the parts of one LandRover.

The huge interactive musical bird (called Buzzbeak and inspired in part by the film and toy series Transformers!) will travel to three country venues in Shetland during August 2012 where it will receive gifts of music from the communities it visits. The people of Shetland will be encouraged to bring favourite pieces of music on vinyl, CD or mp3, or even to perform live to the condor, and the bird will remix the gift back to the giver. All of the condor’s recordings will be turned into a specially created piece of music by a local musician, which will be performed at the final event in Lerwick, and the sounds of Shetland will then be played to the rest of Scotland as the condor visits Roofless events across the country.

Clair Aldington, Visual Arts Development Officer for Shetland Arts, said: “Shetland Arts is very excited to be involved as a partner and co-producer in Roofless and we’re looking forward to appointing two Shetland based artists and a local technician to work with us in producing a unique and spectacular arts event in the summer of 2012.”

Sumit Sarkar said: “The idea for Buzzbeak was inspired by Transformers lore, most notably the characters Soundwave and Buzzsaw, who transformed from a tape player and cassette to a robot and condor, and incidentally my first ever Transformer toys way back in 1984.  For Engine Tuning I have reinvented the Transformers mythology to a positive, musical and cosmic rhetoric, and am very excited about premiering the robot in Shetland. Buzzing!”

The idea behind Roofless is to create unique, large-scale arts events in unusual outdoor venues across Scotland; specifically in rural areas and places where you might not expect to see a piece of theatre, sculpture, art or music. All of these events will be brought about by the community working with Roofless artists in some way, andShetland artists will benefit from the interconnected artist network Roofless will establish across the country. The other participating areas are Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Falkirk.

Andrew Dixon, Head of Creative Scotland, said: “The Year of Creative Scotland will raise the roof with this visionary programme of outdoor events across Scotland. UZ Events has an international reputation for iconic street arts projects that engage with local participants and reach new audiences.”

Anyone can participate in the Roofless project in Shetland by bringing along their favourite pieces of music to the venues – keep an eye on the local media and Shetland Arts’ website (www.shetlandarts.org) for details of venues during August 2012.

The fiddle tutors this year will include sisters Jenna and Bethany Reid, alongside Angela Fraser, Pauleen Wiseman, Lois Nicol, Cathy Geldard, Helen Whitham and Ross Couper. This year’s guitar tutor is John Hutchison. Jenny Bradley will be teaching knitting and Amy Fisher will once again be tutoring eager students in drawing and painting.

Fiddle Frenzy is a celebration of the music and the musicians that have made Shetland one of the world’s most highly acclaimed fiddle playing regions. A must for all fans of traditional music; each year students come from around the world to experience this event.

A marathon seven-day and night event, Fiddle Frenzy offers students the opportunity to learn and immerse themselves in Shetland-style fiddle music with some of our best tutors and musicians. There are courses suited to musicians just beginning to learn by ear, through to more experienced players, as well as tutoring in other skills such as guitar-playing, knitting, drawing and painting.

Photo by Richard Wemyss

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer, said: “Fiddle Frenzy is an event unlike your average fiddle school. Not only do we deliver exceptional fiddle and guitar tutoring from local musicians, we also offer our students the best in a truly unique Shetland cultural experience. We pride ourselves in offering the flexibility of tailor made workshop packages so students can fully immerse themselves in all strands of a traditional Shetland experience, above and beyond their expectations.”

Fiddle Frenzy 2012 will run from Sunday 5 to Sunday 12 August. To register, you must pay a non-refundable deposit of £25 (£12.50 for >18s only). You can book for the full week or for part of the week – prices depend on the number of days or workshops you are attending (minimum charge £25 / £12.50). You can book now via Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh, online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or by calling 01595 745 555.

The cost for the week is £400 (£200 for >18s). This covers the cost of workshops, trips and concerts, transport around the Isles and some meals. It doesn’t include accommodation or travel to Shetland. Prices for individual days/part weeks are available on application.

Please check Shetland Arts website, www.shetlandarts.org/fiddle-frenzy regularly for confirmation of acts, workshops, storytelling and trips as well as the full programme.

Funded by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and by Creative Scotland, A Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back is a relay of screenings of short films made by the public from all across the UK. It is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK. Members of the public can get involved by submitting a film, volunteering to transport the films between venues, and/or attending an event. The films are relayed between participating venues by ‘runners’; that is, creative and energetic individuals who will employ whatever means of transport they can devise to get the right films to the right venue on time; individuals like Donnie.

Donnie in his 1972 MG Midget 1500. Photo by Billy Fox.

Donnie has had two liver transplants, one in 2002 and one in 2011, and volunteered to take part in Hansel of Film as a way of publicly acknowledging those involved in his medical care.

He said: “I want to do this run as a kind of ‘thank you’ to all the medical staff involved in Scalloway, Lerwick, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as the blood donors and, of course, my two liver donors. I enjoy a challenge and a bit of fun, and this sounds like both!”

Shetland Arts’ Hansel of Film Project Manager, Kathy Hubbard said: “Donnie is exactly the sort of person we were looking for to launch the Hansel of Film Relay. He’s enthusiastic, resilient and determined, he clearly can rise to a challenge and has a tremendous sense of fun. We couldn’t hope for a better start to the relay than that.”

You can get involved with Hansel of Film by submitting a film, volunteering to become a runner and/or attending an event. Tickets for the events are free but booking is strongly recommended. The closing date for submitting films and volunteering to be a runner is May 18^th. To get involved or for more information, please visit the website http://hansel2012.org

Hansel definition: ‘a gift to commemorate an inaugural occasion, the launching of a new boat, the birth of a child, a new home, new enterprise.’  John J Graham – The Shetland Dictionary.

The powerful murder-mystery is set against the stunning backdrop of our Islands and centres on Detective Jimmy Perez played by Henshall (The Kidnap Diaries, The Silence), a native Shetlander who has returned home after a long spell away.

Recently widowed Perez possesses a bone dry sense of humour and an idealistic desire to protect Shetland from inevitable change, making him a fascinating detective to watch at work.

When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the Shetland community is intrigued to know if it’s an ancient find or a contemporary mystery. And when an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, Perez and his team find themselves at the centre of two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community.

Written by David Kane (The Field of Blood, Taggart, Rebus), produced by Sue De Beauvoir (Merlin, Waterloo Road), and directed by Peter Hoare (Vera, Silk, Five Days), Shetland starts filming on location this year and will transmit later in 2012. The two-part drama is Executive Produced by Elaine Collins (Vera) for ITV Studios and Christopher Aird for BBC Scotland (Call The Midwife, Prisoners’ Wives). Further casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: “Shetland Arts is delighted to see the highly popular Ann Cleeves Shetland novels dramatised for prime time TV. We have always believed that Ann Cleeves’ characters, borne out of her deep understanding of our seascapes and landscapes, have the potential for the creation of a high quality TV drama set in Shetland. Shetland also has new facilities like Mareel and local talent and expertise that makes the Isles a very attractive place to set a new TV drama. We are very excited to be working with the Shetland production team.”

Douglas Henshall said: “I am very much looking forward to working with David Kane, filming in Scotland and being back on BBC One.”

Elaine Collins, Executive Producer, ITV Studios, added: “We are delighted to be working with the BBC on this commission. Shetland combines eccentric yet warm characters and a classic murder mystery story with the beautiful landscape and rich history of the Shetland Islands and we believe it will be hugely popular with viewers.”

Christopher Aird, Head of Drama, Scotland and Executive Producer, BBC, said: “Shetland has a fantastic combintation of writing, acting, directing and producing talent. It is a hugely exciting story and part of a project to bring the very best drama to BBC Scotland in the coming years.”

Shetland was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning and Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One.

Ann Cleeves’ books have been translated into sixteen languages. A bestselling author in Scandinavia and Germany, her novels also sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. In 2006 Ann was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award (the world’s largest award for crime fiction) for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland quartet.

Many film makers have updated Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, but none quite like Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, who set the tale of the star-crossed lovers in the New York City of the late 1950’s. Two gangs – the Jets, led by Riff (Russ Tamblyn), and their Puerto-Rican opposition, The Sharks, led by Bernardo (George Chakiris) – battle for dominance in the neighbourhood streets. Trying to broker peace between the two groups, the authorities hold a dance in a local gym, but even this turns fiercely and dangerously competitive. To make matters more complex, Riff’s best friend Tony (Richard Beymer) sees Bernardo’s sister Maria (Natalie Wood) across the dance floor and the two instantly fall in love, thus setting the stage for tragedy.

What makes this version of the Bard’s tragic tale so special is the hugely exciting Bernstein score and some of the best and most energising choreography ever filmed. The result is an electrifying, often exuberant and totally unforgettable cinematic experience.

West Side Story has a PG certificate, and tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745555.

For further information, including refund details, please contact Shetland Box Office on 01595 745 555.

Great music from some of the very best jazz musicians in Scotland and beyond will take place in Lerwick as well as in venues as far afield as Busta and Tingwall, where the latest signing, the all star Bespoke Quartet will play, featuring Tom Macniven trumpet, Steve Hamilton piano, Calum Gourlay bass and Alyn Cosker drums.

The opening concert will be a gala affair at the Town Hall where, after jazz club honorary president Norman Willmore has declared the festival open, the ever popular Nova Scotia Jazz Band and the celebrated Brass Jaw will show the depth and breadth and quality of jazz and just how accessible it can be.

Saturday will begin with jazz films at the Garrison, including the great film about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and featuring a wide array of jazz talent such as Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk and the astounding Anita O’Day. There will also be rare chance to see a new documentary film about the legendary Scottish singer of world-class renown, Annie Ross. This was recently shown at Glasgow Film Festival.

Becc Sanderson

Saturday afternoon will see the Town Hall become a jazz circus when Shetland Community Ballet collaborate with local jazz musicians Norman Willmore and Max Tyler and a bunch of gymnasts and circus performers to create a truly magical event. Also on Saturday the Nova Scotia Jazz Band, the Becc Sanderson Trio plus Norman Goudie and Friends will perform at a wonderful jazz garden party in the grounds of the Busta Hotel.

The headline act on Saturday evening will be the mighty Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, twenty-two of the finest Scots players. They will feature a wide ranging repertoire from Duke Ellington to Tommy Smith, as well as performing a brand new work which takes Culloden Moor as an inspiration and features the legendary tenor sax player Bobby Wellins. This concert is the jewel in the crown of the festival. Also on the bill will be the excellent Becc Sanderson, whose vocal talents were to the fore on her last visit to Shetland and this will be her much-anticipated return.

There are a number of events that have been developing over the year. The festival will see the first performance in the Town Hall on Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm by the new Shetland Improvisers Orchestra which has grown out of a series of workshops run by George Burt and Raymond MacDonald of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. This will feature a piece of improvised music based on images from the Shetland Year where music and pictures become as one. The other project that culminates at the festival is one where a number of pianists have worked with local musicians to perform a series of gigs throughout the year. The latest of these, featuring pianist Steve Hamilton, will feature at the Tingwall Hall concert on Sunday lunchtime with The Bespoke Quartet.

Gilad Atzmon

And finally the closing event will be a performance by Gilad Atzmon and Frank Harrison of the Orient House Ensemble who will work with local music groups Aestaewast, Tropo Funk and Brian Nicholson and Friends to create a unified piece, the Olympic Suite, based on the music of five continents, for Olympic torch day. Just added to this line-up is Chris Stout and the Brazilian Theory. Chris says he is very much looking forward to working with Gilad Atzmon – it should be electric and you can only see it at this festival. This will be a fitting end to what should prove to be a memorable festival.

There really is something for everyone and tickets are now on sale through Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555 or at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Workshop participants, who must be over 16, will meet at the Library to look at examples of illustrations and choose texts, before heading off to the Museum to ‘make some creative mess!’ Sounds like fun to us…….

The workshop is free but booking is essential on 01595 743868.

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls is the first time the irrepressible Kiwi entertainment double act, Jools and Lynda Topp’s extraordinary personal story has been told. The film offers a revealing look into the lives of the world’s only comedic, country singing, dancing, and yodelling lesbian twin sisters. As well as rarely seen archive footage and home movies, the film features a series of special interviews with some of the Topp’s infamous comedy alter-egos.

Celebrating their half century this year, the Topp Twins have attained a unique status within New Zealand culture, and their fans range from hard core political activists to sheep farmers and ‘Ladies who Lunch’. Their ability to relate to all kinds of people, and their natural gift for humour, has helped them cross from the fringes to the mainstream. From busking on the streets of Auckland to performances at the Rugby World Cup and London’s West End stage, their appeal is infectious. From support act to headlining their own hugely successful tours in Australia, Canada, the USA and the UK, the twins have morphed from radical activists into Kiwi ‘national treasures’, ‘cultural ambassadors’, and finally, according to the Glasgow Herald, into New Zealand’s ‘finest artistic export since lamb cutlets!’

Untouchable Girls follows the twins from their happy childhood on a Waikato dairy farm to the Territorial Army. They came of age performing on the streets of Auckland during the heady days of the political protest marches in the early 80s, and quickly joined the forefront of progressive social change campaigning for a Nuclear-Free NZ, Maori Land Rights, a halt to the1981 Springbok Tour, and Homosexual Law Reform. By 1998 the Topp Twins were firmly entrenched in the bosom of Kiwi culture with their own prime time TV series Do Not Adjust Your Twinset.

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls is a big story. It’s not just the story of two sisters but also of 50 years of New Zealand history, half a century of cultural changes and the foundation of a national identity. Part concept film, part biopic, part historical record, part comedy, the Twins share their journey from “coming out” to Jools’ recent brush with breast cancer with much laughter, honesty and wisdom.

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that after the screening Jools and Lynda will be joining the audience live from New Zealand for a ‘virtual’ Q and A session, thanks to the wonders of internet technology.

The film carries a 12a certificate and starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh, 01595 745555.

The touring exhibition has been formed from work created by artist Imi Maufe as a result of a two-part residency. The first part was sea based, onboard the Swan, a 1900 Shetland based herring drifter, during the Tall Ships’ Races (June – August 2011). The second part, a land based month (August – September 2011), at Taigh Chearsabhagh in North Uist and with Shetland Arts in Shetland.

Imi Maufe, a UK artist based in Norway, was appointed to the LK243 UnderSail residency through a formal selection process.

As well as being the resident artist, Imi Maufe was also a crew member onboard the Swan, involving herself in all activities on board and at each port. Imi’s bed and working space was in the boat’s main cabin in one of the larger wooden bunks (2.14m x 60cm x 80cm) screened by a curtain.

The exhibition is touring in the Bunk Box, which was created to fit at the end of the bunk used by Imi for the duration of the voyage, as a storage unit. It was designed so that it can be transported by the Swan or by more conventional means to each of the host galleries for the tour.

The LK243 UnderSail exhibition is being co-ordinated by Shetland Arts and will tour to galleries in the UK and Norway between April 2012 and April 2013. Imi’s work can be viewed as a handling collection direct from the box or displayed, as an exploded body of work, in a gallery space. The exhibition tour commences in Ullapool at the end of April, from where it will go to North Uist, Bergen, Newcastle and finally, return to Shetland at the end of the year.

Clair Aldington, Visual Arts Development Officer at Shetland Arts, said: “It has been a huge privilege over the last 3 years to work with the Swan Trust and Taigh Chearsabhagh in developing the LK243 UnderSail residency and to see it come to fruition in such an amazing way. Imi’s creativity and the work she has produced is a beautiful recollection and accounting of a voyage and a unique experience. We are grateful to the funders, Creative Scotland, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and Scotland’s Islands for making this project possible.”

During her residency, Imi came into contact with over 1,500,000 Tall Ships’ Races visitors, crews from 32 different countries, and 70 vessels from 13 different countries.

Artist in residence, Imi Maufe, on board the Swan during the Tall Ships’ Races 2011.

As artist in residence Imi Maufe, described: “The time on the Swan has been an amazing experience; challenging, calming, exciting, funny and unforgettable. Being part of the crew that took us from Waterford all the way to Halmstad, sharing the boat with 45 different people along the way has taught me about myself and about the art of living with strangers in small spaces. There have been hard moments and wonderful moments. Over 500 drawings of boats have been collected during the harbour visits, 43 wooden postcards have been cast in the sea and six placed in postboxes. I don’t feel like I have sat still for more than ten minutes at a time. This has not only been a sailing adventure, but also one of discovering the local life and culture in each port, and also what the tall ship’s races are really about, and that isn’t just about sailing, but this huge scale international movement for young people! (and all the older ones that make it happen).”

Peter Campbell of the Swan Trust said of the residency: “Having an artist aboard has proved to be a new experience for the Trust.  It has demonstrated how a residency can be successfully operated within the confines of the Swan. The residency generated considerable interest in the vessel in each port visited and as an organisation the Swan Trust has gained greater recognition for its sail training activities.  The presence of an artist in residence was considered an innovative way in which to generate interest in sail training and was a contributing factor in the Swan Trust being awarded the Sail Training Organisation of the Year trophy at the annual conference of Sail Training International in Toulon, France in November 2011. The project has resulted in the artist printing a set of curtains for the Swan’s bunks which will act as a talking point for future sailors.’”

LK243 UnderSail is an exhibition that aims to capture the moments, the adventure and the ordinary and extraordinary events that took place en route.

For more information see:

www.shetlandarts.org

www.swantrust.com

www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org

www.imimaufe.com

The residency was organised by a partnership between Shetland Arts, an arts development agency based in Lerwick, Shetland (www.shetlandarts.org); Taigh Chearsabhagh, a museum and arts centre in Lochmaddy on the island of North Uist, Scotland (www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org), and the Swan Trust (www.swantrust.com), a Shetland based charity which owns and operates the former herring drifter the Swan as a sail training vessel.  The project title, LK243 UnderSail, derives from the original port registration number of the Swan.

The LK243 UnderSail residency and exhibition was made possible by two funders. Firstly, Scotland’s Islands, as part of a year long celebration of Scotland’s Islands and their culture. Secondly, Creative Scotland with Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Scottish Islands’ Project (www.gulbenkian.org.uk), which aims to enable the development of ambitious new work of national and international significance involving the arts centres in six Scottish islands – Lewis, North Uist, Mull, Skye, Shetland, Orkney.

Hop (U) is a chance to see last Easter’s hit film on the big screen. Fred, an out of work slacker, accidentally hits the Easter Bunny as he drives home. With the Easter Bunny unable to hop, Fred is forced to take him in as he recovers, and the unlikely pair must save Easter together. Hop blends state of the arts animation with live action.

Secret of Kells (PG) is back, due to popular demand, after a highly successful screening at last year’s Discovery Film Festival. Young Brendan lives in a medieval outpost known as the Abbey of Kells, where the ongoing threat of Viking raids causes the peaceful monks to live in a state of fear. With his uncle, Abbot Cellach, and Aisling, a young wolf-girl, Brendan labours to fortify the abbey walls so his people will be protected.

Bel Ami (15) stars Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy, a soldier returning from war. Once home in Paris, he gets into a high social set and soon comes to believe that the secret of success is by seducing women. So he sets about seducing the most powerful and influential women until he has reached previously unimaginable heights. But he makes many enemies on his way…

Hunky Dory (15) sees keen drama teacher (Minnie Driver) at a secondary school in Wales in the mid-70s. One summer she decides that rather than put on yet another production of Oliver, she will try to inspire the kids to do a musical version of The Tempest, with music they really love. But can she pull it off when they seem more interested in dating than the musical?

21 Jump Street (15) is a comedy starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as a pair of bungling cops.  Failing their first arrest, their punishment is to return to high school undercover to bust a drugs ring, and decide the best way to do it is to throw a huge party. But the combination of drink, drugs and these two idiots does not bode well for good crime clear-up rates.

Tickets cost £6 / £4 and are on sale now from Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, Lerwick, www.shetlandboxoffice.org, 01595 745555, or get them at the door.

The first Film Weekend in April ran from the 5^th to the 8^th and saw some high-quality screenings including Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe’s new gothic-horror The Woman in Black as well two very popular children’s films (Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island). However, audiences have even more to look forward to with this month’s second Film Weekend, running from the 19^th to the 22^nd (next weekend).

The films to be screened include kids’ classics Hop and Secret of Kells, as well as Bel Ami, starring heart-throb Robert Pattison, Hunky Dory, starring Oscar-nominee Minnie Driver, and Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s new comedy 21 Jump Street.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer, said: “We are very excited to be offering more film screenings for the public to enjoy in run up to the opening of Mareel, which will offer cinema screenings 7 days a week. We’re showing a great set of films this month that I’m sure will be very popular.”

Hop (U)

A chance to see last Easter’s hit film on the big screen. Fred, an out of work slacker, accidentally hits the Easter Bunny as he drives home. With the Easter Bunny unable to hop, Fred is forced to take him in as he recovers, and the unlikely pair must save Easter together. Hop blends state of the arts animation with live action.

Secret of Kells (PG)

Due to popular demand, Secret of Kells returns to Shetland after a highly successful screening at last year’s Discovery Film Festival. Young Brendan lives in a medieval outpost known as the Abbey of Kells, where the ongoing threat of Viking raids causes the peaceful monks to live in a state of fear. With his uncle, Abbot Cellach, and Aisling, a young wolf-girl, Brendan labours to fortify the abbey walls so his people will be protected.

Bel Ami (15)

Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) is a soldier returning from war. Once home in Paris, he gets into a high social set and soon comes to believe that the secret of success is by seducing women. So he sets about seducing the most powerful and influential women until he has reached previously unimaginable heights. But he makes many enemies on his way

Hunky Dory (15)

Vivienne (Minnie Driver) is a keen drama teacher at a secondary school in Wales in the mid-70s. One summer she decides that rather than put on yet another production of Oliver, she will try to inspire the kids to do a musical version of The Tempest, with music they really love. But can she pull it off when they seem more interested in dating than the musical?

21 Jump Street (15)

When Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) become cops it’s not long before they flunk their first arrest. As punishment they have to return to high school undercover to bust a drugs ring, and decide the best way to do it is to throw a huge party. But the combination of drink, drugs and these two idiots does not bode well for good crime clear-up rates.

Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office, tel. 01595 745555.

Directed by British film maker Lynne Ramsay (of Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar fame), this adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s best-selling novel is a suspenseful and gripping psychological thriller which explores the deeply troubled relationship between a mother and her son.  The film moves into uncomfortable territory as the mother, Eva, struggles to bond with a child that seems to reject her from the start and who contrives to bring about the family’s ruin, ultimately committing a dreadful crime within the local community.

Tilda Swinton’s tour-de-force performance as Eva is matched by Ezra Miller’s creepily convincing turn as the unlovable Kevin, prompting one reviewer to remark that the next time a film is made about Satan, Miller’s name should be top of the list.

We Need to Talk About Kevin tears into the nature versus nurture debate, as well as the questions around who is responsible when a child goes off the rails in such a spectacular and awful way. Should we ‘blame the parents’ or is there such a thing as an essentially malevolent child?

Film Wednesdays is a series of screenings designed to spotlight the best of independent and world cinema, classic films and documentaries.

The film starts at 7.30pm and lasts 1 hour and 50 mins.

Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office, tel. 01595 745555.

Normal service will return on Tuesday 10th April.

The pay is £7.15 per hour, inclusive of Islands Allowance.

Please see the Job Profile, and Application Letter, and Recruitment info for applicants for more information.

To apply, please download and complete an application form, and return to us by 21st April 2012.

If you would prefer a form be posted to you, please phone us on 01595 743 843 or email jobs@shetlandarts.org.

Deadline: 9am, 21st April 2012.

Lise will also be performing songs from the album, along with Brian Cromarty, at a Shetland Folk Festival concert at the Legion on Friday 4th May.

For the tour, Lise gathered a band from across the North Isles, including members of Shetland and Orkney’s famous big bands The Chair and Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag, Brian Cromarty and Ewen Thomson, and another Fair Isle born singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Inge Thomson, who also works with Karine Polwart. With Ástvaldur on piano and dynamic Icelandic translations and readings of the lyrics by Ađalsteinn Ásberg, the A Time to Keep performances gave audiences a night to remember.

Fair Isle Concert. Photo by Dave Wheeler.

The tour began in the timeless surroundings of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall where George himself was inspired, then saw Lise and her band of Northern Islanders and Icelanders travelling by boat and plane from Orkney to Fair Isle, to Shetland, then Edinburgh and, finally, to Iceland.

Lise said “The audience feedback has been amazing, as if the songs themselves are like a journey in the isles! Touring the North Isles in March is not ideal, given the odds of storms, but the project has a great debt to Scotland’s Island’s Funding this year, which ends now in March, so we had to just go for it! And somehow, we made it, although we did have to postpone the concert in the Lerwick Town Hall by a day, we were really sorry about that. But the audiences everywhere seemed to really connect with the performances, we had a packed theatre in Edinburgh, of course A Time to Keep (the book) has a lot of fans, as does George’s work, then the beautiful Icelandic readings added that timeless reflection of another part of our culture.”

She added: “I really appreciate having been able to get such a talented and creative band of folk together to make the music come alive, to be able to play it in Orkney and Shetland, and to take this very island noise as far as Edinburgh and Iceland.”

Fair Isle Concert. Photo by Dave Wheeler.

Sigridur Johannesdóttir, former member of the Icelandic parliament, said: “The performance went directly to ones heart and I felt how deep and how alike these two nations are. It seemed that these poems could be from the Westfjords (of Iceland), so close to me was the subject… The translations by Aðalsteinn were excellent… We had a pleasant time with our kinsfolk from Orkney and Shetland and the relationship is more clear with these nations than one realises in everyday life.”

Author Vilborg Davíðsdóttir, from Reykjavík, Iceland, said: “I went to the concert in the Nordic House in Reykjavík where the audience was also treated to the story behind each song, inspired by George Mackay Brown´s book “A Time to Keep”, as well as a performance of the lyrics in Icelandic by poet Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson , which added yet another dimension to the experience of listening to this wonderful music. I just love this gentle music. It´s haunting; it touches my heart in a special way, transferring me to another time and place.”

The album is now available for purchase from the following outlets:

Shetland: High Level Music, Shetland Times Bookshop, Stackhoull Stores, and The Fair Isle Bird Observatory and will soon be available in various local shops.

Orkney: The Orcadian Bookshop, Grooves, The Reel and The Stromness Bookshop and will soon be available in various local shops.

Online: Amazon and Music in Scotland.

Reviews:

“You will listen and listen, I guarantee, and re-read the stories, and find your own special favourites… Get the CD. It’ll haunt you, send you back to Brown, and, more importantly perhaps, send you to the work of Lise Sinclair.” – Morag McInnes, Northings.

“…fiercely intelligent and magically composed… Icelandic, jazzy, classical, sexy, comic, tender, vibrant, poetic.” – Conrad Molleson, Musician and Animator, HODA Productions, Rock Operator.

“She brings the original inspiration to life while creating new accents for changing times. The result is accomplished and moving.” – Donald Smith, Director, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh.

 “Brilliant. I’m not sure what I liked best, the music, the lilt of the Icelandic readings, Lise’s singing or her animated intros giving background info to the songs and music!” Dave Wheeler, Fair Isle Times.

“If the hypnotic, slightly woozy title track is anything to go by, introduced by the tolling of the Fair Isle Chapel bell… there should be plenty more performances of A Time To Keep to look forward to.” Roger Cox, The Scotsman, Arts Diary.

The project was funded by Scotland’s Islands and The Scottish Island Writers Network, with investment from Creative Scotland. It was supported by Shetland Arts, The Scottish Poetry Library & The Scottish Storytelling Centre.

About the Artist: Lise Sinclair

Her suite of music, Ivver Entrancin Wis for cello, harp, viola and voice, based on poetry from Shetland was launched at Celtic Connections with Fiddlers Bid in 2008. Other poetry setting projects, featured poems by James Clerk Maxwell (Orkney Science Festival 2007), Under the Evening Sky (2010) for the Scottish Poetry Library and Literature Across Frontiers with performances in Argyll, Edinburgh Book Festival (2008), Reyjavík Literature Festival (2009), and in Vilnius & Riga (2010).

Other recent work includes White Below (Hansel Cooperative Press 2010), Empty Ocean (Radio 3 2009) and poems on the Shetland crofting landscape in collaboration with artist Tommy Hyndman.

The film makers were granted unprecedented access to the referees and linesmen who officiated at the 2008 European Football Championship, and for the first time on the big screen we get to share the tensions and challenges faced by the ‘Men in Black’ (or in this case, in pale blue).

The life of a referee is hard enough even at a local level, but by the time it reaches European and world scale, the pressures on the refs and their colleagues are horrendous. With their every decision criticised and scrutinised by fans, managers, and pundits all over the world, they are arguably more vulnerable and lonely than the players themselves.  When Howard Webb granted a penalty in the final minutes of the Austria v Poland game, he received death threats from Polish fans and his wife was intimidated at her own front door. An innocent Yorkshire council official who was unfortunate to share the same name received so many abusive e-mails that the council had to suspend his internet account.  It takes a lot of courage to stand up against furious players coaches, managers and crowds. Their integrity, as well as the ball, is right there on the line.

Referee Howard Webb.

The Referees offers a unique insight into the lives of men such as Howard Webb, Manuel Mejuto González, Roberto Rosetti and Peter Fröjdfeldt and discovers that they are, as we suspected all along, only human. So it must be galling for them to put up with hearing that everyone knows their job better than they do (and that everyone thinks they could do it better). And it’s hardly ‘only a game’ when the police have to provide security for your family.

But it is their loyal families – and their colleagues – that see them through their ordeals and their triumphs. To their families at least, they are heroes.

The film carries a 15 certificate and is partly sub-titled. Tickets are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh, 01595 745555.

Shetland Arts put together objective teams of designers, artists and specialist Shetland Arts staff, to evaluate the work, which is presented for assessment in a completed form, as a buyer would receive it at the point of sale. Separate assessment categories covered the increasingly diverse forms of craft, visual art, and product made by the Association membership; such as photography, printmaking, painting and sculpture, jewellery, furniture making, bookbinding, knitting, metalwork, leatherwork, basketmaking, ceramics, fused glass and textiles.

Babyhat in Sunday Run, print by Suzanne Shearer of Phatsheep Textiles. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

The quality assessment process supports the Shetland Arts & Crafts Association’s aim to maintain and improve the standard of work exhibited annually at its annual Craft Fair at Clickimin Leisure Centre. Organised and delivered each year by the Association’s volunteer committee, the Craft Fair in 2011 saw an increase of 20% in exhibitor numbers, and, as well as Shetland attendees, it was attended by trade buyers from outwith Shetland who were impressed by the event presentation, the variety and quality of exhibits.

A quality assessment pass is required by the Association for work shown by all the artists and craftmakers taking part in their Shetland Craft Trail.  Now beginning its second year, the Shetland wide Craft Trail of open studios and workshops is available for exploration by visitors from Shetland and abroad.

Knitted cushions by Joanna Hunter Knitwear at Ninian. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

Ian Gidney, the Shetland Arts & Crafts Association Chairman said: “The assessment is very important to us; it provides a gentle upward pressure on quality year on year. Shetland Arts does an excellent job: testing is rigorous, and with great care taken to remain objective, which must be difficult with such a wide range of craft and art to work on.  The whole process is designed to be, and is, encouraging and informative rather thanintimidating. We get plenty of feedback, with useful suggestions, rather than a simple pass or fail.”

Handpainted jewellery by Shona Anderson of Pink Fish Designs. Photo by Phatsheep Photography

Wendy Inkster is the Association Secretary, Exhibition and Craft Trail Organiser. She said: “Over the years, we see the quality of arts and crafts in Shetland increase, with new makers joining to become full members by going through the Quality Assessment process, something we are very proud of. With the recent success of our first ever Craft Trail we intend to build on this and increase and improve what the Association has to offer.”

Nicola Halcrow of Shetland Islands Council Economic Development said: “The Council has funded the quality assessments in recent years and we are delighted to see the standard of the craft industry improve year on year.  Not only does it show the commitment by individual craft makers but it gives the craft industry as a whole the confidence to take forward initiatives such as the craft trail.”

Handcast silver jewellery by Esme Wilcock of Made by Shetland. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

The work of the Association’s membership and their new Craft Trail is attracting the attention of travel journalists promoting contemporary Shetland craft beyond UK. A TV travel documentary, being filmed soon for Japanese television will include Shetland craftmakers. Elizabeth Johnston of Shetland Handspun and Wendy Inkster of Burra Bears are featured in the Channel 5, “Holiday Heaven on Earth” programme later this month, and a researcher for www.coolplaces.co.uk, who explored the Craft Trail last summer, selected the Burra Bears Open Studio as one of the top 15 cool shops to visit in Scotland.

Handcast silver jewellery by Esme Wilcock of Made by Shetland. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

Through development projects and exhibitions delivered by their Arts Development team, Shetland Arts supports the work of creative practitioners and groups working at all levels of visual art and craft in Shetland.

Hazel Hughson, Shetland Arts Development Officer for crafts said: “At Shetland Arts we are very pleased with the assessment results and congratulate everyone involved. We worked closely with Association Committee members to design an objective and critical assessment of the work of creative practitioners. Of course we are delighted with the high quality result, but we will continue to enable new levels of contemporary craft and art practice in the community through the development projects and exhibitions we offer.”

Journal by Katie Mills  of Liren Fey. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

For six weeks each summer, Shetland Arts exhibits selected contemporary craft by members of the Shetland Arts & Crafts Association, in the Bonhoga Gallery Lower Gallery Craft Cabinet. This year the selling exhibition runs from 16th June until 29th July.

Wool Felt Jewellery, by Rosalynn Fraser of Rolo. Photo by Phatsheep Photography.

]]> http://www.shetlandarts.org/shetland-arts-declares-work-of-shetland-arts-crafts-association-high-quality/feed/ 0 http://www.shetlandarts.org/fun-for-all-the-family-at-bonhoga-gallery-this-easter/ http://www.shetlandarts.org/fun-for-all-the-family-at-bonhoga-gallery-this-easter/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:20:38 +0000 Lisa Ward http://www.shetlandarts.org/?p=9338 Shetland Arts is delighted to present a number of special family-friendly Easter activities at Bonhoga Gallery over the holidays, including getting the bairns creative for The Shetland Open, an Easter Art Hunt, bairns’ craftmaking and a special, limited time only, Easter sale.

The Shetland Open

Shetland Arts has extended the deadline for bairns (<18) entries to The Shetland Open this year, in order to incorporate the Easter holidays. The deadline for bairns entries is now Friday 13th April @ 5pm. The deadline for adult (>18) entries is this Friday, 6th April @ 5pm.

If you’re looking for a project for the bairns this Easter, encourage them to get creative and enter The Shetland Open. You could even put in an entry yourself!  By entering you and the bairns will have the chance to see their/your work displayed at Bonhoga Gallery from Saturday 28th April to Sunday 10th June, with a public opening on 27th April from 5.30-7.30pm.

The theme of this year’s Open is Landscape, offering all kinds of creative opportunities.

Family Fun at Bonhoga for the Easter Holidays

Bonhoga Gallery is about fun for all the family this Easter and we are putting on a number of family-friendly and Easter-themed activities for you to get involved in. Bring the bairns along to take part in the special Easter Art Hunt, which will help them to get interested in the art around them, as well as give them the  chance of winning themselves a delicious chocolate egg. As well as this, the bairns can get involved in crafting and decorating their very own beautiful origami boat to go along with Bonhoga’s current exhibition: Jane Wallace’s Portage: Anchor Points. These activities are available Tuesday – Saturday, 10:30 – 4.30, and Sunday 12:00 – 4.30,.

Special Easter Sale

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that, alongside all the other fun Easter activities at Bonhoga during the holidays, there will also be a special Easter sale in the Bonhoga Gallery Shop, for one week only, from Saturday the 7th of April. There will be a dedicated sale section and 10% off everything else in the shop, perfect for Easter gifts or even a treat for yourself. So come along and take part at the Bonhoga Gallery – the perfect day out for all the family this Easter.

The Shetland Open will take place this year at Bonhoga Gallery from Saturday 28th April to Sunday 10th June, with a public opening on 27th April from 5.30-7.30pm.

Entries are welcome from amateur, professional and student artists, aged 18 and over, who are linked to Shetland by birth, education or residency.

This year’s theme is Landscape.

In addition to the Shetland Open a Bairns Open will run concurrently in the Lower Gallery.

For information on how to enter work into the Open see:
Open 2012 Call for Entries details (PDF)

The Budget boost could have a substantial positive impact for Shetland and other rural locations given the suitability of TV drama for regional production. High budget productions usually run for a number of series investing significant amounts in the local economy, creating jobs and keeping local skills at the cutting edge.

New research carried out by the TV Coalition, which is advised by Wiggin LLP and RSM Tenon, estimates that a targeted tax credit in the UK, similar to that received by the film industry, would generate at least £350 million per year as a result of high-budget scripted production relocating to the UK, creating thousands of jobs and keeping British skills world-leading in a highly competitive economy.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: This new tax incentive might just tip the balance when it comes to production companies choosing to use a stunning dramatic location like Shetland. The incentive targets high budget drama of the kind that Shetland is keen to attract. Given our location we have a need to attract high budget productions that can balance the relatively small additional cost of shooting here against the additional high value our landscapes and seascapes bring to the production. Shetland also has new facilities like Mareel and local talent and expertise that makes Shetland a very attractive place to set a new TV drama.”

He added: “Shetland Arts’ new Community Interest Company adds a further unique aspect. Shetland Arts IP CIC is the only community interest company in the UK dedicated to supporting and investing in intellectual property like film and TV production. Our aim is to attract investment into film and TV work in the isles while securing training and film development opportunities for local people.”

Both award schemes are funded in partnership with Creative Scotland and Shetland Islands Council, and are designed for individual Shetland-based artists and craftmakers who are already working full-time or part-time in their creative practices.  Cash awards up to £1500 are granted towards 70% of the cost of applicants’ own development projects to advance or improve their work.

Since 2007, through the two schemes Shetland Arts has awarded £64,000 towards 77 successful applications from craftmakers and artists living and working in all parts of Shetland; from Unst to Fair Isle, Whalsay to Sandness. Applicants are mentored by specialist arts officers throughout the award schemes, enabling visual artists and craftmakers to achieve new levels in their creative practices.

Some successful applicants are members of arts groups, such as the Shetland Arts & Crafts Association and the Veer North Visual Artists Group.

Helen Robertson of Sullom, artist, jeweller and knitter, received a Visual Artist Award to create an installation entitled Hentilagaets. It involved knitting with wire using traditional Shetland lace patterns, with names relating to crofting, and placing them within a ruined croft belonging to her family at Croga, Northmavine. An installation projection of Hentilagaets, documented by Mark Sinclair of Phatsheep Photography, is currently being shown at Bonhoga Gallery until the 22^nd of April.

Helen Robertson’s Hentilagaets. Photo byMark Sinclair, Phatsheep Photography.

Helen plans to create a publication of the images. She said of the award: “[I] was so moved by the thought that I had gotten an award for doing something related to visual art, coming from a craft background, was like folk were putting faith in me…[it’s] had a direct effect in that I’m going to design jewellery inspired by it. My next project is directly related to it…[and it’s] given me more confidence…”

Cheryl Jamieson of Glansin’ Glass in Unst designs and creates fused glass pieces. Cheryl said: “The Working Up grants have made the world of difference to my business as they have allowed me to explore new techniques of working with glass. These newly acquired skills, such as screenprinting on glass, feed in to my working practice and mean I can extend the range of products I make. I think it’s important for a craft business in Shetland to keep coming up with something new as we have very loyal customers locally who are always looking for something different.”

Cheryl Jamieson’s Blue Bowl in fused glass. Photo by Mark Sinclair, Phatsheep Photography.

Artist Howard Towll said that one of the benefits of receiving a Visual Artist Award was that it: “…assisted in the transport to drawing sites and purchase of materials.” He added: “… because I’ve gone part-time the amount of the Award was like the equivalent of a month’s loss in pay…it made going part-time a little bit easier.”

Howard Towll’s ‘Rooks at Kergord,’ Woodcut 2010. Edition of 15. 60×45 cm.

Suzanne Shearer of Phatsheep Textiles said: “Receiving a Working Up craft award enabled me to learn, hands on, a technique I’d been interested in for a long time. It provided me with the funds to learn screen printing techniques from a skilled printer in a print studio. Increased knowledge in this skill gave me the confidence to produce some new hand printed designs, they proved to be very popular and I continue to develop this aspect of my product range.”

Suzanne Shearer’s Screenprinted Birdy Cushion. Credit: Mark Sinclair, Phatsheep Photography.

Emma Blain said: “The Working-Up Craft Award allowed me the time, resources and equipment to teach myself how to design and create handbags, incorporting my own fabric as well as a variety of other materials, including cord and canvas. I have been interested in creating a range of handbags using my fabric for some time and the grant gave me the funds I needed to learn bag construction from the very beginning, right up to producing a final product. I launched the new bag collection at last year’s Christmas Craft Fair in November and they were very popular, and continue to be a favourite with my customers. I intend to continue designing and creating new styles of handbags to add to my collection, with new work coming out in the summer.”

Handbag by Emma Blain

New work produced by craftmakers and artists through the Shetland Arts Visual Artist Awards and Working Up Craftmaker Awards can be seen in UK galleries and shops, on websites or online shops. In Shetland work resulting from the schemes can be found in Bonhoga Gallery Exhibitions and on the Bonhoga Touring Programme; at the annual Shetland Arts & Crafts Association Craft Fair at Clickimin Leisure Centre; on the Shetland Craft Trail, and in many local shops and galleries.

To apply for the Visual Artist Awards, click here.

To apply for the Working Up-5: Craft Maker Awards, click here.

The Motion reads: Parliament congratulates Shetland Arts and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for their collaborative “Out and About in Shetland” tour involving 24 separate musical, cultural and educational events between 1-5th March including The Sunday Symphony featuring the premiere of Fair Isles’ Chris Stout RSNO commissioned Tingaholm conducted by David Danzmayr; notes that these events were part of the BBC and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Music Nation; recognises that this was the first visit by RSNO to Shetland for 21 years and urges a quick return, and expresses its gratitude to sponsors, organisers, musicians and Shetlanders who made the series of events so worthwhile.

The Motion was supported by Jean Urquhart, Patricia Ferguson, Dennis Robertson, Drew Smith, Liam McArthur, Jim Hume, Jamie McGrigor, Nanette Milne, Kenneth Gibson, Bill Kidd, David Stewart, Colin Beattie, Richard Lyle, Kevin Stewart, Mike MacKenzie, Annabelle Ewing, Jackie Baillie, Jamie Hepburn, Sandra White, Linda Fabiani, Maureen Watt and Jim Eadie.

Speaking about the RSNO’s visit to Shetland Tavish Scott added: “The RSNO’s visit to Shetland was well worth the wait.  Shetlanders of all different ages, on many different islands have benefited from this innovative tour.  It was engaging, inspiring and exciting to see such talent and I know the visit will have been especially appreciated by many talented local musicians throughout the isles.  I greatly enjoyed Sunday’s Clickimin concert which was an outstanding variety of classical music and the premiere of Chris Stout’s wonderful work.”

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts said: “It’s rare for an arts event to be recognised in Parliament and we are absolutely delighted with this Motion.”

Shetland Arts is delighted to announce that it has chosen the first ‘runner’ for Hansel of Film.  ‘Gypsy Waggon Artist’ Rory Coxhill will be transporting the films from Ucheldre community arts centre, Anglesey, to the Belfast Film Festival, in a van covered with colourful Pakistani art. The van was painted by Rory and artist Haider Ali for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

A Hansel of Film – Shetland to Southampton and Back is a relay of screenings of short films made by the public from all across the UK. It is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK. Members of the public can get involved by submitting a film, volunteering to transport the films between venues, and/or attending an event. The films are relayed between participating venues by ‘runners’; that is, creative and energetic individuals who will employ whatever means of transport they can devise to get the right films to the right venue on time; creative individuals like Rory.

Rory’s beautiful van is the result of months of work. Rory said: “I worked with Haider Ali on the van, spending 2 months in Pakistan working with Truck Artists to learn how to paint in the Pakistan Truck Art style.”

Rory says he wants to take part in Hansel of Film because when people see his van it makes them smile. He said: “I want to take Pakistan Truck Art to a wider audience. Travelling in this van would expose the unique mobile canvas to people, making them smile.”

Shetland Arts/Hansel of Film Project Manager, Kathy Hubbard said: “It’s very exciting to have our first runner recruited – and the painted van is sure to go down well with the communities it visits.”

You can get involved with Hansel of Film by submitting a film, volunteering to become a runner and/or attending an event. Tickets for the events are free but booking is strongly recommended. To get involved or for more information, please visit the website http://hansel2012.org

Originally written by William Golding in 1954, the novel was adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams in 1991 and over the past twenty one years has been performed by professional and youth companies across the world.

The novel tells the story of a group of English public school boys marooned on a deserted island.  As time goes on, the veneer of respectability is gradually destroyed and what follows is a brutal battle for survival and power.  Both the novel and film versions in the 1963 and 1990 have enthralled and terrified people with their depictions of savage brutality and the cruelty that lies beneath the façade of a ‘civilized’ society.

The production has given the company an interesting problem to solve.  In the original material, all the characters are male.  Shetland Youth Theatre is an inclusive group with a majority of its members being young women.  According to the play’s Director, John Haswell, this has led to a fascinating discovery in the rehearsal process.  “We are not asking females to play male characters” he explained, “so many of the characters on the island are female.  This gives a completely new dimension to the piece, if anything making it even more shocking as it questions gender stereotypes.  Instead of being purely about class politics, our version now brings sexual politics into the frame and the piece is even stronger as a result.”

Perhaps surprisingly, considering some of the site specific work the company has undertaken recently, this production is being performed at the Garrison Theatre.  “It is an ideal piece for site specific work” said John Haswell, “and there is no deep, artistic reason for performing at the Garrison.  The truth is far more mundane.  A piece of outdoor theatre in the summer can be a chilly experience.  A similar event at the end of March would be challenging for everyone concerned.’” However that promises to be the only mundane thing about this production which, if past experience is anything to go by, will still challenge the audience with both its content and presentational style.

Lord of the Flies is being performed at 7.30pm from Thursday 29th March to Saturday 31st March. Tickets, priced £8 / £6 (concessions) can be bought from Shetland Box Office by calling 01595 745 555 or by clicking here or visiting www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The show is recommended as being suitable for upper primary school aged children and above.

Shetland Arts made an approach to the RSNO in early 2010 about the possibility of a visit to Shetland in the year of the Cultural Olympiad. The past weekend has been the result of Shetland Arts and the RSNO working in partnership preparing for this trip for almost two years.

Last weekend (1^st – 5^th March) 70 musicians from the RSNO travelled from their base in Glasgow to Shetland for Out and About in Shetland – five days of rehearsals and performances, education and community activities, and workshops and masterclasses across the Islands.

Photo by Frank Bradford

In 2011 Chris Stout was commissioned to compose a substantial work for orchestra which served as the centrepiece of the Orchestra’s very successful Sunday Symphony concert, which has been praised by both local and national media.

Chris also wrote a motif which was used as the starting point of a composition and performance project, the Outer Isles Project: a collaboration between the RSNO and local musicians, supported by Shetland Arts. The Outer Isles Project involved RSNO and local musicians at separate locations in Shetland’s outer isles; Unst, Skerries, Foula and Fair Isle; playing their interpretations of Chris Stout’s motif and live video-streamed back to an audience at the Garrison Theatre and world-wide viewers on Shetland Arts’ website, Promote Shetland’s website and the RSNO website. The project was the result of a unique collaboration between Shetland Arts, the RSNO, Promote Shetland, The University of Highlands and Islands and Shetland Islands Council. The project was unlike any seen before in Shetland, attracted viewers across the world and required months of preparation.

On Monday 5 March the RSNO played a concert for Shetland’s primary schools at the Clickimin. The school groups attending the concert had been preparing for the visit by participating in online workshops using the online community for Scottish schools, Glow. Shetland Arts believes this concert was the largest gathering of primary school aged children at an arts event in Shetland, ever. There were a total of 779 attendees.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: “It has been a huge pleasure to work closely on this project with the RSNO on what was, at its conception, a very ambitious and brave project. From my first meetings with Simon Woods, the then Chief Executive of RSNO, back in 2010 and more recently with Michael Elliot, the RSNO’s new CEO, and his team, a relationship was established that I believe not only led to the success of the past week but is the beginning of a new long term relationship between the RSNO and Shetland.”

Ellen Thomson, Director of Education and Community Partnerships at the RSNO, said: “The partnership between the RSNO and Shetland Arts has been fun and hugely rewarding for both of us. The organisation clearly knows the local community well and understands the aspirations of those involved in music making in Shetland. Together we achieved everything we set out to do in Out and About in Shetland. The Outer Isles project on Friday evening should serve as a lasting legacy for the project and illustrates how well Shetland Arts, Shetland Islands Council, the University of Highlands and Islands, Promote Shetland and the local schools came together to enable the broadcast of this event.”

Photo by Frank Bradford

Shetland Arts and the RSNO would also like to thank Creative Scotland, TOTAL E&P UK Limited, Loganair, Capital Solutions, NorthLink Ferries and Youth Music Initiative for their generous contributions to the project.

The venue is literally hotting up… with all radiators now pumping heat into the building and the commissioning phase of electrical and mechanical installations now underway. The quality of the carpentry and finish of the various rooms is excellent. In particular the wooden balustrades around the balconies of the music hall looks great. Both Cinema 1 and Cinema 2 are nearing completion with just carpets and seating being the major work left in these areas.

Below are some of latest images taken yesterday… more will follow in a few weeks after the under floor heating is installed in the foyer areas.

The Creative Learning Network is an opportunity for artists, school and community based staff to come together for inspiration on new creative ideas for learning. The event is not open to the general public.

Jayne Wallace is a digital artist with a background in contemporary jewellery. The core of her work considers how jewellery can play a role within what we each consider emotionally meaningful, and how the expression of this can be enriched through the integration of digital technologies. This exhibition includes work made with two Shetland fishing families between 2009 and 2012 as part of the Portage: Crossing Points Project. You can find more information about Jayne and her work on her website www.digitaljewellery.com. Jayne holds the post of Reader within the School of Design at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

How to book: Noelle Henderson, Creative Links Officer, Shetland Islands Council 01595 744013 Noelle.henderson@shetland.gov.uk or Claire.aldington@shetlandarts.org

The relay will begin in Shetland on 10th June alongside the arrival of the Olympic Torch Relay in the isles as it reaches its UK most northerly point. The films will be relayed between participating venues by ‘runners’; that is, creative and energetic individuals who will employ whatever means of transport they can devise to get the right films to the right venue on time. This will culminate in a marathon screening of over 100 short films at Shetland’s annual film festival, Screenplay 2012, between 4th and 9th September.

The project will take films made by Shetlanders and others to twenty one venues around the country and will form a celebration of ‘home made’ short films similar to that which takes place annually at Screenplay.

Photograph: Billy Fox

Acclaimed film critic Mark Kermode and film historian Linda Ruth Williams, who are the curators of Screenplay, will be very active in promoting the project across the country, although they will not be able to attend all the events. They will be greeting the ‘runner’ at The Harbour Lights Cinema in Southampton at the project’s half-way point, and will visit some of the other participating venues in between.

Mark and Linda said: “We are delighted to be launching this exciting, nationally inclusive film relay, which will encompass many of the nations and regions of the UK and will spread the spirit of the London 2012 Festival from Shetland to Southampton and back again. We are looking forward to involving filmmakers, cinemas and arts venues who are as enthusiastic as we are about taking movies on the road to celebrate the summer of London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The Hansel of Film website allows members of the public to submit films and get the chance to have them shown on the big screen. Hansel of Film welcomes submissions from people of all ages and walks of life. They can be about any subject, provided they are no longer than five minutes, and that they are suitable for general viewing. There is no theme, so users are invited to use their creative freedom – drama, documentary, comedy, animation, music videos, mysteries and histories – all are welcome!

Members of the public can also get involved by signing up to be a ‘runner’ on the website. The ‘runners’ are individuals who carry films from venue to venue in whatever imaginative ways they can devise. They can sign up as a representative of a team or just as an individual and Shetland Arts will help to meet any accommodation or expenses along the way.

Shetland Arts’ Hansel Project Manager, Kathy Hubbard said: “Hansel of Film is truly a coast-to-coast project and we are looking forward to the many new friends and relationships that will be made as we visit over twenty venues and communities. This is about celebrating the creativity of the public at large, and about bringing people together to enjoy films on screens large and small around the British Isles.”

Tickets for the events are free and can also be booked via the Hansel of Film website.

Shetland Arts would like to thank principle funders of the Hansel of Film project, the London 2012 Festival and Creative Scotland, for their support.

hansel2012.org

Jayne Wallace is a digital artist with a background in contemporary jewellery. The core of her work considers how jewellery can play a role within our relationships and what we each consider emotionally meaningful, and how this can be enriched through digital technologies.

With the progression of digital culture and technologies, the person can seem to be removed from interactions and exchanges, and privacy invaded. Experiencing Jayne Wallace’s work is the opposite of this. Although many of her pieces contain digital technology, it is clear that Jayne has a deep connection with the stories and the people associated with each piece.

Jayne Wallace doesn’t just make work. She makes work with and for people, so it seemed an anomaly to ask her to exhibit at Bonhoga without any of the pieces connecting with people here in Shetland. This was the seed for her 2009 residency at the Booth in Scalloway, which provided her with the space and time to work with two Shetland fishing families, exploring distance and relationship. This work with the two families forms the heart of the exhibition and inspired its title Anchor Points.

The Anchor Points pieces represent a journey over the past three years that Jayne and the two families have been on, sometimes face to face, sometimes remotely, and have an intimacy that is born of this journey. This is the first time this work has been shown.

Clair Aldington, Arts Development Officer at Shetland Arts, said: “It’s a privilege to have worked with Jayne over the past four years as part of the wider Shetland Arts’ Portage project and to reach the point of exhibiting her work at Bonhoga. Portage: Anchor Points is Jayne Wallace’s first solo exhibition, which Shetland Arts is honoured to be showing.”

Work in the show also includes pieces that explore memory loss and dementia as well as pieces that are about relationships over distance and how technology can enhance communication.

Portage: Anchor Points opens at Bonhoga Gallery, Weisdale Mill on Friday 9 March from 5.30pm-7.30pm.  Everyone welcome. The exhibition continues until Sunday 22 April and is appropriate for all ages. This exhibition is supported by Shetland Arts and Northumbria University.

This groundbreaking project will see musicians from the RSNO visiting the four most outlying points in Shetland to perform with talented local musicians at community schools. Musicians with close connections to Fair Isle, Foula, Skerries and Unst have been working with players from the RSNO to create their own unique interpretation of Tingaholm, a tune written specially for the RSNO Out and About Week by renowned local fiddler, Chris Stout. The island performances will feature these works, a recital by the RSNO musicians and informal tunes after the event.

Live video links will accompany the performances, with each venue able to see and hear the events taking place elsewhere. All of the performances will be transmitted live back to Lerwick where the proceedings can also be followed at the Garrison Theatre. After the live streamed events, the Garrison audience will be treated to an intimate performance from some of the musicians of the RSNO, live in the Theatre. Free tickets are now open to members of public for this exclusive event.

The streamed events will be available to view on the Internet from 7.30pm on 2^nd March at www.shetlandarts.org, www.rsno.org.uk, visit.shetland.org and www.shetland.gov.uk

Some of the local musicians involved in the Outer Isles Project include celebrated traditional fiddler Margaret Scollay who will be leading a group of musicians from the three north isles, contemporary singer-songwriter Lise Sinclair from Fair Isle, accordion-player Peter Wood with Alison Kay Ramsay and Liza Fullerton in Skerries, and Bongshang members Peter Gear, Joyce Wark, JJ Jamieson and Bryan Peterson in Foula.

Fiddler Peter Gear said, “Da prospect o a few folk comin in carryin instruments should go doon quite weel, wi aabody in Foula. Aa da musicians will be made warmly welcome. I am kinda worried though, aboot wis playin’ a tune tae Foula folk, dat’s been penned by a Fair Isle man!

Margaret Scollay said, “It’s been a great challenge to take another person’s composition and re-interpret it in collaboration with a group of musicians from a classical background. I’m really pleased that the RSNO have engaged with the outlying communities, particularly on such an interesting project.”

Becky Gibby, Head Teacher at Skerries School said: “The islanders are looking forward to this unique opportunity of hosting some of the RSNO. No doubt the music will be superb and the collaboration with Shetland musicians is wonderful.”

Bryan Peterson, Shetland Arts Music Development Officer said: “There have been many musical and technical hurdles to overcome to make the project possible, from the initial stages of collaboration over the Internet to the performances via live link-up. The musicians involved have excelled themselves and staff at Shetland Arts, Shetland College, Promote Shetland, all the schools and the SIC IT department have done an excellent job of pulling it all together. Fingers crossed it all works on the night!”

All of the Outer Isles events are free and open to the public, but booking is strongly recommended. Tickets are available at Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, or online by clicking here or by calling 01595 745 555.

A highlight for many will be the first performance in Shetland of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, featuring Harris Playfair on piano. Orchestra secretary, Carolyn Johnston, said: “Harris Playfair is well-known to Shetland audiences and we are delighted to be able to bring him up this year as a result of funding from Scotland’s Islands and Shetland Arts. Harris slips easily between genres and embodies what this Orchestra is all about – musicians from classical, jazz and traditional music backgrounds coming together to play great music.”

The Rhapsody was first performed in 1924, the result of a suggestion by band leader, Paul Whiteman, that Gershwin should write a piano concerto in jazz style. It has remained a firm favourite with the public and became inextricably linked with New York after it featured in the opening sequence of Woody Allen’s film Manhattan. In the concert the Rhapsody will be preceded by a selection of songs from the era performed by Deirdre Hayward’s group, Veev, and Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets (known to many as the theme from The Apprentice).

The Orchestra’s programme was selected from suggestions put forward by members and will begin with one of the most famous passages in western classical music – the dit-dit-dit-dah motif from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. At 30 minutes long, the Symphony formed just a small part of a four-hour programme of music at its premiere in 1808 in an unheated hall in the heart of winter. Not surprisingly it left the audience cold – both literally and figuratively. In the cosy confines of St Columba’s Kirk, with complimentary teas and homebakes to look forward to, this promises to be a much more enjoyable performance.

Bryan Peterson, Shetland Arts’ Music Development Officer, said, “The Orchestra and Veev have put together an excellent programme, and Rhapsody In Blue is a personal favourite of mine. Inviting Harris Playfair as guest pianist will make for an extraordinary evening of music.“

The concert starts at 7.30 pm on Saturday 10th March in St Columba’s Church in Lerwick and will be followed by teas and homebakes. Tickets, priced at £8 and £5 for concessions, are available from Shetland Box Office at Islesburgh Community Centre on (01595) 745555 or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Tour dates: Thursday 8^th March – St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Friday 9^th March – Fair Isle, Sunday 11^th March – Town Hall, Lerwick, Thursday 15^th March – Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, and Saturday 17^th March – Reykjavík, Iceland.

The stories in George Mackay Brown’s A Time to Keep are tales of life in all its small detail, set in the harsh and beautiful landscape of the Northern Isles. They are lit with the author’s precise, poetic touch and the characteristically understated Northern voice. The characters inhabit an unwritten history between the Norse sagas and the 20th century, as if carefully gathered from time itself.

Lise Sinclair is a singer, songwriter and poet of that same landscape and its music and literary traditions — a native of Fair Isle, the UK’s most remote inhabited island, half way between Orkney and Shetland.

Lise has written a series of new songs that will bring the stories out of the book, connecting the past with the present and the Northern Isles with Iceland. George MacKay Brown drew reference from these connections, linking the Scottish and Nordic cultures as they are still lived in these Isles in his work.

Lise says that the idea for the album presented itself to her, as she “began to hear these songs on first reading the book, as if they were already there, singing out of George’s clear, lyrical prose.”

The music has been written in collaboration with Icelandic musician and composer, Ástvaldur Traustasson and recorded by a band of musicians from across the North Isles and Iceland, including Lise, Ástvaldur, Inge Thomson, Brian Cromarty, Ewen Thomson and poet and Icelandic translator A∂alstein Asberg Sigur∂sson.

The band gathered in Edinburgh in January to rehearse and record the songs and will be releasing the album and performing the songs at a special series of concerts set to take place in the Isles, Edinburgh and Reyjavík in March 2012, at the end of the Year of Scottish Islands Culture.

The music is a rich tapestry of sound: voices, piano, fiddle, guitars, accordion, mandolin, banjo and harmonium, blending a wealth of tradition with what’s new in Scottish music and Icelandic jazz into songs which are a journey from beginning to end, through time, under wide island skies.

Shetland Arts Literature Development Officer, Donald Anderson said, “ We are really delighted to have worked with Lise in supporting this project which we feel will help promote the wealth of the culture and creativity to be found in the Northern Isles and in the people who have their roots here. We would also like to acknowledge the support from Scotland’s Island’s, Creative Scotland, The Scottish Island’s Writers Network, the Scottish Poetry Library, The Scottish Story Telling Centre, and Logan Air without which this project would not have happened.”

The first performance is on Thursday 8th March in St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney, a place where George Mackay Brown found inspiration, and where the fusion of Norse and Scottish voices resonates in the very stone. The performances include Icelandic readings of the lyrics by A∂alstein Asberg Sigur∂sson.

Tickets cost £8 (£6 concession) and are available from The Scottish Story Telling Centre.

Tickets for the North Isles concerts are available from Shetland Box Office on 01595 745 555.

The Fair Isle concert is pay at the door.

More information available here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/arts/a_time_to_keep.shtml

Funded by Scotland’s Islands, The Scottish Island Writers Network, with investment from Creative Scotland.  Supported by Shetland Arts, The Scottish Poetry Library & The Scottish Storytelling Centre.

About the Artist: Lise Sinclair

Her suite of music, Ivver Entrancin Wis (shetlandmusic 2008) for cello, harp, viola and voice, based on poetry from Shetland was launched at Celtic Connections with Fiddlers Bid. Other poetry setting projects, featured poems by James Clerk Maxwell (Orkney Science Festival 2007), ‘Under the Evening Sky’ (2010) for the Scottish Poetry Library and Literature Across Frontiers with performances in Argyll, Edinburgh Book Festival (2008), Reyjavík Literature Festival (2009), and in Vilnius & Riga (2010).

Other recent work includes ‘White Below’ (Hansel Cooperative Press 2010), ‘Empty Ocean’ (Radio 3 2009) and poems on the Shetland crofting landscape in collaboration with artist Tommy Hyndman.

In honour of this event, Shetland Arts will be showing a selection of Oscar-nominated films in the Garrison Theatre from Thursday 23 – Monday 27 February. We are showing War Horse, which was nominated for 6 awards, Descendants which was nominated for 5 awards and The Iron Lady, which was nominated for 2 awards. These nominations include Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role.

We will also be showing animated film, A Monster in Paris, which can be enjoyed by the whole family.

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Weekend, written and directed by Andrew Haigh, is the story of two men who meet at a night club, and go home to what they believe will be a one-night fling. But as the weekend unfolds, and they begin to explore what it is that they want from life, from sex and from love, they begin to acknowledge a deeper attraction to each other. Garnering universal critical acclaim, Weekend is an original and poignant love story, boasting excellent performances from Tom Cullen and Chris New. It carries an 18 certificate.

We Were Here is a deeply moving documentary about the advent and devastating effect of HIV/AIDS on the San Francisco community in the 1980s, remembered by five individuals who lived through the crisis, but for whom the memory is still achingly raw. As friends grew sick and died in overwhelming numbers, and society at large moved to exclude and scapegoat homosexuals, the gay community drew together to help and defend and look after each other in what became known as the ‘San Francisco Model’ of true community care. The film is exempt from certification but is recommended for 15s and over.

Both films are being shown as part of Shetland Film Club’s outreach programme, and the Club acknowledges grant support from Shetland Arts and the Arts Development Fund.

Weekend will be screened at the Shetland Museum and Archive on Friday 17th February at 7.30pm, whilst We Were Here will be shown on Saturday 18th February at 7.30pm. Tickets are available on the door or from Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555, www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Contact: Kathy Hubbard 01595 743843 kathy.hubbard@shetlandarts.org

Since 2004 Scotland’s national orchestra has been committed to its Out and About programme – annual, week-long residencies in areas of the country which are not frequently visited by a national performing arts organisation. In partnership with Shetland Arts and supported by Creative Scotland; Loganair; TOTAL E&P UK Limited; Capital Solutions; NorthLink Ferries; and Shetland Islands Council, 70 RSNO musicians will journey from the Orchestra’s base in Glasgow to Shetland and integrate with the local communities by learning, creating and performing music.

The RSNO has been preparing for this trip for well over a year. In 2011 the RSNO commissioned Shetland-born composer and award-winning traditional fiddler Chris Stout to compose a substantial work for orchestra which will serve as the centrepiece of the Orchestra’s Sunday evening concert.

Chris also wrote a motif which has been used as the starting point of a composition and performance project, driven by collaboration between RSNO and Shetland musicians. Four groups from the RSNO visited the Islands last October and made contact with a number of Shetland-based traditional musicians, armed with Chris Stout’s ‘musical kernel’. Since the initial visit the four groups have worked together with Chris in Shetland, in Glasgow and online, producing four distinct works inspired by his original melody.

Award-winning traditional musician and composer Chris Stout said: “I’m delighted that the RSNO will be visiting Shetland. It’s a nice feeling to know that the excitement and anticipation felt by the visiting musicians will be shared by the local community. This project allows musicians to share ideas on a huge scale and I’m certain everyone will come out of it feeling energised and fulfilled.

“It is this sense of sharing knowledge which has been the main inspiration behind my piece Tingaholm. Although it exists as a complete work it stays true to the tradition that I have been brought up with. It is open to the interpretation of some of the finest musicians in Shetland, in collaboration with members of the RSNO. I can’t wait to hear the results!”

On Friday 2 March the four ensembles will perform their new works as well as traditional tunes and contributions from the RSNO musicians at separate locations in Shetland’s outer isles, each marking geographic points of the compass; Unst (Baltasound Junior High School), Skerries (Skerries Junior High School), Foula (Primary School) and Fair Isle (Primary School). They will perform concerts connected via live video link to each other as well as transmitted live to the Garrison Theatre in Lerwick. The Outer Isles Project starts at 7.30pm and all associated events in the outer isles are free of charge, but booking is recommended. To book tickets for each respective event, please click on the event you’d like to attend: Unst, Outer Skerries, Foula, Fair Isle.

The RSNO Brass Quintet will present Bigton Brass Concert, an afternoon programme featuring music by Bizet, Beethoven, Gershwin and Mancini, at Bigton Hall on Saturday from 3.00pm. Also on Saturday is Busta Recital; RSNO Violin Paul Medd will be performing a solo recital in the Long Room of the historic Busta House Hotel on the shore of Busta Voe at 2.30pm.

On Friday RSNO Leader James Clark will provide masterclasses for local young string players before they join the RSNO to perform at St Columba’s Church, Lerwick on Saturday night. Members of the RSNO will also be offering mentoring opportunities to members of the Shetland Community Orchestra.

St Columba’s Church, Lerwick on Saturday 3 March is the venue for the Big Kirk Chamber Concert, with the Orchestra’s Leader James Clark joined by strings, brass and woodwind from the RSNO and local young musicians side-by-side. As part of the programme James will perform Mozart’s First Violin Concerto which he previously performed at 2011’s Edinburgh International Festival to universal critical acclaim. The concert starts at 7.30pm.

The RSNO returns to its symphonic proportions for The Sunday Symphony, on 4 March at the Clickimin Leisure Complex, Lerwick – for the Orchestra’s 21st anniversary since its last full performance in the town. The programme, conducted by Austrian David Danzmayr, includes Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, Sibelius’s Symphony No1 and the world première of Fair Isle-born musician Chris Stout’s Tingaholm.

On Monday 5 March the full force of the visiting musicians will be heard once more, this time for the RSNO’s schools concert Heroes and Rogues. One of the finest presenters and animateurs in the business, Paul Rissmann will guide the young concert-goers through a musical journey, exploring key musical concepts linked to the curriculum. The school groups attending the concert have been preparing for the visit by participating in an online workshop with Paul Rissmann and RSNO musicians using the online community for Scottish schools, Glow.

Two groups of RSNO musicians present specially adapted versions of the Orchestra’s award-winning concert programme for pre-school children, Monster Music, at Brae High School, Clickimin Leisure Complex, Lerwick, Sandwick Junior High School and Mid Yell Community Hall. Tickets are £3 per child and free for accompanying adults. To book tickets for the respective events, please click on the event you’d like to attend: Brae, Lerwick, Sandwick, Yell.

Working with Shetland’s Community Mental Health team, members of the Orchestra have devised a tailor-made creative workshop for patients, to be held at the Clickimin Centre on Saturday. RSNO musicians are also catering for those who are unable to attend the RSNO performances, with a number of informal performances planned in residential care homes across the islands during the visit.

Ellen Thomson, Director of Education and Community Partnerships said: “Bringing together two fantastic musical traditions was the source of inspiration for the RSNO’s Out and About week in Shetland and I am delighted that we’ve been able to do this in such a creative way. This project brings with it the usual RSNO ingredients, full orchestral concerts, inspirational music making for young people, tailor-made community workshops and small-scale performances as well as collaboration with some of Shetland’s finest musicians.”

Shetland Arts Director Gwilym Gibbons said: “This is a hugely ambitious and exciting project and one that has been a long term ambition of Shetland Arts and the RSNO. I am delighted that Shetland Arts and RSNO are working in partnership to bring the orchestra to Shetland. It is very rare for a full symphony orchestra to commit to overcoming the enormous logistical challenge of getting to an island location like ours, let alone head out to our own outer isles of Fair Isle, Outer Skerries, Foula and Unst.”

For more information on the activities of the RSNO during Out and About in Shetland go to www.rsno.org.uk or contact Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555 or www.shetlandboxoffice.org

The Wicker Tree will be screened at The Garrison Theatre on Wednesday night at 7:30pm.