Chris Forbes was recently voted one of the Best Upcoming Scottish Comedians in 2011 by The List magazine and regularly plays top UK comedy venues, as well as further afield in Canada where he was a finalist in the internationally acclaimed Great Canadian Laugh Off.  His conversational, laid back and friendly style gives him a likeable on-stage persona, and he’s not afraid of making the most of his wiry frame with some great physical comedy.

The inaptly named Gary Little burst onto the comedy scene in 2003.  At six foot three, Gary is an imposing presence on any stage.  Gary’s humour is honest, refreshing and in-your-face, with a wealth of material derived from a life lived to the full.  Gary has played every type of gig, from prisons to 5-star corporate events, and always gets the audience laughing.

The Garrison Theatre will also play host to Shetland Arts’ popular annual Up Helly Aa day concert, Fiery Sessions, at 2pm on January 31^st. Fiery Sessions will feature local musicians, including Kaela Jamieson & John Hutchison, Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson, Vair and Hansel, and a visit from the Junior Jarl Squad.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts said: “We are delighted to welcome Chris and Gary to Shetland to warm us up with a laugh and a smile after the Up Helly Aa procession. Last year’s Stand Up Helly Aa was a fantastic success and we’re looking forward to an excellent turn out again this year.

We’re also very pleased to be featuring a host of local musicians at Fiery Sessions. The concert is always a big hit and it’s great to see how consistently popular Shetland’s local acts are.”

Tickets for both events are £8, £6 for concessions, and can be purchased from http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org or by phoning 01595 745 555.

There will also be a free masterclass where people can learn about the group’s music and instruments in the Garrison Theatre at 3pm on the Saturday afternoon.

* Svara Kanti

Svara-Kanti brings together four acclaimed masters of Indian and Western music to play evocative ancient folk music re-imagined: virtuosic Indian classical traditions, the finest Bollywood film music (including compositions by Slumdog Millionaire Oscar winner AR Rahman) and new Indian music, all reinterpreted with contemporary Western, classical and jazz influences.

Svara-Kanti consists of Simon Thacker on classical guitar (Park Lane Group Award winner, RPS Award nominee, “startling virtuosity“: The Scotsman); incredible Carnatic South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, who has recorded over 200 Bollywood soundtracks and is a Trinity College of Music Fellow; internationally renowned tabla player Sarvar Sabri, who has a musical lineage stretching back ten generations to the Royal Court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and the beautiful voice of London based singer and actress Japjit Kaur. Japjit has performed extensively and written in various Indian languages and styles, including Bollywood, Bhangra and Indian classical, and was Musical Director and vocal coach for the Royal National Theatre’s production of Rafta Rafta.

Prior to the full group performance at each concert, Simon Thacker will also present a solo classical guitar recital.

Svara-Kanti is a virtuosic group of musicians whose members seamlessly blend Indian and Western styles. A taste of the exotic is the perfect antidote to autumnal blues.

The Guardian described Svara-Kantis’s music as “an exuberant virtuoso display” whilst the Glasgow Herald commented on the “marvellous interaction between Thacker and Srikanth …. strikingly intricate, powerful unison playing from all involved.”

Tickets for the concerts at Bigton on 14^th October and the Garrison Theatre on 15^th October, both starting at 7.30pm, are priced at £10 (£8 concessions) and are available from Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, 01595 745 555, or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org.

Bookings for Saturday’ masterclass can also be made through the Box Office.

The next event in the Guitar Season will be the Shetland ‘Guitar Hero’ concert at the Town Hall on Saturday 19th November.

Biographies

Simon Thacker is Head of Guitar at Napier University and Honorary Fellow in Music at the University of Aberdeen. He has been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award and in 2006 was a winner of the 50th Park Lane Group Awards, resulting in his acclaimed solo Purcell Room debut. Simon has performed in Cuba, the USA, Spain, Malta, France and Belgium, and broadcast on Cuban TV and BBC Radio 3. He is founder of Camerata Ritmata, a unique collaboration with some of the UK’s leading jazz and world musicians, which he composes for. He is also a member of duo ¡Canto vivo! with opera star Claire Debono. In 2009 he led his ground-breaking East/West project The Nava Rasa Ensemble, featuring nine of Europe’s best Indian and Western classical musicians performing new concerti by Nigel Osborne and Shirish Korde, on a prestigious Tune Up tour across the UK.

Japjit Kaur was born in north India surrounded by classical and Bollywood music and dance. She first studied Indian classical music in Haryana at the age of 10 and was awarded a first class division as well as a distinction by the Pracheen Kala Kendra. Since moving to London she has performed extensively and written in various Indian languages and styles, including Bollywood, Bhangra and Indian classical. In 2004 Japjit worked with Flatline Team in collaboration with Motion Pictures on a project called ‘Dilruba’ as a singer-songwriter and an actress. This was also short listed for the LA short film festival. In late 2005 Japjit was appointed as a weekend prime time radio presenter by Panjab Radio and went on to study Hindustani vocals further at the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Institute with Smt. Chandrima Misra followed by tuition from Pandit Chiranjib Chakraborty. She has also been studying Qawalli and Sufi music from Ustad Ameer Khan Sahib. Since 2006 she has been working extensively with renowned composer Niraj Chag and was Musical Director and vocal coach for the Royal National Theatre production of Rafta Rafta.

Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth learnt the rudiments of the classical Carnatic music of southern India from her mother from the age of three and gave her first recital when she was just nine. Although she has a profound respect for her heritage and performs in the classical Carnatic style with an impressive combination of emotional expression and masterful technique, she refuses to be bound by tradition. She is also an accomplished Western classical violinist and Jyotsna has played violin for over 200 commercial Indian films and has released many albums internationally. She has received many national and international awards and was  recently conferred a Fellowship in Carnatic Music from Trinity College of Music, London.

Her many notable performances include: Queen Elizabeth Hall; WOMAD; BBC Radio 3; Red Violin Festival (Wales); Cleveland Music Festival; World Trade Auditorium (Singapore); East-West International Music Encounter (Bangalore).

Sarvar Sabri is an internationally renowned tabla player/composer whose versatility and passion for the rich diversity of the world’s musical traditions has spurred him to constantly experiment with other world-class musicians and composers, and to extend the boundaries of his own classical form. Sabri is proficient not only as a soloist but also works with many Indian classical vocalists, instrumentalists and Kathak dancers. He regularly participates in major music festivals held in India. He makes regular appearances at the South Bank, London and has also performed for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 including the South Bank Show. As a soloist, he has worked with the BCMG in collaboration with composer Judith Weir, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, East of England Orchestra and Sinfonia Baltica. In 2006, he appeared with CBSO and in March 2007, he worked with Viva Sinfonia (Derby). Sabri’s work can be heard on numerous CDs playing with some of the world’s finest musicians.

‘Blowup’ is an interactive performance environment designed for choreographed performances and public interaction.  The work consists of two large video projections in which video imagery of the performers or viewers is manipulated in real-time. These images are cut up, redistributed and distorted by the software so that parts of the body are projected larger or smaller than others depending on how fast they are moving.

It offers a fascinating way of exploring the body and its movement within a defined space. The workshop sessions will be led by choreographer and dancer Sue Hawksley  within the interactive environment.

There are three workshops available on Saturday 1st , Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd October from 5.00 pm – 7.30 pm.  They might be of particular interest to individuals/pairs or those who might wish to develop the ideas with existing groups (dance teachers etc) with a view to the group getting the most from the exhibition.  Alternatively, it might just be good fun.

Places on the workshops are free but are limited to just 6 places per session, so advance booking is essential.  Places can be booked on the Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555 or www.shetlandboxoffice.org

' Harris Playfair Youth Big Band

Fiddle Frenzy’s showcase concerts will feature Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham headlining the opening night concert on Sunday 7th August with Bodega, Harris Playfair’s Youth Big Band Project, Nordic Fiddler’s Bloc featuring Kevin Henderson, Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson, Fullscelidh Spelemannslag and more performing through the week.

The event is based in venues around Lerwick most of the week; on Tuesday the activities will take place in Ollaberry and on Friday, Aith.

Evening dances will feature the Jim Halcrow Band on Sunday 7th, the James Leask Band on Tuesday and Leeshinat on Friday.  Each evening there will be a festival club and late night session at the Garrison Theatre.

Bodega's Ross Couper

Daily music workshops will be hosted by some of Shetland finest performers and tutors including Ross Couper, Bryan Gear, Cathy Geldard, Andrew Gifford, Kevin Henderson, Jim Leask, Bernadette Porter and Pauleen Wiseman delivering their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm across the classes, throughout the week.  Once again Ryan Couper will be leading the guitar classes.

Together with the musical activities, there will be a range of artistic workshops including drawing and paining with Blue Sky Studios, Contemporary Knitting with Jennie Bradley and Creative Writing with T.S. Eliot Prize winner Jen Hadfield.

` Nordic Fiddlers Bloc

This year Fiddle Frenzy will be welcoming young scholarship musicians from Orkney and the Western Isles to take part in the Harris Playfair Big Band Project and all the weeks activities thanks to financial support from the Scotland’s Islands fund.

For the full programme of events visit www.shetlandarts.org/events/fiddle-frenzy or for further information contact Shetland Arts on 01595 743 843.

Bookings for concerts and workshops can be made at Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, Lerwick 01595 745555 or visit www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Scholarship students will participate in The Harris Playfair Youth Trad Big Band Project and Fiddle Frenzy, our renowned fiddle school that comprises a week long programme of tuition from some of Shetland’s finest musicians, showcase concerts, dances and cultural activities. The scholarship project is supported by Scotland’s Islands www.scotlandsislands.com

Fiddle Frenzy

Fiddle Frenzy, Sunday 7th to Sunday 14th August, is a summer school and cultural festival that concentrates on Shetland’s unique sense of place, and is designed to teach and pass on traditional Shetland musical styles and tunes.  As well as fiddle tuition, Shetland style guitar accompaniment is offered, and classes are available in Traditional Shetland Knitting techniques, Creative Writing and Art Workshops that will feature our spectacular land and seascapes.  The music tutors include some of Shetland’s most proficient musicians including Ross Couper, Bryan Gear, Cathy Geldard, Andrew Gifford, Kevin Henderson, Jim Leask, Bernadette Porter and Pauleen Wiseman, who will pass on their skills, knowledge and enthusiasm. The fantastic Ryan Couper will once again lead the guitar classes.

Shetland storytellers and historians will host the daily cultural trips, and there will be concerts and dances every evening together with a festival club. Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, Bodega, Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag, Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson, Hom Bru, Bryan Gear with Violet Tulloch are some of the acts who will perform during the evening concerts.

Harris Playfair Youth Trad Big Band Project

The Harris Playfair Youth Trad Big Band Project, which will take place between Wednesday 3rd to Tuesday 9th August, is a youth ‘super group’ featuring some of the islands’ finest young musicians who, under the tutelage of Harris Playfair and Margaret Scollay will focus on material that spans jazz and traditional Shetland music with ‘big band’ style arrangements (view video footage of the band at the bottom of this page).

Harris has a track record of producing astonishing results with groups of young musicians. He has a deep understanding and appreciation of jazz and traditional Shetland styles, and the connections between the two. This is a great opportunity for young musicians to be part of an exciting and progressive ensemble, and for audiences to hear the inventive new material, that will result from the rigorous and thoroughly enjoyable workshops.  Harris hopes the group will provide “a platform upon which the young musicians can experience the kind of eclectic musical diversity which characterises the music of such groups as The Unusual Suspects, the True North Orchestra, the Treacherous Orchestra, and more locally connected groups such as Fiddlers Bid and Filska.”

The group of young musicians will push back musical boundaries and gain an invaluable range of experiences, collectively and individually, while learning just how exciting being part of such a creative ensemble can be.  The project will use traditional and contemporary melodies from each of the participating island groups with multi-textured arrangements influenced by the jazz big band idiom. Another aim will be to encourage the young musicians to produce their own material: both melodies and group arrangements.  The Big Band workshops will run from Wednesday 3rd to Sunday 7th August with a performance on Mon 8th at the Fidddle Frenzy  opening concert in the Garrison Theatre, Lerwick, followed by a second performance in Ollaberry in the north Shetland Mainland on Tuesday 9^th.

Scholarship

Each year Shetland Arts provides two free scholarship places to the winners of the Shetland Young Fiddler of the Year competition. This year the titles went Hannah Adamson and Martha Thomson. Thanks to funding from Scotland’s Islands, the scholarship programme has been widened to include participants from each of the Scottish island groups.

The scholarship is designed to encourage an understanding of the music of Shetland and to promote its continued development, highlighting living traditions and modern influences, and educating young musicians to ensure that traditional music continues to evolve.  It also aims to strengthen the ties between the island groups and provide musical collaboration opportunities for the participants.

The scholarship is open to young people aged 14 to 26 and best suited to fiddle players, although Shetland Arts will consider guitarists, bassists, or any musician able to take part in the workshops.  Shetland Arts welcomes applications from the following regions: Highland (Eigg, Muck, Raasay, Rum, Skye, Canna); North Ayrshire (Arran, Great Cumbrae); Argyll & Bute (Bute, Iona, Coll, Colonsay, Gigha, Islay, Jura, Kerrera, Lismore, Luing, Mull, Seil, Tiree); the Outer Hebrides (Eday, Barra, Uist, Lewis/Harris); and Orkney. Scholarship students must be available to attend the full range of events from 3rd to 14th August.

The scholarship will include costs for all travel, accommodation, food and participation fees. The students will be accommodated in our award winning youth hostel.  A liaison officer, with a musical background, will be staying in the youth hostel and will be on hand to assist them.

Bryan Peterson, Shetland Arts’ Music Development Officer said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for young musicians to come to Shetland and immerse themselves in our culture, and share the music of their islands with Shetlanders.”

If you wish to apply or nominate someone, please download, complete and return this application form (Youth Scholarship Application.doc) or contact Shetland Arts for further information: Shetland Arts, Toll Clock Centre, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0DE – 01595 743 843 –  info@shetlandarts.org – www.shetlandarts.org

The deadline for application submission is midday Monday 4th July.

Links

• Fiddle Frenzy
• Harris Playfair Trad Big Band news

Video footage of Harris Playfair Youth Trad Big Band

This project has been supported by Scotland’s Islands – www.scotlandsislands.com

The event culminates with a concert and prize-giving ceremony on Saturday evening starting at 7.30pm.

The full programme of events can be viewed / printed here – Shetland Folk Society – Young Fiddler of the Year 2011 programme (.pdf)

Tickets for the Saturday evening event are £6/4. Entrance to the Friday and Saturday competition events are free. For more information visit Shetland Box Office – www.shetlandboxoffice.org/whats-on/young-fiddler-of-the-year.

Young Fiddler of the Year is organised by Shetland Folk Society (01950 477 308).

Rocio is an experienced Belly dancer having danced professionally for over 13 years and has performed across Spain, the UK, Italy and Germany.  She has also worked as a choreographer and been involved in many television shows including Spanish series Manolito Gafotas.  Her Belly dancing is influenced by many styles and cultures including Bedouin, Andalusi, Egyptian and Lebanese.

Rocio currently lives in Shetland and is a very popular Belly dancing teacher.  Five of her students Robina Barton, Fiona Grieve, Stella Nort, Zoe Smith and Linda Wiseman will be taking part in the performance at the Garrison.

Rocio Bolanos said “I’m very happy to perform in Shetland again and in such a fantastic venue as the Garrison.  This show will be a special event full of colour and music from different cultures.  Also this year is especially exciting because some of my students are participating in it.  We’ve all had great fun preparing this performance and we’re all out to just enjoy it.”

Robina Barton said “It’s great fun going to belly dancing classes – great music, great clothes and great exercise – just a feel good experience. Preparing for the performance has been a giggle and hopefully the audience will enjoy it as much as we do!”

Tickets are available at Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, telephone number 01595 745555 or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org

Shetland Arts and Shetland Islands Council accessed Scottish government funds to implement a ticket system that would help reduce the barriers that rural communities face in accessing tickets for events.  An advisory group looked at many systems that could cope with ticket sales and memberships systems and chose Tessitura, one of the largest international companies specialising in this field, as it was flexible enough to fit all their needs.  The Albert Hall, the Grand Metropolitan and many other famous venues have been successfully using the system for many years, including a similar partnership in Victoria, Canada, which sells ticket for a partnership across a wide geographic area, using Tessitura in a similar way to Shetland Box Office Partnership.

Phase 1 (face to face ticket sales in Islesburgh Centre and the Garrison Theatre, and phone sales operated by Islesburgh Centre staff) has been highly successful with over 95000 tickets sold in Shetland to date.  59 promoters have used the facilities selling tickets for 176 productions and 827 individual performances at venues from Fair isle to Unst.

The website enables users to view all up-coming events currently on sale via the What’s On page.  The events are listed in date order and include details such as the venue, description of the event and ticket prices.  Once you register as a user, you can buy tickets by credit or debit card and choose to have them posted to you for a small fee or collected from the venue or box office, unless the event is within the next 7 days, when the tickets will only be available for collection.  You can select your seat for events in the Garrison Theatre, with other venues having unreserved seating.

Other users of online box office facilities have found that within 6 month of their websites going live over 40% of all sales have been through the web. Offering three ways of purchasing tickets – face to face, over the phone or online – will open up events to everyone across the isles.  It will reduce the need for queuing for popular events, help those in the outer isles plan ahead to go to the cinema and other shows in town, and provide an opportunity for all promoters to sell their tickets outside Shetland, attracting tourists in advance to events across Shetland.

Gwilym Gibbons, Director of Shetland Arts, said: “This latest phase of the Shetland Box Office marks a significant development in this partnership project. The option for Shetland customers to buy tickets online and browse what’s on information across many different promoters, venues and organisations is a great step forward.  For visitors to Shetland it provides for the first time, information in one place that shows the vast offering of arts activity in Shetland; and best of all allows them to buy their tickets 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world”.

Gwilym added: “The Shetland Box Office’s success to date is born out of a special partnership between Shetland Islands Council, namely their Islesburgh team, and Shetland Arts. Partnerships around this complex mixed operational and strategic nature are always challenging across organisations and the Shetland Box Office has been no exception.  The launch today of online sales is a real tribute to the determination and commitment of staff in both organisations.  Shetland is at its best when organisations share resources and come together for the benefit of all, it’s not always the path of least resistance but more often than not, given time it does lead to the greatest return on investment”.

Florence Grains, the Council’s Spokesperson for Culture and Recreation said: “I’m delighted to see that the Shetland Box Office is now fully operational, including online sales. This development assists the Council with its aspiration to make services more accessible to everyone in Shetland, regardless of where they live.  I am also pleased to see that the Council and Shetland Arts are working so well together on this shared project and I look forward to seeing this service further develop over time.

• http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org/

How are we doing?

Have your say about the work of Shetland Arts

In 2007 Shetland Arts piloted a small-scale consultation process called Art Focus. People were invited to focus group meetings to discuss issues for the arts in Shetland.

It was a new step for us, and an important one. Although people found lots of positive things to say about our work, some of the responses were challenging and at times very critical; all the responses were valuable to us.

Three main themes emerged – we were asked to: broaden our horizons and take on new ideas; make what we do more accessible; be inclusive and communicate better the opportunities we offer.

During the last three years we have tried to take these comments on board and now we’d like to know how successful we’ve been, and how we can continue to improve the services we offer.

We’d really appreciate it if you could take five minutes to fill in this questionnaire. The results will inform our development plans for the next three years.

The survey contains a series of statements – some of them pretty blunt – with which you are invited to disagree or agree, as well as some questions about our marketing. At every point there is an opportunity for you to add further comment if you so wish. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.

* Click here to be directed to the online survey *

If you’d prefer to fill in a paper copy, please drop it into one of the collection points listed below:

• Shetland Arts (Toll Clock Centre)
• Shetland Library
• Peerie Shop Café
• The Lounge Bar
• Shetland College
• Clickimin Centre
• Islesburgh
• Sound Service Station
• Shetland College
• Bonhoga Gallery
• Garrison Theatre
• Wind Dog Café
• Your local shop!

We’d be grateful if you could return the copies to us by Friday 10th December

Competition winner 5-11 age category - Connor Fraser, Nesting Primary

Competition winner 12-18 age category - Stephanie Sinclair, Mid Yell School

The response to Shetland Arts’ competition to design a Christmas card was enormous, with over 330 entries from Unst to Fair Isle filling the organisation’s offices and making the judging process incredibly difficult. Competition organiser Jane Matthews said, ‘we were totally overwhelmed by the fantastic response and the creativity of Shetland’s young people. What a task it was for the panel of judges to pick just two winners, we could have chosen at least twenty!’

The winner in the 5-11 age category was Connor Fraser, aged 6, from Nesting Primary School with his wonderfully painted happy snowman. And in the 12-18 age category the winner Stephanie Sinclair, aged 12 from Yell, impressed the judges with her Christmas Fair Isle gloves. The two designs compliment each other with their colour and style and will be perfect for sending Shetland cheer wherever they go.

The cards have been commercially produced and will shortly be available at Bonhoga Gallery shop, the Garrison Theatre and the Shetland Arts offices in the Toll Clock Centre.

Jane added, ‘we’d like to congratulate Stephanie and Connor and thank all the children and young people who entered, and the schools and teachers who embraced the project. We hope to be able to display all the entries at some stage, if we can find a big enough wall!’

For more information or to reserve packs please contact Shetland Arts on (01595) 743843 or email admin@shetlandarts.org