' 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

Shetland Arts’ Creative Connections is a marathon, seven-day and night festival, celebrating the contemporary creative culture of Shetland, incorporating four summer schools, cultural and creative visits across the islands, showcase concerts and dances, a specially curated exhibition and an artist residency.  This event is part of Scotland’s Year of Homecoming and takes place throughout Shetland between 3 – 9 August.

Now into its sixth year, Fiddle Frenzy is Shetland’s renowned fiddle school using top exponents of their craft to teach tunes and techniques drawn from the unique island traditions as heard world wide by our contemporary performers. In addition to the daily workshops held throughout the week in Lerwick, Whalsay and Fetlar, Fiddle Frenzy provides seven days of concerts in Lerwick’s Garrison Theatre, at the Clickimin Centre, in the village of Voe and on the island of Fetlar. This year’s showcase concerts include performances by Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, Fiddlers Bid, Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch, Fullscelidh Spelemannslag, Kevin Henderson, the Heritage Fiddlers and many more.

For 2009 there have been additions made to the week long summer school event.  ‘Art Craft Experience’ is based on Shetland’s well known textile culture, grown from our knitting techniques and continuous creative development. During the workshops the tutors will teach basic Shetland knitted structures and their contemporary application for creative textiles.  Afternoon visits will take students to the studios of some of Shetland’s visual artists, craft makers and applied artists, to see their work and share in their experiences of working as an artist in Shetland. Students will visit the Bonhoga Gallery for the ‘Diaspora’ exhibition featuring four Shetland artists who have chosen to live outwith Shetland, and four artists who have made their home in the islands.  An artist in residence with family connections in Shetland, Hazel White, will spend a month at The Booth, an artist living/working space in Scalloway.  She will take part in some of the workshops while developing a project around her work in digital jewellery.

‘Makkin’ Wi Wirds’ is the title of the writing workshops with T.S. Eliot Prize winner, Jen Hadfield, exploring ideas of place through praise poem, myth and music. Shetland has a well respected literature scene, and these workshops will give students the encouragement to realise their ideas and visit some of the dramatic sites that have inspired some very high profile writers, from Robert Louis Stevenson to Will Self. Students will have an opportunity to share their compositions by stepping up to the ‘open mike’ at Creative Connection Club nights.

Another integral part of Creative Connections is ‘Shetland’s Storytelling Festival’, our top storytellers accompany the afternoon cultural trips and provide an insight into the folklore of the islands and the contemporary yarning that still flourishes in day to day Shetland life, act as hosts for the concerts and the festival club and provide that invaluable insight to Shetland past and present.

Clickimin Comedy is a stand up comedy event on Friday 7th at the Clickimin Centre, Lerwick, featuring visiting comedians Michael Redmond, Steven Dick and Eilidh MacAskill together with local comedian Les Sinclair and compère Sandy Nelson. The event is part of Shetland Arts comedy development programme which has so far included events such as Stand Up At Sound and Stand Up Helly Aa.

Creative Connections ‘Festival Club’ at the Garrison Theatre, provides a chance, each evening after the concerts, for all students and visitors to mix and enjoy traditional music and storytelling sessions until the early hours.

Bookings can be make from Shetland Box office 01595 745555 or in person from Islesburgh Community Centre, King Harald Street, Lerwick.

Contact us for more information on Creative Connections.

As ever, it’s a packed program featuring some of the best music Shetland has to offer throughout each day and evening. For the full lineup visit www.flavourofshetland.com/music

Some of the many highlights I’m looking forward to include…

Fullsceilidh Spelemannslag, who are making two appearances this year; tonight at 22.00 and Saturday at 17.30 where they will release their new album. Entitled “Spreefix”, the recording was produced by omni-talented Jonathan Ritch (of Fiddlers’ Bid fame) at Wethersta Studio outside Brae.

Friday night is sure to be a spree with The Revellers and Hom Bru headlining.

Norman and the Folding Deck Chairs, Shetland’s young jazz prodigies take to the stage at noon on Saturday, with The Vinyls and Scaldin Bragg closing proceedings in the evening.

To round things off, Sunday afternoon features a bouquet of Shetland’s finest females singers including Sheila Henderson, Izzy Swanson (Mahogany), Freda Leask and Young Musician of the Year Erin Sandison.

Notable this year is the number of bands playing acoustic sets, in part due to Shetland’s most pervasive drummer, Archer Kemp, breaking his elbow a few weeks ago (wishing you a speedy recovery Archer).

See you on the pier…

Here’s a photo slideshow, which will be updated throughout the weekend, courtesy of Marvin Smith