Category Archives: Music

Kenyan Maasai Warriors visit a Highland primary school

Blas schools programme creates Kenyan and Highland exchange of culture http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/newsreleases/2011/September/2011-09-06-01.htm

Pupils at a Highland primary school will take part in a cultural exchange of music and dance this week (Friday 9 September) when a troupe of Kenyan Maasai Warriors visit Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis. Organised as part of the Blas schools 2011 programme, the visiting troupe called the Osiligi Maasai Warriors regularly visit the UK in an effort to raise funds for their families and for improvements to their home village.

The Blas education programme assists schools and teachers in achieving the experiences and outcomes required for the expressive arts and Gaelic areas of the Curriculum for Excellence by providing opportunities for pupils to deepen their understanding of culture in Scotland and the wider world.

Young emerging artists sound out at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall

As the Festival season draws to a close this year, Edinburgh will still play host to the best of Scotland’s emerging talent throughout the winter as a new programme of Sound Check events is announced.

Following a celebrated series of concerts last year, the groundbreaking ‘Emerging Artists’ scheme returns for a second successive year.

Featuring the best of Scotland’s young professional talent, the series gives artists a unique opportunity to perform live in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh’s premier concert hall, and gives audiences a chance to hear tomorrow’s stars today.

In partnership with Live Music Now, a charity set up by Yehudi Menuhin in 1977, the initiative not only makes high quality live music accessible, it also supports young musicians at the outset of their careers.

Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture Leader for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “It’s great to welcome this series back with a new programme and a new set of talented young performers, who I’m certain will be inspired by the fantastic setting of Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.

“Some of Scotland’s best young musicians will have the opportunity to play on the stage where such greats as Ella Fitzgerald, the Flaming Lips and classical star Nicola Benedetti have performed.”

A range of genres will be on offer, from singer/song writer talent Jo Mango, with her haunting, evocative vocals, to the exuberant rhythm and soul of Hebridean-originals Skerryvore.

All the concerts will take place from 11.00-11.45am, with school pupils, children and students in for free. All other tickets are £2.

Members of the audience have the opportunity to chat with the artists afterwards in the Usher Hall Café Bar. To book, visit usherhall.co.uk or call the box office on 0131 228 1155.

Macrobert – 40th Birthday Party

YOU are invited to macrobert’s biggest ever birthday party. We are turning 40 this year and will be celebrating the start of the anniversary year with a big bang on Saturday 17 September. The party is a big fundraising event that will kick off a whole year of celebrations and has something for everyone. The party is free, but you are invited to pay what you think it was worth at the end.

Performances, workshops and events will be ongoing from 12 noon till 9pm, and a 70s disco and ceilidh will close the event from 9pm till late. For full details go to www.macrobert.org/40 <http://www.macrobert.org/40>  or call our lovely box office team on 01786 466666.

And please bring your friends and family too! We are looking forward to seeing you on the day. Oooh, and there will be cake!

Please help us spread the word and forward this invite to your friends and colleagues.

PS: RSVP on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/ragDA2 <http://on.fb.me/ragDA2>  or spread the word on Twitter using #macrobert40

Concerts for Secondary School pupils S4 – S6 – RSNO

RSNO Maestro Music 2011

Tuesday 1 November, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall – 10:30 and 1:15

Wednesday 2 November, Usher Hall, Edinburgh – 1:00

Thursday 3 November, Aberdeen Music Hall – 1:00

FIVE

Five composers.  Five lives.  Five amazing pieces of music.

This year’s Maestro Music concert will be presented by Paul Rissmann, and features movements from composers’ fifth symphonies.  The concert kicks off with a Side by Side performance of the 1st movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No5.  Don’t forget to nominate your talented instrumentalists for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Maestro Music lasts approximately one hour.  Tickets cost £6.00 for pupils, and are free for teachers.

Before the concert, we will be posting online resources, including videos of RSNO musicians discussing the pieces and PowerPoint presentations exploring the music and its relevance to other areas of the Curriculum for Excellence.

For more information, and to book places, please visit: www.rsno.org.uk/schools_concerts and follow the link for Maestro Music.

Maestro 11-12 Form-6

MUSIC FOR YOUTH PERTH PROM – FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE!

PERTH CONCERT HALL

FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER  2011, 1.30PM-3PM

Music for Youth is coming to Perth with a free concert showcasing some exceptional talent from within Scotland.

perth-Audience_Booking_Form

perth-promo

MFY’s Perth Prom will provide first hand experience of live music-making in a fun and engaging environment.  Presenting dynamic, vibrant and eclectic performances by young people, this concert aims to inspire and motivate the next generation of music-makers and will feature performances from some talented local groups, including groups from Drake Music, the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the Scottish Brass Band Association plus more to be announced.  Taking place at Perth Concert Hall, tickets are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please find attached an event flyer and booking form.  If your school would like to apply for tickets, please complete the enclosed booking form and return it to us by email or fax.  We’re delighted to be expanding our work in Scotland and really hope you’ll be able to join us for this event.

If you would like any further details about the Perth Prom please get in touch on 020 7759 1830 or at mfy@mfy.org.uk<mailto:mfy@mfy.org.uk>.

Year of Creative Scotland 2012

Year of Creative Scotland 2012

Year of Creative Scotland and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, cultural programmes offer a significant opportunity over a three-year period.

Year of Creative Scotland 2012 will promote Scotland’s cultural vibrancy, shining a light on our creative assets; promoting our festivals, our performers, our writers and our great cities. It will celebrate our inspiring creative communities and inspire people across Scotland to engage with arts and culture and to explore their own creativity.

You can apply now for support through four investment opportunities:

  • Culture and Tourism: we wish to encourage the cultural sector to engage more effectively with the tourism industry with a view to: increasing audiences; increasing attendances at cultural events by domestic and international visitors; and improving the trading position of cultural businesses. The first deadline for this programme is 29 September 2011, with a second deadline of 31 January 2012.
  • One Step Further (Festivals Growth): as part of the celebration and promotion of 2012 as Year of Creative Scotland, we are offering opportunities for existing festivals and events to enhance their programme and generate more tourist visits to their event. The deadline for this programme is 17 October 2011.
  • First in a Lifetime: Scotland is a creative nation with world-class artists and creative practitioners, but not everyone gets to enjoy or take part in creative activity. They may have been prevented from doing this because of lack of opportunity, financial constraints, social inequalities, location, access issues or just lack of confidence. We want to help exceptional artists and creative people, and organisations of quality, to increase “first in a lifetime” opportunities for people who do not normally get the chance. The deadlines for this programme are 29 September 2011 and 31 January 2012.
  • Creative Places Awards: Scotland has a wealth of festivals, events and year-round creative activities that not only enhance peoples’ lives, but also act as a magnet for visitors and contribute to local economies. Much of this activity takes place outside of the big urban centres; in small towns, villages and other communities, often in areas remote from the main population centres. We want to celebrate the value of creativity to the social and economic wellbeing of communities, and to reward the hard work and imagination that lies behind the success of such places. The deadline is 28 October 2011.

Creative Identities: Dance, Film and Music

Creative Identities is part of the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme which reinvests the proceeds of crime back into communities to benefit Scotland’s young people. Creative Identities investment provides access to high quality experiential opportunities for young people in dance, film and music within communities.

Dance: YouthLink Scotland will manage a programme to provide young people with a range of opportunities to develop their dance skills.

Film and Digital Media: will provide young people from all backgrounds with opportunities to develop their skills, talent, creativity and confidence whilst also developing their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of film & digital media.

Music – Independent Music Making: will support professional recording/rehearsal studios, or organisations working in partnership with professional recording/rehearsal studios, to offer young people opportunities to record their first professional demo tracks.

For more details visit Investment Programme 15: Creative Identities

Other new investment programmes include:

Traditional Arts: there are two new programmes:

  • The first will invest in new Traditional Arts Commissions of various scales that can be performed regionally, nationally and internationally – from small scale productions which can be toured regionally, up to large scale productions that can engage on an international stage.
  • The second will invest in Traditional Arts Mentoring and Advanced Tutoring to develop Scotland’s traditional arts base by strengthening the transmission of skills, approaches and techniques between artists. Traditional arts is taken to encompass Dance, Music and Storytelling within the traditions which are actively practiced within Scotland.

Our Capital programme will invest in cultural facilities, refurbishments and equipment, which improve access, presentation and enjoyment of the arts and film for the population of Scotland and has a deadline of 30 September 2011.

Youth Music Initiative: To support and create access to high quality music making programmes particularly for young people that would not normally engage in music activities.

Investment Surgeries

Creative Scotland is hosting Investment Surgeries across Scotland. Meet Creative Scotland staff face-to-face to talk about your project and our Investment Programmes.  September’s surgeries will be held in:

You should read the guidelines for the programme you are interested in before your surgery to ensure that you and your project meet the criteria for investment. To book an appointment, email: pmo@creativescotland.com

Arts and Older People – Festival 2012

Creative Scotland, in partnership with the Baring Foundation and Age Scotland, is planning an inspiring and ambitious annual festival of arts for, by, with and about older people. The first festival will take place in October 2012. But we need your help to plan! There is a lot of arts and ageing activity taking place throughout Scotland and we want to map this to shape the new festival. We are particularly interested in hearing about inter-generational arts activity, arts programmes in residential care homes, and existing local festivals targeting older people. If you are involved in any activity of this nature then please share it with us by emailing: maggie.maxwell@creativescotland.com

Meet, greet and hot desk

We have a number of hot-desk and meeting spaces in our Edinburgh office that are available from the beginning of September, for the creative community to work from. To book a touch down space please email:reception.edinburgh@creativescotland.com

And finally…Opportunities!

Since we introduced our
Opportunities site in June, we’ve had over 75,000 hits and hundreds of opportunities have been uploaded. That’s a fantastic response and tells us it’s a useful tool for you, your organisation or your sector. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.

Highland pupils first to perform WWF musical in Scotland

WWF is marking its 50th anniversary in style this year with the Scottish premiere of its musical ‘One Sun One World’. The piece has been specially commissioned by the environmental charity and will be performed for the first time in Scotland on Saturday 19 November at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort Hotel at 2pm.

Young musicians from all over Highland, who form the Highland Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir, along with pupils from Kingussie High School and its associated primary schools, will be performing the piece and rehearsals for them begin this weekend.  These two groups and the 6 others supported by The Highland Council have a schedule of weekend rehearsals for the November Concerts weekend which will also see performances by the other Groups throughout the day.  More information about the Concerts can be seen at: www.highland-young-musicians.com

http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/news/newsreleases/2011/August/2011-08-23-07.htm

Research: Increasing the engagement of young people in positive activities

In depth research was undertaken to investigate the benefits and barriers to young people engaging with positive out of school activities. There are several key messages to take away including:

  • three quarters of young people engage in some form of activity but for lower income and rural young people this dips to less than half.
  • barriers to engagement include poor access to information and parental attitudes.
  • proven benefits include better relationships with adults and particularly teachers and parents which can be transferred to in-school activities.
  • effective strategies for engagement include communicating specific benefits rather than the generic benefit of participation being a ‘good thing’.

You can find the pdf of the research document here:

http://www.c4eo.org.uk/themes/youth/positiveactivities/files/positive_activities_research_summary.pdf

Reading, Dancing, Crafts and Music – Scotland’s top cultural pastimes

SLAINTE reports that the Scottish Government Household Annual Survey for 2009/10 has confirmed that reading for pleasure is by far the most common cultural activity in 2009/2010 with 62% of adults saying that they have done this in the last year. This is in line with previous years. The next most popular activity is dancing (18%), followed by crafts and playing and writing music (both 11%).

http://www.slainte.org.uk/news/newsindex.htm