Top accordionists from Scotland and Scandinavia feature at Northern Streams 2016: Ingunn Bjørgo, who plays the diatonic accordion in top Norwegian dance band, Askerladden; Markus Räsänen, free bass accordionist from Sweden and well known Scottish accordionist – Sandy Brechin. These three accordionists will join with other guests in a Northern Streams Ceilidh band for a … Continued
The New York-born violinist Yehudi Menuhin may be remembered best as a musician, but he was also a dedicated human rights activist and founder of Live Music Now. Branches of Live Music Now around the world will be remembering the man and his extraordinary legacy this year, as 2016 marks the centenary of his birth. … Continued
Shauna MacDonald is an experienced across a range of productions from Hollywood film (The Descent, The Mutant Chronicles) to major television drama (Taggart, State of Play, Spooks, Sea of Souls) as well as plenty of stage work, including the National Theatre of Scotland. We asked Shauna about directing The Last Laugh, with the backdrop to … Continued
Showcase Scotland Expo will be hosting a trade stand at Babel Med Music in France next month (17th-19th March, more info on the event here http://www.dock-des-suds.org/babelmedmusic2016/en/). Get items to Active Events this coming Monday for inclusion in the stand. This is a great opportunity to promote your music to the European industry at minimal expense to you. All you have … Continued
The 2016 Storytelling Network Development Day took place at Old Churches House in Dunblane last Saturday 27 February, bringing together a range of speakers and storytellers to explore the key opportunities and challenges facing the artform in Scotland today. The day’s events included a series of open discussions and guided workshops, ranging from advice on … Continued
Tuesday 26 – Friday 29 July De Montfort University, Leicester “Completely inspirational, I can’t wait to start delivering.” Hayley Earlam, Participant 2015. The People Dancing Summer School is back for 2016. This unique professional development experience offers the opportunity to develop your skills, and be inspired by great dance practice and renowned artists and leaders in … Continued
Storytelling on film: a creative opportunity or a contradiction in terms? According to an old Scottish traveller proverb, stories are told “eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart”. Capturing a storyteller’s performance on camera might suggest a blockage between teller and listener; however, film can bring stories to audiences who otherwise would … Continued
Storyteller Angie Townsend recently passed away after brave and courageous fight with cancer. Her funeral takes place at St Michael’s Church in Inveresk today, followed by a celebration of her life which – as Angie wished – will see her old band ‘Seeing Red‘ perform in Musselburgh. Angie loved to tell stories to children, but was … Continued
ABC Creative Music are an organisation aiming to produce programmes which engineer grown-up musical creativity into child-friendly resources. Their new programmes focus on Scots and Gaelic language (among others). ABC Favourites for Burns Night – ABC teamed up with leading folk singers Karine Polwart and Inge Thomson to produce resources that allow children to not only … Continued
Five weeks of Americana fiddling and more, coming up Thursday 25th February! Following our hugely popular five week course into Scandinavian style and repertoire, tutored by Marit Falt, we are looking forward to a new run of classes on Americana with Rona Wilkie. This class is open to any instrument in C Clef and will … Continued
TRACS (Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland, SCIO SC043009) is a co-operative network which champions our shared traditions of music, song, storytelling, dance, crafts, customs and local languages. TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum (SCIO SC042867), the Scottish Storytelling Forum (SCIO SC052330) and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (SCIO SC045085). Together we celebrate the local distinctiveness of Scotland’s places: our intangible cultural heritage. TRACS and the Forums have their registered office at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR.
