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CONCERT HALL:
STRATHCLYDE SUITE
The Legends’ Fiddle Competition
Andy Irvine & John Doyle and Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller hamish henderson
andy irvine
James Scott Skinner
TRADITIONAL
Hamish Henderson Night
TRADITIONAL
TRADITIONAL
Sunday 23rd January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED
Monday 24th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED
Tuesday 25th January, 8pm Strathclyde Suite, £12.50, SEATED
And now for something completely different... In a musical/variety performance first sprung on an unsuspecting world at 2009’s Blazin’ in Beauly fiddle school, five of today’s top fiddle talents channel the spirits of five illustrious forebears, fighting it out to be crowned the greatest of them all. Decked out in period costume, the legendary figures of Niel Gow (Iain MacFarlane), William Marshall (Duncan Chisholm), James Scott Skinner (Bruce MacGregor), Captain Simon Fraser (Alasdair Fraser) and James Hill (Greg Lawson) will each parade their distinctive style and repertoire, in a competition purportedly compered by Robbie Shepherd (Allan Henderson) and judged by living legend Aonghas Grant.
Tonight’s mouth-watering rendezvous between ex-Planxty singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and Andy Irvine, and guitarist extraordinaire John Doyle, was originally staged by New York’s Irish Arts Centre, as the second of their acclaimed Masters In Collaboration projects. That first encounter clearly didn’t exhaust its potential – what with Irvine’s myriad other credits including Mozaik, Patrick Street and a new solo release, Abocurragh, plus Doyle’s additional gifts as a singer and songwriter – and so the adventure continues.
Continuing the School of Scottish Studies’ 60th birthday celebrations, Celtic Connections salutes longtime presiding genius, Hamish Henderson (1919-2002), whose seminal impact on Scottish and international culture has been affirmed by such diverse authorities as Nelson Mandela, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and E. P. Thompson. Dr Fred Freeman, who masterminded Greentrax’s 2003 tribute to Henderson, A’ the Bairns O’ Adam, directs a line-up including Rod Paterson, Gordeanna McCulloch, John Morran, Adam McNaughtan, Alison McMorland, Geordie McIntyre and Steve Byrne, in a suitably festive Burns Night programme ranging widely across his repertoire and legacy.
WWW.CELTICCONNECTIONS.COM
Despite their tender years, Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller have already secured their place among today’s outstanding Scottish song exponents, as affirmed by their exquisite second album Shadows Tall.