Category: fiddle

1st December Lunchtime Zoom Recital with Shona Donaldson and Paul Anderson

concert, fiddle, lunchtime concert, Scots song, Scottish, Scottish music, song, traditional, traditional music

For our last concert of 2021 Friends of Wighton can’t provide the usual mincepies and chocolates but we are offering a very special pre-Christmas Zoom treat!     Our guests are the award-winning traditional singer Shona Donaldson and the far-famed Tarland fiddler Paul Anderson MBE.

Shona Donaldson grew up in Huntly in a musical family, learning the fiddle and attending traditional music festivals including Strichen and Keith. As well as picking up the usual song repertoire, Shona also learned from bothy ballad singers like Jock Duncan and Geordie Murison. Soon, to the delight of her mentors she was winning prizes in the normally male–dominated  bothy ballad world. 

In 2015, Shona became the first woman to win the coveted Bothy Ballad Champion of Champions title to add to her 2009 Scots Singer of the Year award. She is also an accomplished songwriter.

Paul Anderson MBE is widely regarded as the finest fiddle player of his generation. Having found, at age five, an old French violin under the spare bed in his grandparents’ house, he has gone on from there to win all the major fiddle prizes including the Glenfiddich Scottish Fiddle Championship.

Paul has toured extensively here and abroad and is also well-known as a composer with over 300 works including many for film, television and theatre.  His 8 solo albums and over 40 album with other musicians have received international acclaim.

Since lockdown began the couple, who recently celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary, have produced  86 “Live from the Lounge” shows from the Tarland home they share with sons Hector and Roderick.  These can be checked out on Paul’s Facebook page.

Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Lunchtime Recital with Shona Donaldson, traditional singer, and Paul Anderson MBE, fiddle 

Wednesday 1st December 1.15pm – 1.45pm (Zoom available from 1pm)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81867139033?pwd=M3dmd3ErcnZwdVU0KzJyeWVDck5FUT09

Meeting ID: 818 6713 9033
Passcode: 057619

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Illustrated Talk by Rosa Michaelson: 7th July 1.15-1.45pm

fiddle, Illustrated Talk, traditional

For the Friends of Wighton July Lunchtime Recital, we are delighted to welcome well known musician and researcher ROSA MICHAELSON

Rosa will give us an illustrated talk about James S. Kerr, who published the popular fiddle collections of Merry Melodies. In the past 12 months she has been doing research on musical life in Scotland in the second half of the 19th century, focusing on Kerr and dance music.  She presented this at the online North-Atlantic Fiddle Convention at the end of June . 

Rosa Michaelson was taught the violin at primary school in Edinburgh in the 1960s using the Eta Cohen method, with its repertoire of folk tunes. In secondary school, her violin teacher gave her a copy of Kerr’s Merry Melodies to study, and she played for ceilidhs and in several orchestras. Rosa joined the Edinburgh Shetland Fiddlers in the 1970s and was a founder member of the first all-female Scottish traditional music group, Sprangeen. She has been in several ceilidh/dance bands, including the Loose Moose Ceilidh Band. She regularly contributes to sessions in Edinburgh and Fife. Rosa is an Honorary SL at the University of Dundee; she works p/t in the School of Computer Science, St Andrews University. 

Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81102543294?pwd=empTQ094bDlvd1h0SWloVmVQdUMyZz09

Meeting ID: 811 0254 3294
Passcode: 400695

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Gavin Marwick and Ruth Morris: Wednesday 21st April

fiddle, lunchtime concert, music, Online, traditional music

Gavin Marwick and Ruth Morris: Wednesday 21st April 2021 1.15pm – 1.45pm

Spirited fiddle and beautiful nyckelharpa bring you a wonderful selection of old and new tunes for all around Scotland and Europe. Gavin Marwick and Ruth Morris have been performing together for over fifteen years in bands such as Bellevue Rendezvous, Gav’s various Journeyman shows and their Galloway based ceilidh band Whirligig. The duo is a new and exciting way to enjoy their intimate and engaging acoustic string driven sound.

The link for the video below will be live from 1.15pm on 21st April

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Cappuccino Concert with Haggerdash 23rd November

concert, fiddle, multi instrumentalist, music, Scots song, Scottish, Scottish music, song

Saturday 23rd November, 11am tickets £5, (doors open 10.30, tea/coffee available for small donation)

Haggerdash – folk trio 

Haggerdash are one of Scotland’s favourite Folk groups playing a wide range of songs and tunes. And much in demand for festivals and folk clubs and the European circuit.

Alan Jones plays concertina, bouzouki, guitar, 5-String banjo as well as taking lead vocals on many well known and self penned songs. He has previously played with Three’s a Crowd, The Govan Spoonful and Hot Toddy

Jack Bethel,  a former member of the hugely popular band Setanta, and widely regarded as the best hammered dulcimer player in Scotland, also plays fiddle, whistle, and concertina. 

Billy Stewart is a much respected singer and songwriter who is also adept on bouzouki, guitar, 5-string banjo, harmonica and bodhran. He is also a founder member of Haggerdash

The main aim of Haggerdash is to ensure that anyone attending their performances or listening to their CDs has a really good time!

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“Christina” with Elisabeth Flett Saturday 26th October

cappuccino concert, concert, fiddle, music, Scottish music

Fresh from the sell-out Edinburgh Fringe run of her acclaimed production “Roots”,   Elisabeth Flett returns to the Wighton with the world premiere of  “Christina”.   The show is inspired by the 19th century manuscript book of Christina Gib of Maulesden House, Brechin.   Elisabeth has researched the elusive Christina’s story to create a fascinating musical and historical journey.

Elisabeth, of course no stranger to the Wighton, is currently based in London. She studied Classical Recorder (BMus Hons) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating with a First in 2017.    She sings and plays fiddle, viola, whistle, recorder and guitar.

Christina’s manuscript book, a work of art in itself, is in the Wighton’s Jimmy Shand Collection and the work was commissioned by Friends of Wighton.

Saturday 26th October, 11am – noon. (doors open 10.30am) £5 admission, tea/coffee for small donation

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Lunchtime Recital with The Okapi Duo – Katie Kim, flute, and Brian King, guitar, Wednesday 2nd October

fiddle, lunchtime concert, music, piano

The Okapi Duo – Katie Kim, flute, and Brian King, guitar – is committed to making excellent chamber music accessible to all audiences while expanding the boundaries of the traditional ensemble.  Their synchronous and dynamic style has lead them to receive a number of awards including 2nd prize in the 2018 Southern Guitar Festival Ensemble Competition and 1st prize in the 2016 Great Composers Competition Series.  They have performed throughout the United States in California, New Orleans, Ohio, and New York.  Their compelling performances have led to an invitation to perform at the Carmel Guitar Society in Carmel, California and to pursue a Masters of Chamber Music at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  This opportunity led to some of their first international performances in Glasgow and throughout Scotland.

The Okapi Duo is passionate about community engagement in the arts and reaching audiences that do not easily have access to live music.  They enjoy taking their music outside of the concert hall to venues such as public libraries, schools, community centers, and senior centers.  In 2019 they were accepted onto the Live Music Now Scotland scheme, an organization that brings music to groups of people who rarely get to experience live music.  In the fall of 2017, Kim and King collaborated with Family Promise – an organization dedicated to helping homeless families in Lorain County, Ohio – to provide an artistic outlet for these disadvantaged families.

The duo is excited about pushing the boundaries of classical music and are constantly seeking innovative ways to contribute new music to the flute/guitar genre.  Their concerts often place traditional works such as a Bach Flute Sonata next to unconventional pieces such as arrangements of jazz composer Chick Corea’s music.  Along with writing their own arrangements, they also commission composers to write music for the duo.  In 2018, they commissioned Canadian composer Alexander Wright and are looking forward to premiering his piece in the spring of 2019.

Admission is free, donations for the work of Live Music Now welcomed

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Lunchtime Recital Wednesday 1st May with Karen Hannah & Lindsay Duncan

fiddle, guitar, Scots song, Scottish music

Our own inimitable Karen Hannah on fiddle and Lindsay Duncan on vocals and guitar.

A fine player with an engaging personality, Karen is known as “tunemonster” for her unrivalled knowledge of Scottish melodies. The wonderfully named Nifty Shades of Grey, Sporran Again and Ceilidh Minogue are among the many bands she has worked with! She has taught fiddle at the Wighton Centre for many years and her performing career has seen her representing Scotland as far afield as New Zealand and South Korea.

Another musical globetrotter is Lindsay Duncan, one of the best known musicians in Tayside. Deeply into music since his schooldays, he is a compelling singer and plays the most beautiful acoustic guitar – check out his version of The Irish Girl on YouTube. His band pedigree incudes The Mad Parrot Ceilidh Band and The Broon Troot Orchestra and he is an excellent and experienced guitar teacher.


Karen and Lindsay have worked together as a duo and in various line- ups for more than a decade. They promise us songs, tunes and a surprise or two!

1.15pm – Admission free, donations welcome!

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The 1st Friends of Wighton Event of the New Year – 5th January 2019

cappuccino concert, fiddle, Scots song, traditional, traditional music

The first Friends of Wighton event of the New Year is a very special Cappuccino Concert on

Saturday 5th January, 11am – noon (doors open 10.30am).  Shamblestone , our very own Elizabeth Flett and Joanna Stark, will be launching their  EP just a few days before the duo’s London debut!

Joanna Stark and Elisabeth Flett first started playing together in 2008 as part of folk trio Three’s A Crowd (Cambridge Folk Festival 2013 Youth Hub Band Artists) and have performed across the UK ever since. The duo competed as Semi-Finalists in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2017 and have performed in venues and festivals such as Eden Festival 2016, Edinburgh Fringe 2018, Solas 2018, Dunfermline Folk Club, Wighton Centre, Verdant Works, Hospitalfield House and Dundee Acoustic Music Club. Their innovative blend of different musical styles and sparky live performances makes Shamblestone an unusual and exciting duo.

 “A dazzling live act! …A highly accomplished multi-instrumentalist folk duo with sweet vocal harmonies” – Hypercoaster Music

Tickets £5, tea & coffee available for a small donation.

 

 

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