Margaret Bennett performed this morning’s cappuccino concert in the Wighton Centre, Dundee, to a capacity audience. She was warmly introduced by Sheena Wellington (who had a few anecdotes of her own!).
Margaret sang a selection of very interesting and unusual songs in Gaelic and in Scots, and told stories and reminiscences about each one.
On Wednesday lunchtime, historical harp specialist Simon Chadwick will present a quirky and provocative concert of “hot political tunes from three hundred years ago”. This elegant 18th century Scottish harp music addresses the pressing political issues of the early 1700s, with sweet sounds, melancholy jigs and startling anecdotes.
Simon will play the beautiful decorated replica of the medieval Scottish “Queen Mary” harp, in a free lunchtime concert in the atmospheric ambience of the Wighton Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library. The concert begins at 1.15pm on Wednesday 6th May and lasts about half an hour. Admission is free and all are welcome. For more info please contact https://friendsofwighton.com or call 07792 336804
Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library, Wellgate Centre, Dundee
Wednesday 1st April, 1.15pm
Bob Knight, singer/songwriter
Admission free, donations welcomed.
A return visit to the Wighton from Bob Knight, a singer from Aberdeen who has slowly but surely been making a name for himself in the world of folk and traditional music. He is well known in North East Scotland folk circles as a singer and writer of songs in traditional style, having performed at most of the local clubs, and festivals, including many events at Aberdeen University’s Elphinstone Institute. Bob doesn’t just confine himself to his home patch though, and has played all over Scotland, including Edinburgh Folk club, The Scottish Storytelling Centre ,(Edinburgh) The Rolling Hills Folk Festival in Melrose, the Portsoy Boat Festival, Dougie McLean’s Perthshire Amber festival, and Celtic Connections in Glasgow. In August 2012 and then again in 2013, he performed in a series of highly successful concerts at the prestigious Whitby Folk Week, in Yorkshire.
In August 2013, Bob released his second CD, “Songs From My Tradition,” this time ringing the changes by recording Scottish traditional unaccompanied songs. Future projects include another CD, of Scottish folk favourites, “Fields Of Home,” recorded with his brother Willie Knight, and the eagerly awaited third solo album, which will feature Bob’s best known and requested original songs.
Cappuccino Concert Wighton Heritage Centre Central Library, Wellgate, Dundee Saturday 21st March, 11am
Helen Forbes (tin whistle), with Lou Lewis (guitar) Tickets £5 (coffee available from 10.30)
Scotland’s finest whistle player presents reels, jigs, slow airs and a surprise or two, sensitively accompanied by Lou Lewis on guitar.
Gerda Stevenson, singer/songwriter and Kyrre Slind, multi-instrumentalist, will be performing February’s Cappuccino Concert, at the Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library, Wellgate Centre, Dundee DD1 1DB
The event is on Saturday 21st February, at 11am (coffee available from 10.30am). Tickets are £5 at the door.
Gerda Stevenson, actor/ writer/ director/singer-songwriter, trained at R.A.D.A., London, winning the Vanbrugh Award. She has worked on stage, television, radio and film throughout Britain and abroad. In 2014, she was nominated as one the Saltire Society’s OUTSTANDING WOMEN OF SCOTLAND. From the Stevenson family of musicians (her father the composer/pianist Ronald, sister composer/harper Savourna, and niece composer/fiddler Anna-Wendy), Gerda is known for her singing in many theatre productions. She was nominated in 2014 for the MG ALBA TRAD MUSIC AWARDS, in the SCOTS SINGER OF THE YEAR category. With support from Creative Scotland, a highly acclaimed CD of her own songs, NIGHT TOUCHES DAY, was released in 2014 (Gean Records, produced by Mattie Foulds), her vocals accompanied by an array of fine Scottish musicians: James Ross, Konrad Wiszniewski, Inge Thompson, Seylan Baxter, Rob MacNeacail, and Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Kyrre Slind.
Kyrre Slind is a brilliant musician from Norway now living in Kerry. He plays several instruments like the Renaissance lute, acoustic guitar, banjo and sitar. He sings Gregorian chants too. His music is deeply rooted in the power of nature and he is an accompanist of great sensitivity and skill.
The Lunchtime Recital at Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library, Wellgate Centre, Dundee, on Wednesday 4th February, will feature well-known local fiddle teacher Morag Anne Elder & 17 year old Joanna Stark.
The Tayport duo will brighten a winter day with Music for the Season played on fiddle, cello and guitar.
1.15pm Admission free, donations welcome.
This morning, Mark Spalding presented his diverse and fascinating programme of 20th century keyboard music for this year’s first Friends of Wighton cappuccino concert. To a full audience, Mark presented a selection of compositions played on no fewer than five keyboards – the electric piano, two electronic keyboards, melodica, and the lovely Wighton harpsichord.
Mark was joined by Haworth Hodgkinson who provided improvised percussion responses to each of the 12 sections of the Stockhausen “Tierkreis” (signs of the zodiac) cycle. The alternation of the very quick, complex, almost mechanistic keyboard sections, each played on a different instrument, with the very free and impressionistic and very loud gong percussion interludes, was really striking, and helped very much this music to become intelligible and accessible to all present. I think quite a few people were very surprised to hear the atonal Stockhausen music played on the harpsichord!
Howarth also performed two lively and thoughtful pieces of his own poetry with instrumental accompaniment, one played on a giant bass recorder and one played on a gas bottle.
In his concise but useful spoken introductions to each work, Mark made a number of interesting connections with Dundee for many of the pieces. The suite by Morris Pert which opened the programme was very well played, and it was a great pleasure to have the composer Eddie McGuire present for Mark’s playing of a couple of his piano and organ works.
On Saturday 24th January, the first in this year’s series of Cappuccino Concerts will be held in the Wighton Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library.
These popular Saturday morning events are held every month, with coffee and newspapers served from 10.30am and the music performance from 11am to noon. Admission is £5.
For January, the Friends of Wighton are pleased to welcome back Mark Spalding, who will perform a programme of unusual and exciting music on the piano and also on the Wighton harpsichord – a delicious 18th-century style instrument that is kept in the Wighton centre.
The programme will include some Burns night themed music by Eddie McGuire, as well as showcasing some items from Mark’s latest project to mark the 40th anniversary of Stockhausen’s “Tierkreis” (signs of the zodiac).
Mark said: “This is Stockhausen’s most popular and accessible piece: very tuneful, each of the 12 melodies has a definite tonal centre”.
Mark will also be joined by composer Haworth Hodgkinson, who will perform some of his own compositions as well as providing percussion for Mark’s Stockhausen performance.
Mark’s playing on the beautiful harpsichord is sensitive and expressive and is always a hit with Wighton Centre regulars. This unusual programme of piano and harpsichord music should prove to be a very enjoyable morning!
Here’s a quick photo of Sheena singing in the Wighton Centre earlier today. A full house, over 40 people crammed into the space to hear a very interesting programme including some newly-discovered 18th century songs.
Scottish 78s might make you think of Jimmy Shand or Harry Lauder, but there will be nothing as obvious as that on Wednesday 1st October. Instead, Simon Chadwick will show off some rare gems from his collection of old Scottish 78rpm gramophone records.
For the free lunchtime concert in the Wighton Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library, Simon will crank up his 1927 HMV portable machine to play a selection of discs dating from the teens, twenties and thirties.
Featuring stars including Marjory Kennedy-Fraser at the piano, and John MacDonald of Inverness on the pipes, the programme will present beautiful early performances of Gaelic song, Scots song, fiddle, bagpipes and clarsach.
The Wighton Centre, with its collection of historic Scottish music books, is a beautiful airy venue with a lovely acoustic, and will be the perfect setting to listen to the quiet, quavering sounds coming out of the antique machine – entirely acoustic and mechanical.
The event is at 1.15pm on Wednesday 1st October, in the Wighton Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library. Admission is free.
