Our Autumn season of song and music classes are in full swing – new and returning singers and players are always welcome!

Saturday at 12.15pm, Whistle Class Tutor Helen Forbes, one of Scotland’s finest whistle players.        The class is suitable for all levels, fee £5

 Saturday at 1.30pm,  Fiddle Class Tutor Heather Miranda, an experienced strings teacher and performer. The class is suitable for all levels, fee £5

Tuesday at 2pm, The Wighton Singers Tutor Amy Lord,  experienced tutor and harmony wizard.     A friendly group who just love to sing, fee £5

Online

Saturday 11am

Mixed instrument classes, tutored by MoragAnne Elder, 11am (Payment £5 online or by cheque}

Zoom link   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85293330814

 

Saturday August 19th : 11am – Noon: The Doolichters

The Doolichters, Dundee’s oldest boy band ,and big Wighton favourites, will once again bring their own peculiar take on life in their home city of Dundee to the Wighton Centre.   As always, there will be great music and songs, great humour and almost certainly a chance to sing along!

Admission £5 (doors open 10.30am)

 

Wednesday 2nd August, 1pm – 2pm. Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail

Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail 2023

Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail is back!

The Ceilidh Trail is a paid summer job and professional development opportunity for outstanding young traditional musicians. Musicians between the ages of 16 and 25 spend the summer playing music, travelling throughout Scotland and beyond, and gain experience playing for just about every kind of gig under the sun!  Dundee is lucky – we get two chances to see and hear them!

Wednesday 2nd August – Wighton Centre; 1-2pm. Free; donations welcome. Informal Concert

Wednesday 2nd August – HMS Unicorn, Dundee; 7.30pm. £10/£8 (Concession – Over 65/Unwaged)
Ceilidh Dance – https://www.hmsunicorn.org.uk/on-board/events/ceilidh-0208

 

 

Alan Reid: Saturday 15th October at 11 am

Alan Reid, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist. founder member of the legendary Battlefield Band and a Master Storyteller in song.

Glasgow born Alan  has been taking Scottish folk music all over the world since 1975. He joined the fledgling Battlefield Band in 1969 while studying at Strathclyde University and subsequently recorded almost 30 albums with this hard-working and enduring band, in that time garnering a reputation for his playing and his singing.  His groundbreaking keyboard work helped cement the band’s reputation as one of the most influential Celtic bands of its generation. With the band Alan toured the world, bringing Scottish traditional music to audiences in five continents and playing in many prestigious music festivals and venues. Along with former Battlefield Band colleagues he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in November 2016 in recognition of their contribution to Scots traditional music.

He began composing songs and tunes in the 1980s and from 1990 was the band’s principal songwriter. His songs are noted for their strong storytelling element whilst being firmly grounded in Scots history and tradition. His songbook ”Martyrs, Rogues and Worthies”, was published in 2001 and in 2009 he was nominated in the ‘Composer of the Year’ category at the Scots Traditional Music Awards.

In 2010 he left the ‘Batties,’ to concentrate on his duo with guitarist/singer Rob van Sante. He composed all the music for the duo’s third album, ”The Adventures of John Paul Jones’, which told the story of the Scots born mariner who was a hero for the American colonists during the American Revolutionary War. A presentation of the album (with drama written by Alan) was performed at the 2012 Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival and at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival. The duo also developed a multi-media show telling Jones’ story which was showcased at Mystic Seaport Sea Festival in Connecticut in 2015.

2014 saw his music featured in the National Theatre of Scotland’s award winning production of “The Glasgow Girls” musical about asylum seekers, while his singing and speaking talents were featured in “The Life and Times of Scrooge”, the solo album of Finnish rock star Tuomas Holopainen of metal band Nightwish.  That same year Alan and Rob’s fourth CD “Rough Diamonds” was released and was followed by “The Dear Green Place”  in 2017. The duo continued to perform in Europe, North America and Australia up till 2019 when they played a last tour together of the U.S. West coast. Alan now performs as a soloist while Rob records and sings with his wife Janie.”

In recent years Alan has taught Scots Song at the prestigious annual “Swannanoa Gathering” in North Carolina, USA. He was also a guest artist in the Linn Records mammoth 12 CD recording of the songs of Robert Burns, Scotland’s beloved National Poet, whose poems, songs and music have endured over the centuries.

As well as the recordings with Battlefield Band and with Rob Van Sante, Alan has released two solo albums, “The Sunlit Eye” and “Recollection”.

Friends of Wighton are proud to present our great Autumn to Christmas series of performances

Saturday 15th October at 11 am:  For the first of our three October concerts, we are delighted to welcome Alan Reid, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist. founder member of the legendary Battlefield Band and a Master Storyteller in song

And also

Saturday, 22nd October at 11am, our guests are the Ian Walker Band!  Award winning songwriter and singer Ian Walker  with Moe Walker and Jimmy Scott will give us great songs, tasty arrangements and wonderful harmonies.

Saturday 29th October at 11am we have a very special and rare treat – a harpsichord recital by Mark Spalding!    The Wighton Harpsichord is a French double-manual instrument after the C18 maker Nicholas Blanchet, built by Mark Stevenson, Cambridge 1983.  Mark Spalding is a first class player who has been tending the instrument with loving care. This will be An Event!

And in November

Thursday 17th at 2.15pm.  Ensemble Hesperi Special afternoon concert

Saturday 19th at 11am       Lynne Martin, storyteller and singer

Saturday 26th  at 11am      Chloe Matharu,  harpist, singer, songwriter

And, for the first time in 3 years, The Wighton Singers Christmas Concert is back!

Tuesday 6th December at 2.15pm. Admission by donation, Christmas treats provided.

 

Aaron Jones & Claire Mann: Wednesday 7th April

Wednesday 7th April 2021 1.15pm – 1.45pm: Aaron Jones & Claire Mann via Zoom

Claire Mann and Aaron Jones have been stalwarts of the traditional music scene in Scotland 

for nearly thirty years. Between them they have been lucky enough to perform with some of 

traditional music’s finest appearing on nearly one hundred recordings and touring the World. 

Their debut duo CD, ’Secret Orders’ was released back in 2005 to great critical acclaim and 

they continue to tour, record, teach music and raise their three young children from their base

 in beautiful Dumfries and Galloway.

Topic: Lunchtime Recital with Aaron Jones and Claire Mann (free but donations accepted)
Time: Apr 7, 2021 01:00 PM for 1.15pm start Greenwich Mean Time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82273307616?pwd=eGl0Wm9wTWVEcUMvWlQwNW81Y0VuUT09

Meeting ID: 822 7330 7616
Passcode: 925480

Gerda Stevenson, singer/songwriter and Kyrre Slind, multi-instrumentalist.

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.