Saturday 16th September, 11am – The McInroy Sisters

Originally from Dundee, Mary Mac is an experienced singer songwriter who is comfortable with jazz as well as folk singing. She has recorded several albums of original songs, River Song, The Gift and Life ain’t Like Hollywood. She has earned praise for her insightful lyrics and sophisticated vocals. Comparisons have been made to Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez but Mary is an original talent making a mark on the UK music scene. She will be performing some Scottish and Gaelic songs as well as some original compositions. Accompanied by her sister Ailsa on bass and vocals and Kevin Murray on guitar.

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 5th July: 1.15pm – 1.45pm. Karen Hannah, fiddle.

Talented and popular fiddler Karen Hannah is no stranger to the Wighton, having tutored fiddle class here for more than a decade. She is planning to resume her classes later in the year and we are looking forward to hearing her play, in that great traditional style, on Wednesday!

Saturday 20th May, 11 am. Morning Concert with Kate Badcock & Roddy Johnston (Dancing Feet)

Roddy and Kate met 17years ago in West Yorkshire and started playing together. They discovered a mutual passion not only for Irish and Scottish music, but also music from all corners of Europe, playing tunes from Galicia to Scandinavia to the Balkans !

As the duo Zetor in the Kailyard they have played to audiences across Scotland, in pubs, folk clubs and festivals, touring regularly in Europe and the British isles. Their debut album, “Collateral” was recorded in the winter of 2016.

Their music is driven by a passion for Scottish and Irish traditional music and an insatiable curiosity for music from further afield.

The Duo features Roddy Johnston on vocals, guitar, fiddle, pipes, and Kate Badcock on flute, alto sax and backing vocals. Roddy and Kate are now based in Kirriemuir.

Admission £5 at the door

 The concert will be followed at 12.30 by a Special General Meeting to which all members, Wighton attenders and well-wishers are invited.

Lunchtime Recital: Wednesday 1st February, 2pm with Rosa Michaelson & Colin Allison

The Friends of Wighton are delighted to announce the first Lunchtime Recital of 2023 and it is a cracker!

 Lunchtime Recital: Wednesday 1st February, 2pm – 2.30pm, entry free, donations welcome.

Rosa Michaelson, fiddle, and Colin Allison, guitar

Rosa Michaelson and Colin Allison, fiddle and guitar, playing a selection of tunes from James S. Kerr’s “Merry Melodies”, an influential set of music books published in Glasgow, dating from 1881 onwards.

Rosa and Colin are experienced musicians with a range of styles, including folk, classical and jazz. They have played in various Scottish folk and ceilidh bands, including “The Loose Moose Ceilidh Band”.  Rosa first learnt Scottish traditional music at primary school, initially from “Kerr’s Merry Melodies”, a set of tune books which she has recently revisited in the context of 19th Century music publishing in Scotland. She subsequently played with the Edinburgh Shetland Fiddlers and Tom Anderson in Shetland. In the 1980s, she was a member of “Sprangeen”, the first all-female Scottish traditional ensemble. Colin currently plays with Louisiana Fairytale, a New Orleans inspired jazz group, and the Dundee University Big Band.

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”.

No Trees to Whisper: a song cycle for soprano and clarinet  Saturday 26th March 2022 – at 2pm – on Zoom 

Performed by Turning the Elements:  Frances Cooper (soprano) Joanna Nicholson (clarinet), with the support of Creative Scotland.

Friends of Wighton’s first online event, in November 2022, was Dawn Wood’s poetry workshop for this commission and we are honoured and delighted to be showing the World Premiere of No Trees to Whisper.  

We are also thrilled to be Zooming to you from The Weaver’s Room in Verdant Works (www.verdantworks.co.uk) Dundee’s five-star rated textile museum.   Thanks to Dundee Heritage Trust’s Deirdre Robertson, for making it possible, and Wendy Gammie, for making it work!

The concert is free but donations can be made at www.friendsofwighton.com

Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Saturday 26th March, 2pm-3pm (waiting room open at 1.50pm

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85037688867?pwd=SWFXek1uc1ArdjhFeVBLTFIrVms4Zz09

Meeting ID: 850 3768 8867
Passcode: 255139

The inspiration for the project came from Dr Samuel Johnson and James Boswell’s famous diaries of their Journey to the Highlands and Islands in 1773 –

“ I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of Romance might have delighted to feign.   I had indeed no trees to whisper over my head, but a clear rivulet streamed at my feet….  Whether I spent the hour well, I know not: for here I first conceived the thought of this narration”

Poetry was commissioned from Iain Morrison, Dawn Wood and Haworth Hodgkinson, and music from Linda Buckley, Aidan O’Rourke and Gemma McGregor. Three very individual pieces from the poet/composer partnerships are woven together by interludes composed by Joanna, and nature photography by Frances to create a 40-minute film of evocative words, music and images.

Frances and Joanna have performed as Turning the Elements for nearly 10 years, taking this intimate combination of instruments to audiences around the country, and they performed as part of the prestigious Made in Scotland Showcase, curated by Creative Scotland, in the Edinburgh Fringe of 2019.   This is the second major work they have commissioned. 

www.turningtheelements.com

https://www.facebook.com/turningtheelements

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