Aileen Carr, Barbara Dymock, Janice Reavell
We have all three of them, as harmony trio Choras, at the Wighton Centre on Saturday 1st April, 11am.
Each is a much loved and respected traditional singer in her own right and together they excel. A concert with this acappella trio with their superb harmonies, eclectic selection of songs and sense of fun is not to be missed.
Admission £5 at door
Admission £5 at door
Friends of Wighton are delighted to welcome Carole and Alan Prior, one of the best loved and most respected singing duos in the British Isles.
Carole is a well known and powerful singer who, together with her husband Alan, has been invited to many folk festivals and singing weekends throughout the UK and Ireland. Whilst traditional songs and ballads are her first love, she also enjoys newer compositions in a traditional style, particularly when they convey emotional themes or a good story. She also likes humorous songs as well as dabbling in a bit of song writing and composing tunes for poems. Most notably, her tune for Violet Jacob’s Baltic Street has become a favourite with many other singers.
With a big voice, Alan has drawn his repertoire from diverse areas of song and is well known and respected in many places, appearing together with his wife Carole at quite a few of the festivals and clubs throughout the UK and Ireland and in Ian McCalman’s production of Far Far from Ypres. Alan enjoys traditional style singing, a sprinkling of Burns songs and chooses songs that he enjoys and identifies with from more recent writers.
While each has their own repertoire, they also enjoy singing together in unison and sometimes with a sprinkle of harmony – and a fair bit of humour!
Ian Mc Calman, wrote this about the duo for the biog for Far Far from Ypres :-
Alan and Carole Prior
Alan and Carole are married and sing together beautifully. There are few folk festivals from all over Britain that have not had the pleasure of these remarkable traditional singers. Ian asked them to join the “Pals” and refused to take “no” for an answer.
Scott Gardiner is one of Scotland’s top traditional singers and has been performing at concerts and festivals across the country since his schooldays. Brought up on a flatland farm in historic Forfarshire, he is best known for singing the bothy ballads and songs of the north-east.
Career highlights include representing Scotland at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in the USA; winning the Bothy Ballad World Championship in Elgin; two nominations for Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards and, along with guitarist Johnny Kemp, becoming the first performer to get a Mexican wave going at Dunfermline Folk Club!
Scott combines a love and knowledge of Scots song with a rich melodic voice and mischievous sense of humour – this is an event not to be missed!
Admission £5 at door
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.
Growing up in a tiny wee village in rural Angus, where the main landmark was an ancient Pictish stone in a ruined churchyard is one of the best starts for a young Scot interested in history, legend and stories. Couple that with coming from a family of bagpipers, moothie players, and singers with repertoires as varied as they come, and it’s no surprise that Lynne Campbell has absorbed all of those influences to become a heritage performer who not only sings traditional Scottish songs, but anchors them in context, tells their stories, and works with communities who want to explore the themes within the Scots tradition. She’s performed shows on HMS Unicorn, at Verdant Works, the Gin Bothy in Glamis, and has written shows and performed at Dundee and Edinburgh Fringes. She loves nothing more than to share Scotland’s songs and stories.
Tickets £5 at the door
Tuesday 21st June, 2pm – 4.30pm: Make Music Day!
For the occasion, some of the best, most interesting and rarest of the Wighton Collection will be on display. There will be song from the Wighton Singers, tunes from Rosa Michaelson and, maybe, a surprise guest or two!
The Lunchtime Recital on Wednesday 2nd February, 1.15pm -1.45pm will be given by mother and daughter duo MoragAnne Elder and Elisabeth Flett, playing fiddles and singing a selection of tunes to do with winter and the North.
Both, of course, are long time friends of the Wighton, MoragAnne currently running the mixed instruments class and Essa who has grown up coming to Wighton classes and whose musical career we follow with great interest and pride.
Essa is taking part in the Danny Kyle Open Stage online at the end of the month – her slot is on January 31st at 5pm on Celtic Radio and you can listen in here: https://www.celticmusicradio.net
The concert is free – donations can be made at Friends of Wighton – Scottish music in Dundee
and the link is
Topic: Wednesday Wighton Lunchtime concert
Time: Feb 2, 2022 01:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87820161927
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
Alan Brown was born and raised less than half a mile from where the present day Wighton Library stands and Dundee has been a major influence on his career to date. Exiled from the city since 1970 he is difficult to pigeonhole: singer, songwriter, musician, composer, novelist, journalist, after dinner speaker, playwright, poet, standup, tour guide, and is probably best summed up as – an entertainer! After thirty years performing professionally in Scotland and overseas, it was the Wighton which hosted his first ever solo appearance in his hometown and we are delighted to welcome him back. Expect a varied programme of award-winning songs and stories, brand new material and a few surprises.
Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting on Wednesday 3rd December at 1.15pm (link open from 1.05pm) with singer Alan Brown
Topic: Lunchtime Recital with Alan Brown, singer
Time: Nov 3, 2021 01:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84067174263
Meeting ID: 840 6717 4263
On Wednesday 6th October at 1.15pm, Friends of Wighton will be delighted to present on Zoom the wonderful Robyn Stapleton, one of the finest singers of her generation. The reviewers have raved:-
‘Rich, characterfully lilting, warm and clear’ The List
Robyn is an award-winning singer and song leader who shares her talent and passion for traditional music with audiences and communities throughout Scotland and internationally.
‘Her warm sweet voice has a depth and colour that belies her youthfulness’ fROOTS
Don’t miss it – link below
Sheena Wellington is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Lunchtime Recital with Robyn Stapleton
Time: Oct 6, 2021 01:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86555688317?pwd=dnJPM3lOTDVUU1FFY1ptQWJmY1ErUT09
Meeting ID: 865 5568 8317
Passcode: 653876
