Nancy Kovachik is a high school art teacher who works at a kindergarten to grade 12 school in Pine Falls – Powerview, Manitoba, Continue reading
Tag Archives: fiddle workshop
Mike Vass brings stardust to the strings of Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop
Fiddle Folk and Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop have an enviable record of bringing top quality tutors and class Continue reading
Strachur, Dunoon & Lochgilphead rock Inverclyde Music Festival
Fèis Cheann Loch Goibhle’s Gaelic music schools tour
At the same time that Celtic Connections was putting on a series of school concerts for Glasgow children as part of the key Glasgow winter festival, a local group are attempting to give Cowal and Mid-Argyll children something of a similar experience.
Fèis Cheann Loch Goibhle have just completed a successful ten schools tour of Cowal and Mid-Argyll schools with two top professional Gaelic musicians. More than 700 youngsters had the rare opportunity Continue reading
Fiddlefolk international concert at Strachur
You get two great international trios for the price of one – musicians from Scotland, USA, Sweden and Denmark Continue reading
Top Irish singer, Brian O hEadhra, in gig at Lochgoilhead
On Sunday 22nd March at 3.00pm at Lochgoilhead Village Hall, the Fiddle Workshop presents three stellar traditional musicians.
Brian Ó hEadhra is originally from Dublin in Ireland. He is an accomplished traditional singer in Gaelic and English and an acclaimed song-writer. He has toured the world over with his band Anam playing festivals, concerts, TV & radio. He has also carved out a name for himself as the Gaelic Youth Development Officer for the Highland Region, and as the musical director of the Blas Festival.
Bruce MacGregor, is probably best known locally as the founder and driving force behind the multi award winning Blazin’ Fiddles. He also toured and recorded with the first incarnation of Gaelic supergroup Cliar. Taught by the great Donald Riddell, Bruce’s style encapsulates the finest points of Highland fiddle music – bold and rugged at times, lyrical and beautiful at others. Bruce MacGregor hails from Inverness and is a player equally at home with the rugged strathspey or the tender slow air, he has combined the qualities of both East and West coast styles in an invigorating and expressive individualistic style. ‘Bruce MacGregor has something of the Midas touch. This has nothing to do with luck, it has everything to do with a deep love and affinity for his music and a unique talent.’ (Fiddle On)
Sandy Brechin is one of the most popular accordionists in the country and is best known for his bands: Burach, The Sandy Brechin Band and his electric cèilidh band The Sensational Jimi Shandrix Experience. Born and raised in the village of Kirkliston, in West Lothian, Sandy is now based in Edinburgh, where, as well as teaching, recording and performing, he runs his own record company.
This trio blend some of the finest musicianship and singing to come out of Scotland and Ireland in recent years. They first performed together as the House Band at Hebridean Celtic Festival 2006 in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. Individually they perform with their own highly acclaimed acts, but it is as a trio that they are now carving out a high profile. Sue Wilson of the Herald said of their cd: ‘A sparkling array of instrumentals matches drive with delicacy, soul with swing and fire with finesse, potently interspersed with the timeless eloquence of Gaelic song’.
These three seasoned artistes draw on a wealth of tunes and songs from the Gaelic and Scots traditions. Not only are Bruce, Sandy and Brian excellent musicians, but they are also loved by audiences for their witty and entertaining live performance: “Perfectly pitched mix of lively dance tunes, evocative slow airs and Gaelic songs earned both rapt attention and noisy applause, culminating in a fully fledged cèilidh.” (Scotsman)
Tickets: Adults £10, Children 12-18 £5. Booking: Phone 01301 703504. More information on the Fiddle Workshop website.
Reporter: Mark Morpurgo
The photograph above of Brian O hEadhra, Bruce Macgregor and Sandy Brechin is reproduced here with permission.
Play and Stay – traditional and folk music feis weekend at Lochgoilhead
For anyone aged 12 upwards and interested in traditional and folk music there is a new residential teenage fèis (workshop) at the Lochgoilhead Centre from 27th-29th March. This is a weekend of music and fun, combined with outdoor activities.
The music side is at Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop. The outdoor activities are at the Lochgoilhead Centre – the former Scout Centre. The fun is everywhere. Continue reading
This was the RSAMD concert at Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop
Eleven third year music students from Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) gave a concert on Sunday 11th January at Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop. Read about it, see and hear it here with a series of edited videos of the event added below.
The concert was a gift and a celebration – a ‘thank you’ to their commuity for enduring support and a celebration by the Fiddle Workshop of accolades recently – but not newly – received. Continue reading
Funding for bi-lingual banners and signage
When the Scottish Government started replacing existing road signs in English with the new bi-lingual signs in Gaelic and English, opinion was and probably remains divided.
There was the Gaelic community who saw it as a positive and inclusive move, recognising one of the native cultures of Scotland. There was the Gaelic-resistant community, seeing the move simply as retrogressive. There was the non-linguistically aligned pragmatic community who simply questioned it on cost/benefit grounds. Continue reading
Rachel Walker Band afternoon concert at Strachur
Strachur and Lochgoilhead – two strongholds of Scottish traditional music in Argyll, are linked in a forthcoming event. Gaelic singer, Rachel Walker will, with her band, give an afternoon concert of song, guitar, pipes and fiddles at Strachur Memorial Hall on 26th October at 3.00pm. Families will be able to attend together as Rachel talks her audience through each song, its meaning and history. The members of her band are themselves remarkable and celebrated musicians – Ewan Robertson, Shetland Fiddler, Jenna Reid and Angus Mackenzie. Some of them have previously led workshops at Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop which has produced this concert with the support of Western Ferries. Western Ferries’ sponsorship of the event means that all schoolchildren get in free. Adult tickets cost £10 – phone 01301 703504. More information is on the Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop website.