HebCelt Festival celebrates cultural talents
The palpable cultural talent of the Hebrides will be on display at An Lanntair in July as the arts centre reveals its programme for the Hebridean Celtic Festival.
The programme will officially open with the premiere of Catriona Macdonald’s Wave Waulking – a new commission produced as part of the Between Islands project, which was devised by An Lanntair to encourage collaboration between the arts and heritage communities in Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
As the daughter of a Shetland mother and a Lewis father, fiddler and composer Catriona’s work will look through the musical lens of her own bi-island identity. Taking inspiration from both places as cultural touchstones, Wave Waulking will weave sound and images from both islands’ past and contemporary life. It will include fragments from archive and contemporary sources, filmed images, folkloric texts, and found sound, all underpinned by a newly composed musical score and live performance by Catriona and Timo Alakotila on piano.
The week also features Shore to Shore, another new commission under the Between Islands banner, which is led by Willie Campbell from Lewis, Orkney’s Sarah McFadyen, and Shetland’s Arthur Nicholson and Jenny Keldie. In the
Hebridean commemorative year of emigration, the show will explore Scotland’s musical influence on the Americas. In a celebration of all things country, the show is inspired by how Scottish traditional music spawned the birth of bluegrass and influenced the country genre more widely.
Continuing the theme of emigration, this year’s Hebridean Women will also pay homage to the centenary of emigrant ships The Marloch and Metagama leaving the Hebrides for Canada and America. This celebration of traditional Gaelic song takes place annually and has a rotating line-up of participating artists, with featured singers being Anna Murray, Fionnaig NicChoinnaich, Josie Duncan and introducing emerging artist Iona Davidson. The vocalists will be accompanied on piano by Andy Yearly.
The final event celebrates the proud tradition of piping in the Hebrides. Hebridean Pipers welcomes an array of the islands’ finest young pipers for a showcase of tunes from the Western Isles. Those taking part are James Duncan
Mackenzie, Alana Macinnes, Calum Alex Macmillan and Seonaidh Macintyre. As well as their night in An Lanntair, Hebridean Pipers will also play a community concert in Breasclete Hall.
An Lanntair’s head of performing arts and co-ordinator of Between Islands, Alex MacDonald said: “This year, we are particularly excited to be presenting premiere performances of new commissions, which have been specially created for festival week. Each event also highlights the theme of collaboration, placing a spotlight on both emerging and established local artists. We think it’s an exciting series of concerts and are very much looking forward to once again playing a part in this year’s HebCelt week.”
HebCelt festival director, Graham MacCallum, said: “We have long punched above our weight in the Outer Hebrides when it comes to the quality and impact of our cultural and musical talent, and HebCelt is delighted to once again partner with An Lanntair to put this at the heart of our festival programming.
“There’s a wonderfully dynamic series of performances to enjoy across the festival week which celebrates the region’s wonderfully rich cultural heritage and we would encourage locals and visitors alike to check them out.”
‘We are excited to be presenting premiere performances...’