Music
Rock The Opera is coming to Scotland
After its phenomenal success in performances across European concert halls, Rock the Opera is coming to Edinburgh’s The Usher Hall and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. They will be performing on 7 and 8 May. Rock the Opera is an orchestral rock project from Prague, Czech Republic, created by German conductor Friedemann Riehle in 2015.…
Read MoreNew musical work sought to celebrate Year of Stories
Iconic stories, people and places across the Highlands and Islands will be celebrated this year in a new piece of music to be performed during this September’s Blas Festival. In conjunction with Scotland’s Year of Stories, the organisers of this year’s Blas Festival are seeking proposals from musicians and composers for the creation of a…
Read MoreSinger in A Happy Place with new EP after cancer battle
Exactly one year on from her breast cancer diagnosis, highly-lauded traditional performer Rachel Walker is set to release a heartfelt new EP. She has collaborated with singer and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Jones in aid of the cancer support charity Maggie’s. Due for release on Friday, 25 February, A Happy Place is a collection of uplifting songs…
Read MoreMusic at Paxton is ready to return this summer
Music at Paxton is returning to the summer festival season this July. Once again, it will bring glorious international chamber music to Paxton House, on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders. The Maxwell Quartet will return as Ensemble in Residence. There will be song recitals, an outstanding range of international musicians,…
Read MoreOpera Highlights starts its tour of Scotland
A new vaudeville-inspired Opera Highlights show takes to the roads of Scotland today, as it begins a tour of 18 local venues, including in the Outer Hebrides. Starting on February 8 at Websters Theatre in Glasgow’s West End the tour visits Birnam, Midmar, Fochabers, Tain, Wick, Harris, North Uist, Isle of Barra, Craignish, Lochranza, Cove,…
Read MoreFree lunchbreak concerts go live again
Aberdeen Art Gallery’s Cowdray Hall is reverberating with the sounds of live music for the first time in two years. The popular free lunchbreak concerts series returned this week. The new programme has been launched in ambitious style as virtuoso local pianist Joseph Long continues his personal challenge to play all 18 of Mozart’s piano…
Read MoreMagical album pays tribute to those tried as witches
Two of Scotland’s foremost traditional musicians and composers have joined forces for their first full album collaboration. Heal and Harrow is a captivating and dynamic original work that pays tribute to the many Scottish women persecuted as witches in the 16th and 17th centuries. It’s an emotive, beautifully crafted and spellbinding release from 2017 BBC…
Read MoreWhen composer Mendelssohn came to Scotland
As was the wont of wealthy young gentlemen of the time, the composer Felix Mendelssohn went on a grand journey. This book has a subtitle of The Mendelssohns in Scotland and Italy, and tells how Felix’s journey brought him to Scotland, while his sister Fanny alighted in Italy. Using sketches, letters, paintings and captivating narrative…
Read MoreStudents set to bring their biggest production to life
The Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group returns to live theatre after two years tonight, presenting their biggest production ever: Legally Blonde the Musical. It runs at the Church Hill Theatre, in Morningside, Edinburgh, from January 25 to January 29. In Legally Blonde the Musical, Elle Woods appears to have it all. Her life is turned…
Read MoreScottish composer pays tribute to Islay in new work
A new orchestral work, written by Perth-based composer Helen MacKinnon and performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, has opened a new album of contemporary orchestral music, released worldwide this week. The Rinns of Islay presents a musical journey around the Inner Hebridean island, which was home to the composer’s grandparents and generations before. Inspired…
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