Young musicians from Highland head to Perth for inaugural music festival
On Friday 8 June, young musicians from the Highlands will join others from across Scotland and the North of England to take over the city of Perth as they perform in Music for Youth’s first ever National Festival Scotland.
The festival will feature 368 young performers aged between 9-21 who will take to the stages of Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre, filling them with masses of music for this one day celebration. A range of ensembles will be performing in both venues including choirs, rock, traditional music, percussion groups and more.
All of the performers took part in one of MFY’s first ever Scottish Regional Festivals in Glasgow, Inverness and Perth, part of MFY’s Regional Festival Series which comprise 74 festivals held across the UK in the Spring.
A total of twenty-five groups have been invited to perform on one of the main stages from the Highlands, Glasgow, Perth, Fife, Carnoustie, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Renfrewshire and Stockton on Tees. Alongside main stage performances a range of workshops will be on offer for the young performers to take part in.
Appearing from the Highlands will be Culloden Academy’s Ceilidh Band; Pandemonium, the steel pan group from Nairn Academy; the Kiltearn Fiddlers; Inverness rock group City In Surveillance; and the National Youth Choir of Scotland Inverness Area Choir with representatives from Inverness city and area schools.
The Highland Council’s Music Development Officer, Norman Bolton said: “It’s great that the vast amount of young musical talent we have in the Highlands will be represented at the first National Festival Scotland. I am certain that all the young people taking part will enjoy and get a lot out of the experience of performing alongside other young people. The workshops and opportunity to work with leading professional musicians also adds a special dimension. I know the Highland contingency are all busy rehearsing and I wish them the very best.”
The festival will feature a brand new fanfare written by composer Stephen Deazley which has been written exclusively for National Festival Scotland, performed by a mix of ensembles including a brass band, rock group and big band.
Folk musician and composer Joe Broughton will lead a musical procession through the centre of Perth during the lunchtime break, filling the streets with a musical mash-up.
“We are really excited to be holding our first ever National Festival Scotland in Perth. We’ve had a fantastic response from the ensembles that took part in the Regional Festivals and we’ve worked hard to create a festival that is inspirational in content for everyone involved” said Judith Webster Chief Executive of Music for Youth.
“Since expanding our work into Scotland at the end of 2011 we have received a huge amount of support. We are extremely grateful to Creative Scotland, our advisory group, Horsecross Arts, our local organisers at Culloden Academy and Lourdes Secondary School and to EIS and TESS for their enthusiasm for our festival series” said Judith.
Jenn Minchin, Head of Creative Learning at Horsecross Arts who are hosting the National Festival Scotland in Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre said: “We were enormously impressed by the range of acts and the enthusiasm of the musicians and singers at the Regional Festival in March. It’s so encouraging to see young people from across the local area on our stage enjoying their art. The National Festival in June is a great opportunity for young musicians from across Scotland to come together and share their talents and meet like minded people. Some may go on to have careers in music and some may continue to play for enjoyment, either way we hope the day provides memories that last forever.”
The National Festival Scotland takes place three weeks before the English equivalent which will take place in Birmingham from 2-7 July. Across the two festivals a total of 12,000 young musicians will perform, showcasing the fantastic music education work taking place across the UK
Following the National Festivals in Perth and Birmingham a number of performing groups will be invited to perform at the Schools Prom concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 12, 13 and 14 November 2012.