Post by traditional music forum on Sept 9, 2021 9:28:13 GMT
A weekly two minute catch-up for members from the
TMF Director's desk
These are some of the things that have caught my attention this week.
Following the meeting of festivals earlier this year the TMF has been awarded some funding to develop a digital strategy for Scotland's folk festivals. We are looking for a researcher to work with the festivals and produce a strategy document. Details here Deadline for applications is next Friday (10th).
The TMF is an associate member of Heads of Instrumental Teaching Scotland. I was at their meeting earlier this week where folk still haven't quite got over the shock of the abolition of tuition fees for instrumental instruction in schools (in a good way). The success of that campaign (which was endorsed by all the parties in this year's election) is testament to the power of networking. The Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG), a coalition of all Scotland's music education organisations on which we also sit, was in the forefront of the successful lobbying.
Another effective partnership is the Scotland's Towns Partnership, which has recently produced a Town Centre Toolkit, practical suggestions to help your town centre be 'active, attractive and accessible'. What could be more active, attractive and accessible than traditional music? Their project Understanding Scotland's Places is also worth a look if you live in a town with a population of over 1,000. Bags of info and an interesting feature that enables you to compare your town with similar places elsewhere in Scotland.
Avanc is Wales's national youth folk ensemble who are offering free tickets for an online performance tonight. Link here and the promo code is AVANC21. Wales has Avanc and England the National Youth Folk Ensemble which is run by the EFDSS, but despite the undoubted strength of trad music at youth level in Scotland a national ensemble of this kind is perhaps something we're missing. We did have some enthusiastic discussions with the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) a couple of years back but Covid and a change of director there have stalled things. Time to revisit the idea?
Scottish Culture & Traditions' autumn programme is online and open to learners from all parts, not just Aberdeen. For folk interested in the distinctive North East fiddle tradition it's strongly represented on the programme with tutors like Paul Anderson and former Glenfiddich championship winner, Nicola Auchnie.
This is the 70th anniversary of the momentous first People's Festival Ceilidh which took place at an early Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1951. Hosted by Hamish Henderson, it brought awareness of Scotland's folk tradition to a whole new audience. The tireless Ewan McVicar has been working with the Alan Lomax Archive on an online exhibition about the Ceilidh, which is full of interesting commentary, recordings from the event, and some contemporary recordings for comparison. It's a brilliant piece of work.
Congratulations to ex-pat Scots singer, Fiona Ross, whose latest album, Sunwise Turn, has been nominated for Trad Album of the Year at the Australian Folk Music Awards.
Tom McConville's version of The Parting Glass has been on heavy rotation in my brain this week.
I've finally got round to reading Neil Gunn's The Silver Darlings and regret it's taken so long to get to it. 'They always came back to singing. They were crushed together, sitting where they could, and mostly on the uneven clay floor. And they sang. Their songs were often charged with sadness and beauty, but, whatever they were, a fond affection was around them somewhere.'
Sorry to hear of the passing of Ewan Forfar, guitarist and singer of this parish, and well known to patrons of sessions at Sandy Bell's, the Royal Oak and the Captain's Bar in Edinburgh. Ewan was also one of the first tutors at the Adult Learning Project's Scots Music Group back in the early 90s. RIP.
All the best
DF
David Francis is Director of the Traditional Music Forum
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