SATURDAY 4th NOVEMBER 11am – 2pm
at BROUGHTON HIGH SCHOOL
Calling all aspiring young musicians 
Develop your potential at our unique City of Edinburgh Music School.
Find out more at our Open Day Sat 4 Nov 11am to 2pm at Broughton High School
SPECSAVERS has named music therapy charity, Nordoff and Robbins, as its official charity partner for Scotland.
The high street opticians and audiologists has made a £50,000 donation to bolster the charity’s services across Scotland. Their work has pioneered music therapy for the past 60 years, harnessing the power of music to help break through the barriers caused by life-limiting illness, disability and social isolation.
Laura Baird, a Specsavers store director, says: ‘Nordoff and Robbins helps people connect through their senses, which closely reflects the work we do at Specsavers.
‘We are delighted to make this donation to the charity, knowing that it will directly help people all across Scotland who depend on music therapy to enhance their quality of life.’
Laura, along with Scots singer-songwriter and charity ambassador Callum Beattie, attended a music therapy session to learn first-hand how Specsavers’ donation will help Nordoff and Robbins support its Scottish clients.
The session took place at St. Andrews Hospice in Airdrie with Frank Fennessey who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013. Frank has enjoyed playing the bass guitar throughout his life and is able to continue doing so with support from a Nordoff and Robbins music therapist.
Callum, who released his second album ‘Vandals’ earlier this year, says: ‘Music helps me express emotions and thoughts that I sometimes find hard to put to words. Playing together with Frank during our session was so special. I could see his face light up and confidence soar.
‘Music is incredible for self-expression and allows people to connect, even when words fail. The donation from Specsavers will allow people like Frank to continue to benefit from music therapy sessions right across Scotland.’
Frank has been attending music therapy sessions for five years since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s. He says: ‘I bought my first bass guitar when I was 15-years-old, having been a huge rock and roll fan.
“I played in local bands my whole life. After I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s I didn’t play for a few years until I started my Nordoff and Robbins’ music therapy sessions at St. Andrews Hospice.
‘My music therapist really takes her time with me, showing me how to adapt and play at a pace that I can manage. I’m back to playing every day and my music therapy sessions are something I look forward to every week.’
Sally Fennessey, Frank’s wife, is looking forward to celebrating 44 years of marriage this year. She says: ‘The music therapy sessions have made a huge difference to Frank. It gives him something to focus on and a chance to socialise with others.
“It’s also a huge confidence boost. I’ve never been so happy to hear him play Led Zeppelin in the spare room at home.’
Laura, who is the store director at Specsavers Wishaw, adds: ‘It’s great being able to see the joy music therapy is bringing to the people who need it in our local community, right here in North Lanarkshire.‘
Specsavers’ donation will support a range of endeavors, from the acquisition of new instruments, to the training of new music therapists, to better facilitate Nordoff and Robbins’ work with people throughout Scotland who use its services.
The charity’s work can be transformative for a wide range of people, from an adult with dementia reconnecting with family to a neurodivergent child expressing themselves through music.
Sandy Trappitt, deputy director of fundraising at Nordoff and Robbins, says: ‘We are hugely appreciative for the charitable donation from Specsavers.
“The much-needed cash boost will positively impact our service offering across Scotland, helping ensure that everyone who could benefit from music therapy does.
‘Music therapy allows people to express themselves and share a connection and we hear daily from clients and families about the incredible benefits it provides. Music is a universal language which everyone deserves to enjoy.’
Specsavers’ optical and audiology expertise can be easily accessed throughout Scotland at its 80 locally-owned stores. Those unable to attend a Specsavers store unaccompanied can receive the same eye care at home via its Home Visits service. Specsavers Home Visits covers more than 90% of the UK.
For more information on Specsavers, please visit www.specsavers.co.uk
Scottish Young Musicians, Scotland’s leading festival of music competitions, is returning for 2024 to give young people across the country the chance to compete for the titles of Solo Performer of the Year, Ensemble of the Year and Brass Ensemble of the Year.
Participation in this career-enhancing competition has been offered to every Local Authority in the country as well as independent schools, in the hope that more young people than ever before will take up the opportunity to perform and take part.
In only 2 years, Scottish Young Musicians has become the largest and most important national music competition in Scottish schools, with 30 local authorities participating in the 2023 competition in May, representing around 99% of the school population.
The competitions give young people a life-changing and unforgettable experience, as well as the confidence to continue to compete at the highest level and to do so across all socio-economic backgrounds, providing an opportunity which would otherwise not have existed.
New for 2024, Scottish Young Musicians are proud to offer support for a Junior Competition taking place in Primary Schools, with the local authorities taking part focussing on finding the best junior talent in their area, and giving the country’s youngest musicians experience in performing in front of an audience and competing with their peers.
Parents and pupils can find out more through their school music teacher.
Back to find its third ever champion, Solo Performer of the Year is open to all young musicians who go to school in Scotland, whatever age or standard.
Each local authority will select a regional finalist, with all of them hosting local and regional heats across different schools to decide who will represent their area at the National Final. Musicians can enter through their school music teachers and a finalist will also be selected from Scotland’s independent schools.
The National Final will take place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Sunday 26 May 2024.
Ensemble of the Year, which is open to instruments of all disciplines, and Brass Ensemble of the Year are online competitions which will see school and local ensembles compete to win a chance to perform in a prime slot at the National Final.
Ensemble of the Year is open to ensembles of 3 to 16 players of any genre or grouping of instruments who play together regularly in a formal group from a school or recognised music organisation.
Brass Ensemble of the Year is open to ensembles of 3 to 12 players who play together regularly in a formal group from a school or recognised music organisation. For both competitions, all members must be school students in Scotland, but there is no minimum age or standard.
One ensemble in each category will be selected to represent each local authority, recognised music organisation, and Scotland’s independent schools, and each local authority and group are encouraged to have their own competitions to select their final entry.
The chosen video entries will then be submitted for judging by a panel of esteemed adjudicators, who will watch the videos together and provide feedback in the form of a voiceover.
The deadline for entries is 31st March 2024.
The winners of the Solo Performer of the Year, the Open Ensemble competition and Brass Ensemble of the Year will all receive a stunning trophy designed by Alexander Stoddart, the King’s Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland.
The aluminium figure depicts the Maid of Morven, a figure from Ossianic poetry that has inspired composers throughout history. Solo finalists will also have a chance to win amazing career-changing prizes including cash to spend on developing music skills, a hand-crafted trophy, coaching, recording sessions, meet-and-greets with Scotland’s top music institutions and more.
The winning Ensembles of the Year will receive a cash prize to further their musical experiences, and an all-expenses paid trip to play a prime slot at the Solo Performer of the Year National Final.
The Brass Ensemble prize has been generously donated by Dr Ursula Jones OBE in honour of her late husband Philip Jones CBE, who founded one of the world’s most celebrated brass ensembles.
Last year’s Solo Performer of the Year final, which was adjudicated by judges including Sarah Ayoub of the Ayoub Sisters and Ross Leighton from the band Fatherson, was won by 16-year-old clarinettist Emily Barron from St. Columba’s School in Kilmacolm, who received £1,000 to spend on furthering her musical career, and a package of opportunities provided by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland including a coaching session, participation in a masterclass and a studio recording session.
The career-enhancing competition also offers prizes from Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Cumnock Tryst and more, and is supported by high-profile figures and organisations from across Scotland’s music industry.
Participants in the 2023 competition reported benefits including new connections with other young people, increased mental wellbeing, increased musical skill and increased confidence. Finalists also said they benefitted from the fact that Scottish Young Musicians is raising the profile of music-making opportunities outside of a school setting and on a more national level.
As part of a focus on bringing the competitions’ benefits to areas of deprivation, Scottish Young Musicians proudly partners with Awards for Young Musicians to provide support ranging from £200 to £2000 to musicians from families of limited financial resources.
Alan Kerr, Chair of Scottish Young Musicians, said: “I am proud to say that Scottish Young Musicians has become an integral part of Scotland’s youth music calendar, providing more opportunities to young people in Scotland than ever before.
“Last year the SYM oversaw competitions in 269 secondary schools, 31 regional finals and a National Final held in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
“We’re excited to build on the success of the last two competitions and keep the momentum going for 2024, with the hope that more musicians than ever before will take part in schools and at a regional level, enabling us to have the broadest possible representation of musical skill on stage at the National Final in May 2024.
“SYM is not just about producing great music, it’s about offering the life-skills and benefits that performing music in public can bring to students. We’re also delighted to introduce junior competitions at a local level, and look forward to helping our youngest musicians reach their full potential.”
For more information, please visit www.scottishyoungmusicians.com or follow the Scottish Young Musicians on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Creative Scotland recently made a submission to the Scottish Parliament Culture Committee’s ongoing inquiry into culture budgets in Scotland – read the submission on the Scottish Parliament website
In that submission, we stated the following regarding our Grant in Aid budget from the Scottish Government for 2023/24:
“While we welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision in February 2023 to reverse the 10% cut to our Grant in Aid Budget which was originally announced in December 2022, it should be noted that the £6.6m this cut related to has not yet been confirmed in Creative Scotland’s budget.”
We are extremely disappointed to report that the £6.6m budget has not been included in the Autumn Budget Revisions.
This has been confirmed in writing by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Angus Robertson, in a letter to our Chief Executive, Iain Munro on 20 September.
This relates to Grant-in Aid funding that we receive from the Scottish Government and that we use to support 119 cultural organisations across Scotland through Regular Funding.
Given the extensive messaging and advocacy regarding the pressures on culture budgets and risks to the culture sector that we, and many others have been making, this is a concerning development.
To address this reduction, the Creative Scotland Board agreed on 27 September, to use £6.6m of our National Lottery reserves to prevent us having to pass it on to the Regularly Funded Organisations, especially given the next payments are due in 2 weeks’ time.
Whilst the unprecedented pressures on public finances are understood, we are disappointed that the Scottish Government has taken this decision. However, Creative Scotland is acting swiftly and pragmatically to help stabilise the situation in the short term.
This step of using our National Lottery reserves in this way will only happen once. The budget for 2024/25 will not be decided by the Scottish Government for some months yet but should the Scottish Government choose to sustain this reduction, we will require to pass it on to the sector.
Creative Scotland appeared before the Culture Committee at the Scottish Parliament on yesterday (Thursday 28 September) to give evidence as part of the Committee’s ongoing inquiry into culture budgets in Scotland.
David Watt, chief executive of Culture & Business Scotland, said: “At a time when Scottish Government ministers repeatedly speak about the importance and value of culture to our society and economy, the reinstatement of the £6.6M cut to Creative Scotland’s annual budget for the current year is unfathomable.
““Just yesterday (Thursday September 28), I, alongside other cultural representatives, gave budget evidence to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee to hopefully ensure that this shortsighted budget decision does not extend into the 2024-25 budget for culture settlement.
“Investment in culture is essential for society, local communities, tourism, the economy and Scotland’s international reputation. The ongoing challenges of the legacy impact of Covid, Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis, are very real, with many arts and culture organisations operating on a knifes edge.
“These issues are exacerbated as the majority have a lack of unrestricted reserves and continue to struggle to build these up due to slow growth in ticket sales and increased overheads due to high energy prices.
“A reduction in public funding will rapidly increase the firefighting our culture organisations and venues are facing against challenge after challenge. If this budget pattern continues, with little opportunity to ensure future sustainability, there will be an inevitable shrinkage of the culture sector, and the economic and social impact of this will be significant for us all.”
As part of the Autumn budget review, the Scottish Government has re-instated a 10% cut to Creative Scotland’s 2023-24 annual budget (totaling approximately £6.6m), which following mass campaigning from the cultural sector, was overturned earlier this year (writes SMIA Interim CEO and Creative Director ROBIN KILPATRICK).
As the organisation which exists to strengthen, empower and unite Scotland’s music industry – representing a diverse membership of over 4,000 people working across all music genres and industry subsectors – we’re compelled to highlight the devastating impact of this decision; not just to music and culture, but to Scottish society at large.
The cut directly relates to the funding allocated to support Creative Scotland’s Regular Funding Network, comprising 119 cross-artform organisations (RFOs) that are structurally integral to both supporting and delivering Scotland’s cultural output. The SMIA is one of them.
In the short-term (for the rest of this financial year), Creative Scotland has had to divert to utilising National Lottery reserves to plug the gap and prevent the cuts from being passed on to members of the RFO network.
If this hadn’t been the case, in two weeks’ time when the next RFO funding payments are due, each of the 119 organisations would, in effect, have received a ~40% cut to projected funding.
In the SMIA’s case, this would have been two weeks ahead of the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award Ceremony, and would have put the delivery of Scotland’s national music prize at significant risk.
The cut would have again been replicated in January at the next (and final) RFO payment for this financial year, which in the case of many organisations, would have meant the end. Whilst immediate disaster has been avoided, the use of Creative Scotland reserves at this stage means that they are now significantly depleted for what was their intended purpose.
Last month, Creative Scotland highlighted that over 500 cultural organisations stated their intention to apply for Multi-year funding; a new funding scheme that will replace the current Regular Funding one. From the intentions to apply, the indicative annual request was in excess of £113m – far exceeding what Creative Scotland expects to have available.
Inevitably, this means that Creative Scotland will not be able to support as many organisations on a multi-year basis as they currently do, and the application process will be highly competitive. Causalities are expected and imminent. Cultural organisations across all art forms are worried about their future, and the reserves that Creative Scotland has had to use now means that there’s far less available transitional funding for unsuccessful applicants.
Whilst the future for Scottish culture was looking bleak, there was at least some hope that organisations that are unsuccessful in securing Multi-year Funding would have some time to remain operational, pivot their business model and potentially find an alternative way forward. With Creative Scotland’s reserves now depleted, many unsuccessful organisations will soon vanish from the fabric of our cultural landscape, and with them, many creative opportunities and a significant part of our cultural identity as we know it today.
RFOs have been on stand-still funding since 2018. In the face of high inflation, rising interest rates, cost of living challenges, issues around staff retention and recruitment, the impact of Brexit, the legacy of Covid and a whole myriad of broader problems currently facing our sector, for Creative Scotland’s budget cut to have been re-instated, the future of music and culture in Scotland is now at significant and immediate risk. The foundations upon which it supported are being eroded at an increasingly alarming rate, and unless intervention is made by the Scottish Government, it will have impacts for decades to come.
Outwith the significant economic contribution that music makes to Scotland’s economy (£581m through music tourism alone in 2022, as noted in UK Music’s ‘Here, There And Everywhere’ report – and this is only based on events with 1500+ capacity), it’s important to remember that the value generated by the sector far extends an economic one.
With the Scottish Government has stated that they’re committed to building a well-being economy – which serves and prioritises the collective well-being of current and future generations – it’s fundamental to highlight just how intrinsic music and culture are to achieving that vision.
Culture is our identity; it’s how we see ourselves, how we see our place in the world and how we relate to others. It’s the stories of life in Scotland, and it underpins mental well-being – both collectively and individually – in many different ways. The silences that echoed across 2020 as live music vanished from our lives serve as a firm reminder of this. Unless intervention is made now, we’ll be lucky if there are whispers in the years to come.
We urge the Scottish Government to recognise the desperate situation of a vitally important sector; economically, socially and culturally. It’s essential that Creative Scotland has the resources to both support and preserve it.
You can help directly by signing the Campaign For The Artist Petition against this move.”
Robert Kilpatrick – Interim CEO and Creative Director, Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA)
The Scottish Government is breaking its promise on arts funding.
In February, thousands joined our campaign against plans for a £6.6 million cut to Creative Scotland, the public body responsible for investing in Scottish arts and culture. Ministers responded by abandoning the cut and instead heralded a “£6.6 million uplift … supporting the arts and cultural sector at this challenging time”.
But seven months on, the £6.6 million pledged to Creative Scotland hasn’t been delivered. And now the Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has told them that it won’t be.
This extraordinary short-changing of Scottish culture midway through the year has forced Creative Scotland to raid its limited reserves as a one-off, emergency measure. Otherwise, regularly funded arts organisations in Scotland would have seen their funding cut by as much as 40% as soon as next month.
This is absolutely no way to treat Scotland’s arts and culture, let alone in a perfect storm of economic pressures and post-pandemic challenges. This ‘U-turn on a U-turn’ puts treasured venues and companies, thousands of jobs and access to Scottish culture at risk.
We urge the Culture Secretary Angus Robertson to:
The SNP’s 2021 manifesto said “culture is central to who we are as a nation”, and that “the pandemic has demonstrated more than ever how vital it is to our wellbeing, mental health and sense of belonging”.5
But Scotland’s cultural sector has not fully recovered from the pandemic, during which it was one of the hardest-hit sectors. For many, incomes have fallen and reserves have dried up. Now, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, costs are rising and uncertainty is rife. This is not the time to cut vital, core funding on which artists and organisations depend.
Economic pressures have already led to the permanent closure of the Filmhouse cinemas in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, the Blue Arrow Jazz Club in Glasgow and the Nevis Ensemble, which worked across the country. We cannot afford to lose any more arts organisations – or the benefits they bring to our lives, communities and society
Creative Scotland’s 120 Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) directly employ 5,000 workers, support 25,500 individual artists and provide millions of opportunities for people across Scotland to engage with the arts and culture.
Of these, Edinburgh-based arts organisations include:
(Organisation – Art form – Average annual grant )
Arika – Multi – £200,000
Arts and Business Scotland – Creative Industries – £200,000
Centre for the Moving Image – Screen – £1,066,667
Collective – Visual Arts – £283,333
Craft Scotland – Craft – £333,333
Creative Carbon Scotland – Creative Industries – £150,000
Creative Edinburgh – Creative Industries – £94,667
Curious Seed – Dance – £132,318
Dance Base – Dance – £408,333
Drake Music Scotland – Music – £126,667
Dunedin Consort – Music – £100,000
Edinburgh Art Festival – Visual Arts – £100,000
Edinburgh International Book Festival – Literature – £306,500
Edinburgh International Festival Society – Multi – £2,317,333
Edinburgh Printmakers – Visual Arts – £160,000
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop – Visual Arts – £233,333
Federation of Scottish Theatre – Theatre – £265,000
Fruitmarket Gallery – Visual Arts – £666,667
Grid Iron Theatre Company – Theatre – £224,400
Imaginate – Theatre – £365,000
Luminate – Multi – £100,000
Lung Ha Theatre Company – Theatre – £146,818
Lyra – Theatre – £100,000
Magnetic North Theatre Productions – Theatre – £100,000
Publishing Scotland – Literature – £307,833
Puppet Animation Scotland – Theatre – £183,667
Red Note Ensemble – Music – £215,000
Regional Screen Scotland – Screen – £206,783
Royal Lyceum Theatre Company – Theatre – £1,210,000
Scottish Book Trust – Literature – £859,931
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – Music – £216,667
Scottish Poetry Library – Literature – £300,833
Starcatchers Production – Theatre – £100,000
Stellar Quines Theatre Company – Theatre – £176,000
Stills: Centre for Photography – Visual Arts – £147,000
Tinderbox Collective – Music – £100,000
Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland – Multi – £313,333
Travelling Gallery – Visual Arts – £126,667
Traverse Theatre – Theatre – £866,667
Voluntary Arts Scotland – Multi – £130,000
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland – Theatre – £133,333.
SIGN THE PETITION:
https://campaignforthearts.org/petitions/scotland-cuts-reimposed/
Presented by Cove Park and Dundee Rep Theatre in partnership with Capital Theatres, Citizens Theatre, Macrobert Arts Centre, National Centre for the Performing Arts – Mumbai, National Theatre of Scotland, Octopus Theatricals – New York City, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, and Traverse Theatre.
Associate partners include A Play, A Pie and a Pint, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and Tron Theatre.
With their rich and varied expertise, the partners will work with Cove Park and Dundee Rep and play a valuable role in this project. Providing mentoring, support and feedback as required during the residency, they will help enrich the writers’ experience. All partners are committed to developing the musical theatre landscape, both in Scotland and further afield.
The residency has been devised by Andrew Panton, Artistic Director of Dundee Rep Theatre, and will include facilitated sessions with Dramaturg Jeanie O’Hare (formerly Director of New Work Development at The Public Theater), Music Supervisor Nigel Lilley (Next to Normal at Donmar Warehouse, Caroline, or Change on Broadway), Donna Lynn Hilton, Artistic Director of Goodspeed Musicals and David Greig, Artistic Director of Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
The programme also includes networking opportunities and workshop sessions, in-person and digital, with industry professionals including writers, composers, producers, directors, and other theatre practitioners – such as Tony® Award-winning director John Doyle, Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs, Tony® Award-winning producer Rashad V. Chambers, and more.
Applications to take part in this residency are being accepted from UK-based teams of up to three collaborators who have a musical theatre idea in need of development and would benefit from the residency experience to take it to the next stage in its creation.
To apply, individuals or teams must be based in the UK – Cove Park and Dundee Rep are particularly interested in receiving applications from teams based in Scotland. The participating artists from India and the United States will be selected separately through nominations via international partners.
Please visit https://www.musicaltheatrewritingresidency.uk/ for more information and how to apply.
The Lammermuir Festival closed its 14th festival earlier this week, one of its most successful yet. The programme was met with great acclaim cited by some music critics as the best programme presented.
Audiences flocked with over 80% of tickets sold, over 30% of which were to new customers. Initial analysis indicates that a little over half of those audiences were local with the remaining travelling to East Lothian to enjoy one of the UK’s best loved classical music events.
This successful edition was set against the backdrop of the festival finding out just days before it opened that Creative Scotland was not supporting its 14th festival, having invested in the event for thirteen years.
Losing the cultural funder’s support this year leaves the festival in an urgent financial position, working hard to find a secure future.
Many of Scotland’s leading musicians have lent their support to the festival’s campaign, most recently Nicola Benedetti and Sir James MacMillan.
Nicola Benedetti said: “Being able to share the best, world-class music making with audiences not residing in our cities but in rural areas is a really important part of our nation’s cultural fabric.
“An aspect we must support and nurture. The Lammermuir Festival has done this brilliantly over the last 14 festivals creating acclaimed events that also enable young artists to develop in the industry, and engage young people in the region to give them deep and extraordinary experiences.
“It would be tragic for Scotland’s music scene if this festival wasn’t supported to continue this work which benefits so many.”
An Open Letter to Creative Scotland has been signed by 362 musicians, composers, education workers, participants, supporters, audience members and local businesses including Steven Obsorne, Andrea Baker, Sean Shibe, Stuart MacRae, Dinis Sousa, Ryan Corbett, Sue Baxendale, Craig Hoy MSP, Douglas Alexander, Martin Brabbins, Sian Edwards, Ruth Ellis, Monica Wilkinson and Alfonso Leal del Ojo.
James Waters, Chief Executive and Joint Artistic Director of the Lammermuir Festival said: “The support and affection for Lammermuir Festival that we have seen pouring in from musicians, education providers, local businesses, supporters and audiences across Scotland and beyond has been incredible.
“We have never been more proud of the festival and what it brings to so many and we will continue to do everything we can to secure its future.”
Letter from supporters of Lammermuir Festival
To Iain Munro, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland and its Chair, Robert Wilson,
We the undersigned appeal to you to save what one audience member has described as a ‘precious jewel of originality and joy’.
According to the panels judging Open Fund applications at Creative Scotland, Lammermuir Festival does not sufficiently align to your priorities.
This is despite having the full support of the Music Officers at Creative Scotland who approved its application and strongly recommended funding without conditions.
This is one of the most acclaimed classical music festivals in the UK, recipient of an RPS award, the highest accolade in its field, and giving work to 350 musicians a year, many of them Scottish. It has a proven record of achievement, appeals to ever-growing audiences and supports performers at all stages in their careers.
It is also a festival which returns £750,000 in economic benefits for East Lothian, on top of its social and cultural benefits, bringing visitors to a region which is underserved for arts, offering audiences international quality music performances and participation opportunities.
If the festival were to not exist, neither would its work with McOpera which engaged 1,700 children, young people and adults as participants and audience through their outreach strand over the last two years. This proved a formative part of so many young musicians’ lives in East Lothian.
This strand of the festival’s work reached out to multiple and diverse local community groups, nurturing children and young people from across 31 different schools, supporting the growth of an Instrumental Music Service and creative organisations (such as Dunbar Voices), bringing to the region international conductors and Scottish creatives, composers, singers and instrumentalists.
It has also regularly provided career placements to students from Edinburgh College, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier Universities, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
This decision by Creative Scotland flies in the face of the expressions of support for culture in Scotland, and in particular for festivals, that the First Minister Humza Yousaf, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Neil Gray, and Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Angus Robertson have made in recent days.
The Open Fund process appears to have no strategic overview of provision, and no clear artistic, quality or geographic priorities.
Your process places huge pressure on organisations. Lammermuir Festival was invited to make multiple applications for the same activity with funding decisions taking their nerves to the wire – in this case Creative Scotland passed their verdict on a third application just 16 days before the festival started.
The system needs to change. As it stands it places Scotland’s cultural ecology on a downward trajectory.
Without Creative Scotland’s support the Lammermuir Festival’s future is under threat. Your decision not to fund the 2023 festival, destabilises the organisation and undermines the festival’s ability to plan for or run a festival in 2024 and beyond. In order to secure the future of this festival beyond 2023, urgent support is needed.
As musicians, educators, audience members, supporters, participants, businesses in East Lothian, and community leaders we are utterly appalled at your decision and urgently appeal to Creative Scotland to reverse it in order to save this cultural gem.
This festival cannot be allowed to disappear.
362 signatures which can be viewed on the Lammermuir Festival website:
cc’d
First Minister Humza Yousaf
Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Angus Robertson
Minister of Culture Christina McKelvie
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Neil Gray
“Showcases the classical music of the subcontinent but also mixes, melds and
modernises it.” – Financial Times, on Jasdeep’s debut album Anomaly
Scottish Ensemble kick off the first collaboration of their 2023/24 season performing alongside Leeds-born sitarist and composer, Jasdeep Singh Degun. Jasdeep has earned a reputation as one of the UK’s leading voices in the Indian Classical Music tradition.
He has performed at a wide range of prestigious and high-profile venues across the UK and abroad, including performing for Prince Harry as part of BBC Documentary Goldies Band; at the UN opening of the Amphitheatre in Doha, Qatar in 2012 in a concert led by composer Vangelis; accompanying Donovan at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool; and in a sell-outperformance of his album Anomaly at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room.
Partnering with Scottish Ensemble, Jasdeep will be bringing his unique approach to Indian classical composition to Scottish audiences for the first time. Scottish Ensemble and Jasdeep will tour to Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow, with an additional afternoon performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Jasdeep began work with Scottish Ensemble in July, when a quintet of string musicians to joined him and tabla player Harkiret Singh Bahra to begin developing this performance.
Together they began to bring together the complex and contrasting traditions of Indian and Western classical music. Scottish Ensemble took this opportunity to get to grips with the uber-tight rhythms and the beautiful balance of structure and freedom at the heart of the Indian classical music.
Scottish Ensemble are well-known for their innovative and ambitious cross-genre and crossartform collaborations. They strive to create exhilarating musical experiences through working with musicians from a wide array of genres and musical traditions. The development of this work has tested their musicians’ skills and challenged how they think about music and performance.
These moments are where collaboration flourishes, pushing the boundaries of form and genre, and challenging conventional musical labels or categorisation.
This performance will feature a number of compositions by Jasdeep Singh Degun, including works from his album Anomaly, alongside work by medieval German composer Hildegard von Bingen, and American contemporary composer Terry Riley.
These pieces of western repertoire are rooted in minimalism, drones, and improvisation, and were selected to complement and enhance the experience of Jasdeep’s compositions.
Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th-century abbess and polymath and is one of the most well known and most recorded composers of sacred monophony – Christian religious music which follows a single melodic line.
Drawing a contrast with this ancient music, is Terry Riley’s Sunrise of the
Planetary Dream Collector written for the Kronos Quartet in 1980.
This work allows its performers to “co-compose” a version of the piece. It is composed of 24 repeating modules designed to be combined, juxtaposed, and overlapped freely by the musicians in performance.
A highlight of the concert will come with the world premiere of a new work by Jasdeep, commissioned by Scottish Ensemble specifically for this tour.
This new work, composed for sitar, tabla, and string quintet, draws upon the creative collaboration between Jasdeep and Scottish Ensemble’s players from their initial rehearsals. Jasdeep spent two days with Scottish Ensemble’s musicians, sharing knowledge and experience, rehearsing arrangements of Jasdeep’s work and the western repertoire.
This experience and exchange of knowledge has built the foundation for Jasdeep’s new work, which is written specifically to be performed with Scottish Ensemble’s quintet of musicians.
Join Scottish Ensemble and Jasdeep Singh Degun this October for a musical tale, driven by the beautiful spontaneity of the Indian Classical tradition, transporting you through layers of mesmerising melody.
Listings Details
Dundee – Wed 4 October, 8pm – Marryat Hall
Edinburgh – Thu 5 October, 8pm – The Queen’s Hall
Inverness – Fri 6 October, 8pm – Eden Court
Glasgow – Sat 7 October, 8pm – Adelaide Place
Manchester – Sun 8 October, 4pm– Royal Northern College of Music
Tickets – https://scottishensemble.co.uk/programme/2023-24/jasdeep-singh-degun/
| ‘Family Music Time’ is a new opportunity to enjoy free of charge music performances from some of Scotland’s most talented emerging artists. The relaxed and informal concerts are taking place in a stunning venue that welcomes all. “Live Music Now Scotland is very much looking forward to working with the local community of Stenhouse, along with the team at St Salvador’s and its Community Food Initiative” says Live Music Now Scotland Director, Carol Main MBE. “The location is in the heart of an area of multi-cultural diversity and multiple deprivation. There is little or no opportunity for people to come together socially or interact with their neighbours, with many living in social isolation. “Through Family Music Time, musicians from Live Music Now Scotland, including those from Poland, Spain, Latin America and Scotland, will offer the chance of shared social pleasure and joy through the international language of music and traditional cultures.” “St. Salvador’s Scottish Episcopal Church is a growing congregation in Stenhouse, Edinburgh. Our vibrant and multicultural congregation reflects the diversity of the surrounding area. Through our worship and social outreach, we seek to engage and support our local community, says Revd Dr Ross Jesmont of St Salvador’s. “We are looking forward to collaborating with Live Music Now Scotland to host a series of music events for local children and their families. “The opportunity to have live music events in an area of the city where this is not a regular feature is an exciting prospect. We hope these events will both provide families with an opportunity to enjoy live music in their area and inspire a new generation of musicians.” Sun 24 September Troppos Ensemble, Troppos Ensemble, instrumental ensemble with a Latin twist Sun 29 October Sun 29 October Megan MacDonald and Calum McIlroy, Megan MacDonald and Calum McIlroy, accordion and guitar duoSun 26 November Sun 26 November Roo and Neil, Roo and Neil, fiddle and accordion duoAll at 2.00pm I St. Salvador’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Stenhouse. |
Lammermuir Festival has been turned down by Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for funding towards this year’s festival.
Over a period of 40 weeks the festival lodged three applications having been strongly encouraged by Creative Scotland officials to re-apply twice.
Each application was strongly recommended for funding by the Music Department at Creative Scotland, particularly as a key part of a network of festivals across the country including East Neuk, Paxton, Cumnock Tryst and St Magnus.
Each application has been turned down by assessment panels, the last notification being on 22 August, just 16 days before the 2023 festival opened.
The Chair and Trustees of the Lammermuir Festival are appalled and saddened at the lack of investment in the 2023 festival by Creative Scotland. The Times described the Lammermuir Festival as “an indispensable part of Scotland’s musical culture”.
It has indisputably been a huge success over the past 14 years, giving pleasure to audiences from East Lothian and further afield, transformative experiences for people young and old through our community engagement, and presenting Scottish and international performers with worldwide reputations in beautiful and intimate settings across the county.
Presenting the Festival in its current form has relied on a strong, supportive audience; our loyal Friends, Benefactors, sponsors and other generous funders; and investment from public funds, mainly Creative Scotland but also contributions from EventScotland and East Lothian Council.
In previous years ticket revenues, private sector funders and public support have contributed about one third each of the cost of the Festival enabling us to keep ticket prices at a level to allow the widest audience to attend the performances.
If Creative Scotland had invested the sum requested in 2023 it would have represented 23% of the Festival budget. This is crucial investment in an area of Scotland which does not have regular high-quality cultural events drawing audiences to the area. In 2022 the Lammermuir Festival generated £780,000 of economic benefit for East Lothian (Source: MKA Economics, November 2022).
Public support has in addition allowed children and young people from across the county to discover and develop musical skills and benefit socially from participation in music. Most recently this brought almost 700 people together in our community opera and engagement work, giving them the experience of every aspect of production as well as performing.
This year Creative Scotland has declined to support the festival despite having encouraged us to re-apply twice over the last nine months.
Reasons given were first: prioritising applications with activity earlier in the year; second: Fair Work; third: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This third application was refused on a criterion which the Music Department assessor judged to be fully met. We are urgently seeking clarification on how this could be.
The artistic ambition and quality of the festival has been consistently recognised in Music Department assessments.
In particular there has been no recognition that what has emerged is effectively a decision by Creative Scotland to give no priority to a festival as significant as Lammermuir, despite its record of achievement and its obvious appeal to audiences and performers; and no attempt is made to justify this.
This flies in the face of the expressions of support for culture in Scotland, and in particular for festivals, that have been made in recent days by the First Minister, Neil Gray and Angus Robertson.
To deliver this year’s Festival as planned – with what is already being acclaimed as an outstanding artistic programme – we shall be obliged to use a significant proportion of our reserves which we have judiciously built up over many years.
Thankfully on this one occasion we were in a position to do this, allowing audiences to once again enjoy beautiful music in beautiful places as in previous festivals, and meet our commitment to artists.
Without Creative Scotland support the Lammermuir Festival’s future is under threat.
We urge Creative Scotland to reconsider their decision and secure the future of Lammermuir Festival. In order to make plans and commitments for 2024 and beyond we need the financial stability which Creative Scotland has provided over the past 13 years.
We are determined to save the Lammermuir Festival for the future.
From the Chair and trustees of Lammermuir Festival
St James Quarter Sessions artists celebrated the finale of St James Quarter Sessions – a free live music event series that took place at St James Quarter throughout August.
With an impressive line-up of over 60 live performances and DJ sets, the Quarter transformed into a music festival site with guests reserving tickets to enjoy exclusive sets from talent including Russell Stewart, Grace and the Flat Boys and Super French.
