The Elphinstone Institute is hosting ‘A Day of Song’ on Saturday May 11, as part of the University’s May Festival, which runs from 10-12 May 2013.
The day aims to celebrate contemporary traditional singing as an art form and to raise awareness of the rich resources to be found in the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, which was gathered here in the North-East of Scotland between 1904 and 1914.
The programme for the day includes talks on The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection by Dr Katherine Campbell, and on Language and the Land – North-East Scots in Song by Frieda Morrison, with Aileen Carr and Scott Gardiner. The afternoon will feature four workshops on local songs, songwriting in Scots, ensemble singing and learning songs from the collections, with experienced workshop leaders including Jo Miller, Arthur Watson, Bob Knight and Jo Miller. The talk and workshops will take place at the MacRobert Building between 10.00am and 4.45pm.
Ian Russell, Director of the Institute, said: “The event will be a celebration. We hope to encourage young singers, and those new to the art, to see the artistic potential in this wonderful repertoire.”
The day will be rounded off with an evening concert, from 7pm to 10pm, at Dunbar Hall, Dunbar Street, Old Aberdeen, showcasing some of Scotland’s finest singers and songs from The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection. Frieda Morrison is compere for the evening and will perform along with Sarah Beattie. Other well-known singers include Christine Kydd, Janice Reavell, Scott Gardiner, Aileen Carr and Elizabeth Stewart of Fetterangus.
Tickets are available at Aberdeen Box Office until noon on Thursday, May 9.
From Friday, May 10, tickets will be available to purchase at the May Festival Box Office on the University campus.
To book online visit www.abdn.ac.uk/mayfestival