Friday 8 June 2012

Gala Afternoon Concert at the Steps Theatre

Sheena Wellington
In the Steps Theatre on Saturday 16th June at 2pm, Simon Chadwick, Barbara Dymock, Helen Forbes & Lou Lewis, Karen Hannah, Kyle Howie, Wilma Kennedy and Sheena Wellington will reprise the sell-out concert they did at Glasgow's Celtic Connections! 

The concert will feature the music and song of Dundee's famous Wighton Collection presented with musical verve, wide knowledge and great humour.

Tickets £5, from secretary@friendsofwighton.com, call 221242 or buy at the door - proceeds to Friends of Wighton Education project.

Simon Chadwick is a specialist in the historic harp traditions of Scotland and Ireland. Simon lives in St Andrews and has been studying and teaching the early clarsach for thirteen years.   His CD of historical Scottish repertory, Clarsach na Banrighe, came out in 2008.    He is a pioneer in the rediscovery of oral tradition music, and gives performances of the ancient Gaelic harp repertory across Scotland. 

Barbara Dymock was a founder member of the band Ceolbeg, and over the years has graced the stage with Fair Game, Rathlin, Fon a Bhord and Palaver. She was nominated as Scots Singer of the Year in the Scottish Traditional Music Awards 2011, following the release of her first solo album Hilbert's Hotel produced by Dundee's Michael Marra. 

Helen Forbes is widely regarded as one of Scotland's finest whistle players.   Originally taught by her father, Peter, a much respected piper, she also studied with Irish whistle-player Mary Bergin.    Helen started her career with the famous Foundry Bar Band, and has worked with Blo na Gael, Fon a Bhord and the renowned Mad Parrot Ceilidh Band.   A lecturer at Dundee College, she is in great demand as a performer and whistle teacher, privately, with the Feis movement, schools and in her college.

Lou Lewis is a first rate rock guitarist who can also add a delicate accompaniment or a dancey beat to Helen's playing.   

Karen Hannah studied with the renowned fiddlemeister Bob Edward and respected tutor Angela Mazzoncini.   She has toured widely in the UK, Europe and as far afield as South Korea and New Zealand, appearing on stage with Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, Alasdair Fraser, Brian McNeill and Sheena Wellington and bands such as Ceilidh Minogue, Midden, the Orwell Ceilidh Band, Randan and Sporran Again.   An experienced tutor, she is involved in educational projects in both the formal and informal sectors, with artists such as Sheena Wellington, Maureen Jelks , Neil Paterson and Helen Forbes and has focussed on giving children and young adults confidence in their Scots language and culture.  

Kyle Howie first started piping at the age of 10 and now, barely out of his teens, he is one of the most sought after pipers in Scotland and a recent winner of an Arts Trust of Scotland Award. He has appeared at the Edinburgh Tattoo three times, firstly with the Black Watch and then with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. He is currently on a performing sabbatical from the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. He has recently joined the sensational Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the world renowned bagrock band with whom he has not only toured internationally but been recorded and filmed for the forthcoming Pixar film "Brave"!

Wilma Kennedy is a native Gaelic speaker, a member of the famous singing Campbell family, of Greepe in Skye, born and brought up in Glasgow and now living in Broughty Ferry.    She studied drama and education at Welsh College of Music and Drama. Upon graduating in 1991 she returned to Scotland to work and that year won the Gold Medal at the National Mod in Dingwall.    Twenty years later, in October 2011, she became one of Gaeldom's elite when she completed the double by winning the Traditional Gold Medal.    She has successful combined careers in singing and acting, having performed from Barra to Bahrain and all points in between. 

Sheena Wellington is one of Scotland's finest traditional singers who has toured the world.    Her repertoire covers everything from Burns to ballads to the best of contemporary songwriting, drawing from the rich Scottish tradition passed from musician to musician through the ages.