Projects
Nead nan Ceòladair - The Musicians' Nest
"A wonderful collection of Gaelic and Scottish Island music, one in which is an absolute credit to UHI North, West and Hebrides (previously known as Lews Castle College UHI)..."
(Ian D Hall, Liverpool Sound and Vision)
Nead nan Ceòladair - The Musicians' Nest is an album showcasing the talented musicians that have immersed themselves in music courses in Benbecula and have gone on to win awards and work in the traditional music field.
Featuring Manx fiddler Tom Callister, Seonaidh Macintyre with Trail West and Elephant Sessions fiddler Euan Smilie, Inyal’s Robbie Greig, bands Eabhal and Hecla, Breabach piper, and flautist James Duncan MacKenzie.
The album was launched with a huge reunion gathering at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of the Celtic Connections Festival programme on February 3rd 2018. The recording has received excellent reviews and was an album of the week on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal. Read the Scotsman review.
Orain na Cloinne Bige - Early Years Gaelic song web app
We were commissioned by the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Multimedia Unit to source, arrange and record music for 20 new Gaelic songs for early years, working with young Gaelic singers in the community in Uist.
The songs are accompanied by animations and the app has now been incorporated into Scotland’s Glow Education resources: Singing to Learn, Learning to Sing.
Fuaran nan Eilean
In partnership with Feisean nan Gaidheal, Fuaran nan Eilean - Spring of the Islands - was a special collaboration between the University of the Highlands and Islands and Fèisean nan Gàidheal.
A performance and workshop tour of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia as part of the Celtic Colours Festival showcased Gaelic song repertoire collected and arranged in the Hebrides by students as part of the Fèisean nan Gàidheal’s innovative heritage project Fuaran.
Albastur Cultural Exchange
An exciting project which facilitates professional teaching and performance experience at top festivals in the Celtic region of Asturias in Northern Spain and in Scotland, led by Simon Bradley.
Albastur Cultural Exchange is an ongoing research project with the remit to explore and investigate the Scottish and Asturian (Northern Spain) Celtic music traditions and forge strong cultural links between them. The project is based on field trips involving staff and students from the University of the Highlands and Islands who collaborated with professional practitioners from both locations. This project reports and reflects on the added value that can come from assimilation through immersion and the benefits of international cultural exchange for both staff and students. The positive outcomes from the project have the potential to inspire and install confidence in teaching professionals to embrace students as active researchers and practitioners in line with the Teaching Excellence Framework.
