On January 25th, the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns birth, Celtic Connections will stage the Homecoming Scotland Suite – a suite of brand-new commissions by leading contemporary composers, the performance of which promises to be a momentous evening of cross-genre collaboration, with the bringing together of celebrated classical, folk and jazz musicians. A who’s who of folk musicians will perform alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, including Shooglenifty’s James Mackintosh, David Milligan, Martin O’Neill, Alyn Cosker, Duncan Lyall, Ali Hutton, Jarlath Henderson, Martin O’Neill and Catriona McKay. They will perform new commissions by the likes of Aidan O’Rourke, Greg Lawson, Chris Stout and Steve Forman.
The centerpiece of the night will be the US tenor saxophonist Branford Marsalis performing the premiere of Sally Beamish’s newly rewritten Under the Wing of the Rock, which she rescored especially for him after hearing his performance of her concerto The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone. Marsalis will visit the UK especially for this one-off show (and for a round of golf on The Old Course at St. Andrews, which he has been challenged to by Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith, who also premieres a new commission in the Homecoming Suite).
Celtic Connections runs Thursday 15th January – Sunday 1st February, 2009
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
