Celtic Connections 2011 Opens Tomorrow with Torchlight Parade and Zakir Hussain

Every year, Celtic Connections launches in spectacular style with a torchlight procession through Glasgow city center.

The pipers will lead a mass of blazing torches from George Square to the Concert Hall steps, as Glasgow lights up for the first day of the festival.

Celebrations commence inside the Hall, as torch-bearers are invited to the Lord Provost’s Drinks Reception, and the festival is pronounced officially open!

Thursday 13 January, 4:45pm
Free
George Square George Square to Buchanan Street

The Opening Concert is titled The Pulse of World featuring Zakir Hussain at the
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Main Auditorium.

The Pulse of the World is a brand new cross-cultural performance featuring the globally renowned Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, together with a stellar array of Scottish and Irish traditional musicians including Patsy Reid (fiddle/viola), Charlie McKerron (fiddle), Ross Ainslie (small pipes/whistle), Matheu Watson (guitar, mandolin), John Joe Kelly (bodhran), Michael McGoldrick (flute, pipes and whistles) and the beautiful Hebridean singing of Jenna Cumming.

They will be joined tonight by Indian stars selected by Hussain: Kumaresh (violin), Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri [bamboo flute]) and Navin Sharma (dholak) as well as the spectacular sound of the drum corps of the Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band.

Thursday 13 January, 7:30pm
£20, £18

Recordings available:

Planet Drum, Global Drum Project, Essence of Rhythm, Best of Zakir Hussain, Raga Lalit / Raga Bairagi Bhairav, Golden String Of The Sarod, First LP Record, Mesmerizing Maestros, Live, Vol. 1, Sound scapes-music of the desert, Magical Moments of Rhythm