This concert will be a treat for pipers and lovers of Gaelic song as it brings together the prodigious piping and musical talents of Brìghde Chaimbeul, Assynt with David Shedden on Highland pipes, and Gaelic song trio, Sian, comprising Ceitlin Lilidh, Eilidh Cormack and Ellen MacDonald.
The concert is on Friday, January 24 in the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow.
Brìghde Chaimbeul (Breech-huh Campbell) is a leading purveyor of celtic experimentalism and a master of the Scottish smallpipes; a bellows-blown, mellower cousin to the famous Highland bagpipes. A native Gaelic speaker, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture. She rose to prominence as a prodigy of traditional music, but has since begun a journey to take the smallpipes into unchartered territory. She has devised a unique way or arranging for pipe music that emphasises the rich textural drones of the instrument; the constancy of sound that creates a trance-like atmosphere, played with enticing virtuosic liquidity.
Award winning instrumental folk trio Assynt are former BBC Radio Scotland Young Musician of the Year finalists, Graham Mackenzie (fiddle) and David Shedden (pipes/whistles) alongside BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winner Innes White (guitar). 2018 saw the official launch of the band, the release of their debut album The Road to the North and were awarded ‘Up and Coming Artist of the Year’ at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.
Sian comprises three of today’s most exquisitely gifted young Gaelic singers – Ceitlin Lilidh, Eilidh Cormack and Ellen MacDonald – accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Innes White. With direct connections among the singers to Lewis, Skye and North Uist, their arrangements match deep feeling for traditon with stunning, boldly imaginative harmony work, which has seen them likened to The Staves and even Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Donald Shaw, was released in 2020.