Opening Concert of Celtic Connections
Thursday 14th January 2010 : 7:30 PM
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Celtic Connections has long been a vital conduit for dialogue between Scotland’s folk and classical communities, so it’s only fitting that Jim Sutherland’s True North Orchestra should open the 2010 festival. A groundbreaking hand-picked ensemble comprising roughly 50:50 folk musicians au fait with classical disciplines, and orchestral players similarly versed in traditional music, it was originally created for the epic Homecoming 2009 pageant Aisling’s Children.

Now launching as an ongoing project, the fifty strong line-up includes fiddlers Aidan O’Rourke, Chris Stout, Anna-Wendy Stevenson and Lauren MacCall; pipers Fraser Fifield, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton; harpist Catriona McKay, trumpeter Ryan Quigley and trombonist John Kenny. They’ll perform excerpts from Aisling’s Children alongside new pieces inspired by strathspey rhythms and Gaelic psalm singing, interspersed with short taster performances by artists appearing later in the festival, including Maura O’Connell, Kathleen MacInnes, Carlos Núñez, Lau and the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.