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Cèilidh and workshop with Donnie Murdo MacLeod, 3 October
Suipeir Dhonnchaidh Bhàin, 21 February
Cèilidh and workshop with Joan Morrison, 21 March
Newsletter, July 2009
Cèilidh and workshop with Donnie Murdo MacLeod, 3 October
We are delighted that Donnie Murdo MacLeod is able to be with us on 3 October for a cèilidh and Gaelic song workshop. We had hoped to welcome him on 2 May but he had to cancel plans at short notice due to illness. Donnie is one of our very finest traditional singers and we look forward very much to his visit. Look out for more details in the autumn.
Suipeir Dhonnchaidh Bhàin, 21 February
'Suipeir Dhonnchaidh', celebrating the poetry of Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir (Duncan MacIntyre), was a new venture for the Society, though modelled in some respects on previous Burns Suppers. We were very fortunate indeed to have as our guest speaker Ian MacDonald, North Uist, Director of the Gaelic Books Council. Following a supper of Stornoway black and white puddings, Ian presented a thoroughly well-researched and entertaining appreciation of Donnchadh Bàn's work. Còisir Lunnainn and soloists Sandy Jones and Eòghann Pinkerton then illustrated some of Ian's themes with the poet's songs.
Cèilidh and workshop with Joan Morrison, 21 March
Joan Morrison of Carloway and Point, Lewis, is very highly regarded as a traditional singer and she received a very warm welcome to London on 21 March as she passed on some of her songs and knowledge at the workshop and sang for us at the evening cèilidh. Joan's lovely voice and her approach to the songs made for a very moving performance, much appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.
With 156 entrants this year, the competition continues to grow. The judges were very pleased with the standard of many of the entries, which was even higher than in previous years. Once again, Back School excelled, winning the Senior, Junior and Infant trophies. Photographs are still coming in and will be circulated later in the year.
Dates for the remainder of 2009 are 3 October (see above) and 21 November (AGM), both at Crown Court Church of Scotland, Covent Garden. Our guest for the cèilidh following the AGM will be Gillebrìde MacIllemhaoil of South Uist. Further details will be circulated in due course.
There will be a Gaelic service at Crown Court Church, Covent Garden, on 13 September at 3.30pm.
We send our very best wishes to Kathy Kennedy following her recent stay in hospital. We are glad to hear that she is making a good recovery.
Thanks to Jim Morrison for drawing these online lessons with audio to our attention - just double-click on a sentence to hear it. For some basic Scottish Gaelic dialogues see:
http://www.mylanguagenotebook.com/view_project.aspx?projectID=55
This evening was also the occasion to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the association of our dear friend and loyal supporter, Kathy Kennedy, with the Society and with Còisir Lunnainn. Our Chief, Joyce Seymour-Chalk, spoke very warmly of her memories of Kathy and her dedication to the work of the Society over the years before presenting her with a crystal rose bowl on behalf of the Society. Alan Munro, on behalf of Còisir Lunnainn, thanked Kathy for her contribution to the choir and recalled some examples of her most valuable influence. Kathy was then presented with a matching rose bowl from the choir. All of this was received with great enthusiasm and appreciation by the audience. We feel privileged that Kathy has given so much of her time and her wonderful talents for so long for the benefit of both organisations, and that she continues to do so with such grace and generosity. Ceud taing agus mile dùrachd, Kathy!
Our thanks to Ian MacDonald and to Còisir Lunnainn for agreeing to be part of this venture. We are also very grateful to Robert Crookes for preparing the delicious supper, and to everyone who took part in a great team effort to ensure that everything ran smoothly. A special word of thanks must go to Murdoch Graham and Eòghann Pinkerton for their hard work in detailed planning and preparation, leading to this highly successful and thoroughly enjoyable evening.
We were fortunate on that evening in having a roomful of talent, with Linn Phipps, Anna McCrae, Kathy Kennedy and Eòghann Pinkerton supporting Joan, as well as the group of students who had earlier been taught by her. A very lively evening indeed!
Our thanks to all teachers and pupils who took part, and also, of course, to our judges. 'Smath a rinn sibh uile!
Còisir Lunnainn will be holding their annual pre-Mod cèilidh on 21 September at Crown Court Church.
This year's Fèis Lunnainn takes place on 11-13 September at Froebel College, Roehampton. For further information see: www.feislondon.org
Young dancer Natalie MacKinnon continues her winning ways, adding four gold medals from the Colchester Highland Games to her cabinet. Many congratulations, Natalie!
We are delighted to hear that Sandy Jones came first in five competitions and second in four at the recent Inverness and Oban Mods. At Inverness, she won the Oran Mòr and Puirt a Beul and came second in the 'Qualifier', Own Choice and Own Choice (Open). At Oban she won the Oran Mòr, Own Choice and 'Argyll Bard'. She took second place in the Unpublished Song competition with one of her own compositions. Sandy also received the award for the best recording on her HNC Music Performance course in Benbecula. Meal do naidheachd gu dearbh, a Shandaidh! We look forward to seeing Sandy in London again soon.
If you are feeling a bit adventurous, there are Manx lessons also available on the site!
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page last updated 7/8/09