Shetland Arts Trust

Supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council, Shetland Arts Trust was awarded funding of £26,850 in August 2004, to purchase a new grand piano for the community of Shetland.  The piano will benefit developing musicians and audiences in Shetland and attract top quality artists to play on the islands.

Shetland Arts Trust is the arts development agency for Shetland, a unique group of rugged islands situated at the crossroads of the North Sea, every bit as close to Scandinavia as to mainland Scotland. 
The main purpose of the trust is to:

• encourage and assist in promoting and advancing the creation, practice, presentation and study of all forms of art – visual, performing and creative;
• to encourage active participation in the arts throughout Shetland, and to promote quality in artistic endeavour. 

Shetland Arts Trust have a long track record of delivering a very strong music programme in this remote area where costs of promoting work can be high. 

In 2003, the Trust was awarded a grant by the Scottish Arts Council towards extending and enhancing the classical music programme by bringing in performers of a national or international standard.

With the help of the Scottish Arts Council, Shetland Arts Trust has spent the last four years developing an audience for music on Shetland.  Traditional and contemporary music have benefited from this and the Trust is now turning its attention to similar developments in Classical music. 

The new piano will attract more quality artists to perform on the island and improve the quality of performances for island audiences.  It will also contribute to music education developments on the islands.

The Shetland Arts Trust was recently awarded development funding from the National Lottery towards the cost of developing a proposal for a purpose-built cinema and music venue in Lerwick. 

Supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council.