Burnsong
A nationwide search for new and exciting talent . . .
Burnsong - Live! 2005 festival
The Burnsong project
A bit about Burns...
Children and young people
Partnerships
25 - 30 November 2005
Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries
Burnsong - Live! 2005 gathers together our finest songwriting talent for the first time to celebrate song and the creation of song in five incredible days of open workshops, masterclasses, concerts, gigs and taster events.
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Robert Burns is the inspiration. His poetry and song capture our national spirit of idealism and social justice. He was a prolific song gatherer and thanks to him, many traditional songs and ballads survive today. On 25 January 2009, it will be 250 years since his birth. |
In a unique six-year project, Burnsong will hope to inspire a new era of songwriting in Scotland, offering opportunities for everyone to discover their talent for song.
17 aspiring songwriters from a 12 year old girl in Orkney to an ambulance driver in Edinburgh have had their songs picked from 800 entries by a panel of leading musicians and songwriters for performance at Burnsong – Live!, Scotland’s first festival of song.
The 17 will join some of Scotland’s finest professional songwriters in Robert Burns’ home town of Dumfries in South West Scotland, where audiences, songwriters and performers will celebrate the art of songwriting, with gigs, concerts, films, master-classes, talks and gatherings, from Friday 25 to Wednesday 30 November 2005. The line up includes Aberfeldy, Sophie Bancroft, Boo Hewerdine, Niki King, Geoff Martyn, Karine Polwart, David Scott, Wendy Stewart and Emily Smith.
Festival highlights include two unique events:
- The Song House where eight professional singer/songwriters from the Scottish music scene will live and work together to write new songs, coming out of ‘the house’ to premiere their songs at two Song Sharing gigs and
- The Big Gig! hosted by BBC Radio presenter Vic Galloway on St Andrew’s Day evening, when the new Burnsongs will receive their world premiere.
Visit the Burnsong website for more on the programme or telephone 01387 253383.
Everyone is welcome to come along to Dumfries and let this magical corner of Scotland work its spell on you. Like the man said, unleash your 'wild happiness of thought and expression' through song! And discover the song inside you.
Call Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries to register for a full brochure (available from September) on 01387 262084 or visit the Burnsong website.
On Monday 24 January 2005, Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport launched a radical new initiative to encourage songwriting in Scotland. Led by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, funded by the Scottish Executive and supported by the Scottish Arts Council, BBC Radio Scotland and Event Scotland, the project is called Burnsong - in celebration of the spirit and legacy of Robert Burns.
Burnsong is a six year bi-annual project to promote, encourage and nurture the art of songwriting in Scotland. It was created by arts development agency, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association (DGAA), in answer to the Scottish Executive’s call for a new contemporary way to celebrate the spirit and legacy of Scottish poet and song-gatherer Robert Burns, in preparation of 2009, the 250th anniversary of Burns’ birth.
At its heart is a nationwide search for new and exciting talent; an open invitation to the people of Scotland to write a song - the best of which will be broadcast across Scotland and performed at Burnsong festival in November 2005.
Burnsong wants to honour every kind of song, to restore the writing of songs to mainstream life as one of the essentials for living, and to leave a legacy of new songwriters in communities across Scotland.
On 1 January 2000, millions of people around the world sang a song to herald the next thousand years – by Robbie Burns: Should auld acquaintance be forgot . . .
As a lyricist and songwriter, Burns has never been surpassed. His lyrics spanned the political, social, environmental and romantic spectrum with an impact that very few song writers have achieved since.
Burns’ choice of tune was always impeccable – an instinct that thrived through his knowledge and enthusiasm for Scottish composers in his own time as well as being steeped in oral tradition. A fiddler, Burns was also one of our greatest collectors and users of tunes and musical pieces.
Songs in any culture carry a people’s true voice and the daily understanding of their history and aspirations. Think for a moment on the fundamental similarity between, for example, the black American James Brown’s Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud, and Burns’ A Man’s a Man for a ‘that. Both songs have made a significant impact as milestones in their countries’ progress towards self respect and democracy!
The song is the most immediate, popular and accessible of musical forms and Scotland is hooching with young musicians who write and perform (or want to) their own songs, on themes from every corner of their experiences.
Scottish music has always produced exceptional professional musicians and songwriters in every style. But whilst composition may be taught in colleges and academies, song writing, the people’s art, is by and large left to its own devices.
Burnsong also created Burns and Rivers, an education programme of projects and performances to develop and encourage songwriting amongst children and young people at school. Drawing inspiration from the natural environment, Burns and Rivers celebrates Burns’ own love of nature and natural heritage.
In two successful pilot programmes in 2004 / 2005, children and teachers, from schools across Dumfries and Galloway and Glasgow, worked individually and in groups with songwriters in projects lasting up to 10 weeks to create the first Burnsongs. Of the 800 songs, 80 were by children and young people under 16.
Burnsong – Live! will premiere two songs by songwriters under 16 years of age. A series of Sangschools is developing the next generation of songwriting tutors to support future developments.
Burnsong is a partnership between Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association and a range of bodies and organisations including (in alphabetical order):
BBC Scotland, British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, Event Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Executive, Scottish Music Centre, Visit Scotland, World Burns Federation.
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This page will be updated throughout the year with news about Burnsong - so keep checking!
For more information on Burnsong and how to get involved, have a look at the Burnsong website. | |