Tune Up presents Fiddle Rendezvous

The seventh and penultimate Tune Up tour of this season will see an exciting collaborative adventure featuring six major international talents performing a ten-date tour at venues across Scotland.

Fiddle Rendezvous – a celebration of music from Scotland, Ireland and the US - will see Bruce Molsky and Mary Ann Kennedy, Gerry O Connor and Gilles le Bigot and siblings Mike and Ali Vass collaborate onstage for the first time since their hit performance at Celtic Connections 2008.

The unique collaboration will provide audiences with the chance to enjoy the contrasting styles of three outstanding fiddle players and their musical partners.

Now in its fifth year, the Scottish Arts Council’s Tune Up initiative takes the highest quality music, from traditional to experimental, world music to cabaret, chamber music to pop and rock, to venues across Scotland, and has established itself as a significant international touring programme.

New York-born Bruce Molsky first collaborated with Mary Ann Kennedy at Celtic Connections in 2007 and is a familiar face on the BBC’s ‘Transatlantic Sessions’. The multi-instrumentalist’s love and knowledge of the American heartland’s musical traditions is shared in Kennedy’s repertoire.

Gaelic musician and BBC broadcaster, Kennedy is the daughter of Gaelic singing guru Kenna Campbell. As well as singing with Gaelic group Cliar, Kennedy is set to release a new album on 21 April. Mary Ann Kennedy and Na Seoid is a unique reworking of Gaelic music that features seven world-class Scottish male Gaelic vocalists including Tormod McArthur and Gillebride MacMillan.

Irish fiddle player Gerry O’Connor makes a rare appearance in Scotland, bringing a mastery of many different Irish fiddling styles to his duet with self-taught French guitarist Gilles le Bigot.

Two of Scotland’s top young players complete the sextet. Twins Mike and Ali Vass form a fiddle and piano partnership that’s full of exuberance, skill and dynamism. The duo made their first public appearance in 1995 aged eleven, and three years later supported American banjo wizard Alison Brown at Celtic Connections.

Commenting on the tour Ian Smith, Head of Music at the Scottish Arts Council, said: 'This tour is a great example of what Tune Up is all about - musical collaboration between some of the best Scottish and international musicians while showcasing great up and coming acts like the Vass twins. This tour which takes a hit performance from this year’s Celtic Connections across Scotland,  is sure to delight audiences from Stornoway to New Galloway.'

Fiddle RendezvousTour dates – May 2008

14 – Glenkens Community and Arts Trust, New Galloway
15 – Easterhouse Arts Centre, Glasgow
16 – Queens Hall, Edinburgh
17 – Tolbooth, Stirling
18 – Music Hall, Aberdeen
19 – Glen Urquhart Public Hall, Drumnadrochit
20 – Birnam House Hotel, Dunkeld
21 – Lyth Arts Centre, Wick
22 – MacPhail Theatre, Ullapool
23 – An Lanntair, Stornoway

Notes to editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which was established by Royal Charter in 1994 and is also a Lottery distributor. The organisation serves the people of Scotland by fostering arts of excellence through investment, development, research and advocacy. Our corporate aims are: to support artists to fulfil their creative and business potential; to increase participation in the arts; and to place the arts, culture and creativity at the heart of learning. We invest £60m each year, including £15 million of National Lottery funding. For more information visit: www.scottisharts.org.uk
2. For more information on forthcoming Tune Up tours, visit www.tuneup.org.uk.
3. Tune Up is currently seeking proposals for new touring projects in Scotland between September 2008 and August 2009. Detailed proposal guidelines and application forms can be downloaded from www.tuneup.org.uk/section/apply
4. For further information on the Fiddle Rendezvous performers, visit:
   www.gilleslebigot.com/home_en.htm
   www.brucemolsky.com
   www.gerryoconnor.net
   www.watercolourmusic.co.uk/MAK
   www.mikevass.co.uk  
5. For further information on the tour and artists involved, and to arrange interviews, please contact Everymatic on 0141 204 3567 / alex@everymatic.com / sally@everymatic.com

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council