A Gaelic Christmas in Glasgow
The world’s first Scottish Gaelic Christmas album will be showcased in concert on Monday 10th December in Glasgow.
Tracks from the ground breaking Duan Nollaig CD will be covered in the concert including an interesting and innovative version of Leonard Cohen’s song ‘Alleluia’, which was made popular by Jeff Buckley and featured in the film Shrek, now translated into Gaelic by Inverness’s Eilidh Mackenzie.
Traditional translations of favourite Christmas Carols like “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger” will also be performed, many for the first time.
Duan Nollaig is a collection of thirty five songs suitable for all ages and musical tastes, old and new songs and songs which incorporate elements of other cultures, including Manx, Latin and German.
Fiona Mackenzie, The Highland Council’s Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellow and Mod Gold Medallist will lead, Duan Nollaig - The Gaelic Christmas Concert at St Andrews in the Square, Calton, Glasgow on Monday 10th December from 8pm.
Accompanying Fiona will be 2008 Mod Gold Medallist James Graham from Lochinver; Nairn-based Irvin Duguid; Jim Drummond; John Goldie; Gary Innes from Spean Bridge; Ross Ainslie; Mark Thomson; Katie Mackenzie RSAMD Honours Student from Dingwall; Ed Mcfarlane; Hamish Napier from Grantown on Spey; Simone Welsh and Inverness-based Mod medallist Morven Macleod.
Minister for Culture Linda Fabiani said: “The Gaelic Christmas Concert is a celebration which will be enjoyed by all. I look forward to hearing the traditional Christmas carols and contemporary songs live – the CD is great. I encourage both Gaelic and non Gaelic speakers to attend this must-see concert.”
Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “The concert is not just for the Highland Diaspora now living in Glasgow – anyone can come along and hear this magical live performance of
“Duan Nollaig”. The CD and concert is a great step forward in supporting Highland Council’s commitments to the development of the Gaelic language and culture. Being the world’s first Christmas Gaelic CD it will also help to promote the language, as I am sure it will be a great hit and a great stocking-filler during the festive season.”
Fiona Mackenzie, Highland Council’s Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellowship Officer said: “I have been inundated for the last five years with requests from all over the world for a collection of Christmas songs and Carols in Gaelic, which can be played at Christmas time. We are delighted to be able to fill this gap in the market.
“We wanted to produce a collection which reflected the diversity of Highland culture today and so have used influences from all musical genres, not just the traditional ones. Some of the most popular tracks with the young people and children are the rock tracks such as Leonard Cohen’s Alleluia, which featured in the Shrek film.
“Other popular songs include the translation of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, which has struck a chord as faraway as New Zealand. We had a very tearful call from one woman living there now who remembered her mother singing it to her in Gaelic when she was six and living in Thurso. The woman is now 85 and told us how many other childhood memories the song brought back to her. So that shows you how far back many of our Gaelic traditions go.”
Tickets for the concert at £10 / £6 including mulled wine and mince pies are available from http://www.secxtra.com/ tel: 0870 013 4060, St Enoch’s Centre or at the door.
Anyone who cannot attend on the night can also see the performance broadcast on Scottish Television (STV) on Wednesday 19th December, 2007 at 11:05pm.
For more details see http://www.fionamackenzie.org/ or e-mail info@fionamackenzie.org.
The Cd is available on the Greentrax label and is available in all record shops and online from http://www.footstompin.com/ and http://www.musicscotland.com/.