Hands Up for Trad co-ordinated a nationwide exemplary singing project: The Big Song Relay (as part of the Big Big Sing, produced by Glasgow UNESCO City of Culture.), showcasing unity and diversity by linking communities from across Scotland to celebrate Culture 2014, by creating an extensive network of 72 community choir performances at locations along the route of the Queen’s Baton Relay. We commissioned Here’s To All Our Common Wealth, co-written by Phil Cunningham, Findlay Napier, Alison Burns and with early input from Karine Polwart. Here’s To All Our Common Wealth (listen here), was written to anticipate and capture the excitement and mood ahead of Glasgow 2014. Choirs created their own unique arrangement of the song prior to performing it in their own locality to celebrate the arrival of the Queen’s Baton Relay. Hands Up for Trad initially outlined 40 performances of Here’s To All Our Common Wealth as part of The Big Song Relay, a final count confirms that we exceeded this with 72 separate unique performances, some of which involved multiple choirs. Check out our photos.
Additionally, Hands Up for Trad presented an intensive Choir Leader’s Training Day in Dunblane in April 2014, where 56 Choir Leader’s from across Scotland worked on Here’s To All Our Common Wealth before they presented the song to their own regional Choirs. We offered the choirs intensive one to one regional workshops, where each they could work with Hands Up for Trad’s Community Choir Director Ali Burns. We presented 25 regional workshops from Shetland to Stranraer, including a specialist BSL workshop at the Deaf Hub in Dundee in May for Deaf Choirs.
You can watch Here’s To All Our Common Wealth – the videos which includes warm ups, how to teach and signed versions.
Have a look at where the song visited! Check out the photos!
The Big Song Relay is produced by Hands Up For Trad as part of the Big Big Sing, produced by Glasgow UNESCO City of Culture.
Thanks also to Creative Scotland.
