Young Gaelic speakers from across the Highlands are invited to a music, drama and fun-filled weekend in Cromarty as Fèis Rois holds a Gaelic immersion ‘pay what you can’ event, with some of Gaeldom’s finest broadcasters and musicians.
Dingwall-based traditional arts organisation, Fèis Rois, is holding a Gaelic immersion weekend for young Gaelic speakers in S1 – S3 at The Old Brewery in Cromarty from 10th – 12th November. With tutors including musician, composer and broadcaster, Mary Ann Kennedy, Gaelic broadcaster Angela MacEachen and musician and Gaelic tutor, Rona Wilkie, young people will have a chance to take part in a variety of activities including Gaelic song and song-writing, group work, cooking, arts and crafts, step dancing, media and script writing and games.
A Glasgow Gael with Hebridean roots, Mary Ann Kennedy’s whole life has been music. From a revered traditional music family, her earliest memories are of a home filled with song. A hothouse classical training – and a brief diversion running the BBC’s Gaelic news service – led to a career as musician, broadcaster, composer and producer, based in the West Highlands where she runs Watercolour Music with husband and fellow musician-producer Nick Turner.
Brought up in Benbecula, Angela MacEachen attended Inverness Royal Academy and the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen and has worked for many years in Gaelic broadcasting. As well as a long broadcasting career, Angela is also a primary school teacher, specialising in Gaelic Medium Education.
Rona Wilkie is a fiddle player and Gaelic singer from Argyll. A winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, Rona combines voice and fiddle to create a new exciting perspective on Highland music, and has pushed the boundaries for fusion, combining her home tradition with many musicians from across the world. She is also in demand as a composer, having written a New Voices for Celtic Connections, commissioned for string quartets and several film scores which went on to be nominated for awards at BAFTA and the Royal Television Awards. When not playing music, she is writing a PhD on Gaelic song of the Clearances at the University of Edinburgh where she is also a Teaching Fellow for Gaelic.
Sophie Stephenson, Gaelic Officer, Fèis Rois, commented: “This Gaelic Residential Weekend at The Old Brewery in Cromarty is a great opportunity for young people to spend the weekend together and immerse themselves in Gaelic, with a range of workshops, sessions and activities, all through the medium of Gaelic. It is the perfect opportunity to practice language skills in a fun and informal way, as well as getting the chance to meet other young Gaelic speakers from across the region.
“It is important to us at Fèis Rois that every child and young person has the opportunity to be able to access events like this and we are very grateful to our funders, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the William Syson Foundation, for financial support which has allowed us to offer places on a ‘pay what you can’ basis.”
The weekend will run from 4pm on Friday 10th November to 2pm on Sunday 12th November 2023 and participants are welcome to attend the full weekend or just part of it. To book a place or to find out more, please visit www.feisrois.org.
For any further queries about the weekend, please contact: sophie.stephenson@feisrois.org
Follow these topics: News, Newsletter