Jimmy Shand was world renowned as player, composer, band leader and innovator. Less well known is that he was also a discerning collector of old music books.
Friends of Wighton bought The Jimmy Shand Collection at auction and we are now raising money, through events, application to funding bodies and trusts, and crowdfunding, to have the volumes conserved so they can be on display at Dundee’s Wighton Heritage Centre and used by musicians, scholars and the community.
To bring the music off the page and into life and to celebrate the works being made available we’ll run, in Dundee, Angus and Fife, a series of concerts, ceilidhs and workshops under the title The Sir Jimmy Shand Connection.
Our initial crowdfunding target is £5000 and when you contribute through our crowdfunding page –
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-sir-jimmy-shand-connection – your name will entered on a role of honour. There are also some wonderful musical treats available depending on the amount donated!
Friends of Wighton would like to thank Jimmy Shand jr and all the Shand family for their support of this project.
THE FULL STORY…
A multi-disciplinary project to conserve and bring back to life the collection of rare old Scottish music books from the collection of the late Sir Jimmy Shand, preserving and presenting rarely heard treasures of old Scottish music in live concerts and online.
The purpose built Wighton Heritage Centre, in Dundee’s Central Library, is home to the internationally important Wighton Collection of old Scottish music books, mostly dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries, which was left to the people of the city by merchant, musician and collector, Andrew James Wighton. The Centre also houses other important music books and collections donated over the last 150 years.
To preserve, protect, and raise awareness of this wonderful resource, the Friends of Wighton group was formed in 2006. As well as having successfully raised funds to enable rarer parts of the Wighton Collection to be microfilmed, the group has brought the Collection to life through education and performance. Monthly Lunchtime Recitals and Cappuccino Concerts are held in the acoustically excellent Centre, also the home for weekly classes in Scots song, Gaelic song, fiddle, whistle and clarsach. Larger events and dances take place on board the Frigate Unicorn.
It is very much our ethos that the Wighton Collection and the Wighton Heritage Centre belong to the community and ticket prices and class fees are kept at a modest level to encourage wide participation. Our students range in age from 6 to 79. We also give workshops and performances in local schools, day centres, care homes and community centres. Admission to our Lunchtime Recitals is free. This event and our monthly Cappuccino Concert are very popular, particularly with those who for reasons of age, infirmity, transport or other reasons find it difficult to attend an evening concert.
In 2013, Friends of Wighton successfully bid at auction for 23 music books of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries which were in the personal collection of the late Sir Jimmy Shand, the world famous accordion player and band leader who lived and worked in Dundee for many years. The books include a first edition of Niel Gow’s “A Collection of Strathspey Reels” c.1785 which is bound with several other collections of interest, “Music for Harpsichord – Selection of Scottish Airs” with material by Urbani and others, Balfour’s “Ancient Orkney Melodies” and an original “The Gesto Collection of Highland Music”, as well as other items of musical and historical interest. Possibly the most fascinating of all are several manuscript books from the Brechin area which date from the late 18th and early 19th Century. These volumes of handwritten notation give a unique insight into the musical life of Angus at that time.
Because of their age, and their varying histories, most of the books require conservation work before they can be made available for use by musicians and scholars and put on display in the Centre.
As conservation of each volume is completed we intend to celebrate by having, as appropriate, workshops and a concert, recital or dance based on its music and/or song.
The venues will be mainly the Wighton Heritage Centre and Frigate Unicorn but others in Angus, Perthshire or Fife may be used where there is a strong local connection.
The core group of artists will be the current Wighton Centre tutors, who include Gaelic singer Wilma Kennedy, Scots singers Amy Lord and Sheena Wellington, whistle player Helen Forbes, fiddle player Karen Hannah and historical harpist Simon Chadwick. They will be augmented by our excellent local musicians including harpsichordist Mark Spalding, singer Barbara Dymock, piper Kyle Howie, accordionist Luke Brady and guitarist Paul Campbell and guest artists such as Sandy Brechin, Gavin Marwick and Bruce Davies, high profile performers renowned in their field and with a large following.
When the volumes have undergone conservation they will take their place in the Wighton Heritage Centre and be available for study and use by musicians and researchers as well as the community in general.
We are asking you to help raise £5000. But this is just the start! The conservation alone will end up costing over £7000. But we are keen to get started with the work on the most fragile books, and get the concerts and events series up and running.
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