MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016: Fèis Rois

Congratulations to Fèis Rois who have been nominated in Community Project of the Year sponsored by Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016. Vote now!

We asked Fiona Dalgetty of Fèis Rois the following questions.

Tell us about yourself
Fèis Rois is celebrating its 30th birthday in 2016! Founded in 1986, Fèis Rois creates transformative opportunities for people of all ages to celebrate and engage with the traditional arts and Gaelic language. Last year, 9,345 people took part in Fèis Rois activities, 940 musicians, artists and creative practitioners were supported by Fèis Rois, and 2,230 people had the opportunity to take part in 211 performances in front of audiences of 19,267!

Why are you involved in Scottish music?
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to sing, play a musical instrument and explore our rich cultural heritage.

Any particular career highlights?
We are very proud of our lifelong learning programme. We are the only Fèis in Scotland to provide a year-round programme of activity for adults as well as young people. We welcome 250 participants to our residential music weekend for adults held in Ullapool each May, and we have attendances of 1,000+ at our programme of fringe events at the Adult Fèis. In addition, another 100 people attend our classes for adults in Dingwall, Fortrose and Ullapool every week. These take place year round and are led by Bob Massie (mandolin and slow session), Kenny Fraser (fiddle and mixed melody class), Gillian Stevenson (fiddle), Amy Henderson (mixed instrument class) and Anne Wood (fiddle).

We were delighted to be awarded a HUFT Landmark Award earlier this year.

What are your plans for the future?
We have commissioned Black Isle fiddle player, Lauren MacColl to write a new suite of music inspired by the life and prophecies of The Brahan Seer. We are excited to be premiering this work at Celtic Connections on 4th February 2017.

We have been working with our local football club, Ross County FC on a project called Music Box. This is an opportunity for Looked After Young People to come together to learn new skills in traditional music. We are looking forward to building on the success of this project in 2017.

We plan to continue to grow and develop our core programme of residential courses, weekly classes, Ceilidh Trail and schools work, as well as our international partnership projects in Australia, Canada and Eastern Europe.

If you would like to come along to the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in Dundee’s Caird Hall call the Caird Hall box office on (01382) 434940 or buy online.