Looking forward to our next couple of events

Where have the last few months gone? All of a sudden it's September - and we are looking forward to our Session in The Carrying Stream Festival down for Tuesday 10 November (preceded by our Branch AGM) - other details to be confirmed nearer the time. Plus we are working on Saturday 20 February 2016 as being our next Singers Gathering in Linlithgow - again details to follow as they get confirmed....

Northern Streams Festival Fun!

The Branch's Northern Streams Festival went off well artistically with many of the attendees commenting how much they enjoyed it. Thanks to Oleman, Fjarin, Fiona Driver & Graham Simpson and Simon Chadwick for their fantastic performances and workshops. Also thanks to the volunteers who helped make it happen, the Grassmarket Centre and of course, the audience and participants!

If you want more North Sea cultural mixes - there's Scandimoot this weekend (1-4 May) down in Lancashire and Geiteberg Folk Festival 5-6 June, in Tomter, Norway (near Oslo) as a couple of suggestions. Closer to home, Hydrokoret (the Hydro Choir) from Oslo, Norway are at the Pleasance, 2 May, 4.30pm plus Vasen is at the Pleasance on 4 May, 8pm courtesy of the Edinburgh Folk Club - as part of the Tradfest Edinburgh/Dun Eideann programme.

Just over a week to go to Northern Streams 2015

There's still time to book tickets for Northern Streams next week, including our great value All-in-one ticket for only £30 (£24 concession) which means you get two concerts, 3 workshops and the sharing session for one price and saving around £12. You can hear and learn tunes, songs, about an instrument the Vikings played and dances that make links across the North Sea - all at the lovely Grassmarket Centre. Don't miss Fiona Driver and Graham Simpson from Orkney's debut in the Central Belt. Fiona is an award-winning composer with a large repertoire of tunes from the Northern Isles & Scandinavia and a popular fiddle tutor!

Northern Streams 2015 is getting closer...

Make sure you get your tickets for this festival of music, song, dance and storytelling from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Scotland. Check out the details of performances and workshops from Oleman (Sweden/Norway), Fjarin (Denmark/Sweden), Fiona Driver & Graham Simpson (Orkney- Scotland) and Simon Chadwick (Scotland) - pictured with his reconstruction of the bowed lyre, at www.northernstreams.org (click through the logo on the right hand side of this page). There is also a link to the EventBrite booking page and information on how to book offline too. This year the cafe and bar will be open at the Grassmarket Centre for more of the festival so you'll also be able to support our host venue's community work by enjoying their fine food - look forward to seeing you soon!

Northern Streams 2015 programme confirmed and bookings now open!

The Northern Streams 2015 programme has been finalised and bookings are now open. So visit the website: www.northernstreams.org (click through the logo on the right hand side of this page) to see the details of our festival of Scottish and Scandinavian music, song, dance and storytelling from Oleman (Sweden/Norway), Fjarin (Denmark/Sweden), Fiona Driver & Graham Simpson (Orkney- Scotland) and Simon Chadwick (Scotland) - 24 & 25 April once again at the lovely Grassmarket Centre. All details are on the website - hope to see you there!

Love singing? Then why not join us on Valentine's Day for The Muckle Sing 2015?

There are still tickets available for The Muckle Sing, Saturday 14 February, 10.00am - 5.30pm, Queen Margaret's Hall, Linlithgow with Siobhan and Brian Miller as our tutors. Information and booking is available for individuals through EventBrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-muckle-sing-2015-tickets-14902125659. Group bookings/discount for affiliate groups are available by contacting us direct through the email or by downloading the form which is available on the TMSA website at: www.tmsa.org.uk/documents/TheMuckleSing2015leafletandbookingform_000.pdf

The Muckle Sing & Northern Streams 2015 information

As we head into the festive season - you may want to take note of some of our dates for 2015 which have been confirmed. First is The Muckle Sing, Saturday 14 February, 10.00am - 5.30pm, Queen Margaret's Hall, Linlithgow with Siobhan and Brian Miller as our tutors. Information and booking is available for individuals through EventBrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-muckle-sing-2015-tickets-14902125659. Group bookings/discount for affiliate groups are available by contacting us direct through the email or by downloading the form which is available on the TMSA website at www.tmsa.org.uk/current-tmsa-projects.asp. Second is the Northern Streams Festival scheduled for 24 & 25 April - more details on the Northern Streams website (link to the right) when they get confirmed!

Join us to celebrate what’s happened this year and help plan for more great memories in the future…

Details now confirmed so here they are: TMSA Edinburgh & Lothians Branch Annual General Meeting Tuesday 11 November, 6.45pm - downstairs at the Royal Oak, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LT followed by The Carrying Stream Session at 8.00pm (same venue). Join us to celebrate another great year of Branch activity and give us feedback on how it is going for you. Got some ideas on how to improve what the Branch is doing? Come and discuss with others what you would like to see continue and what we could do differently. Then we'll have a celebration of music and song! Also find out how to get involved and grab benefits such as free tickets to concerts and workshops. We need extra people to help organise and staff our events because without more ‘hands on deck’ we may not be able to continue to run them! Contact us for more details using the information at the bottom right of this webpage. All welcome!

Carrying Stream Session (11 November) update

We can now confirm that the Carrying Stream Session will be taking place on Tuesday 11 November at the Royal Oak, 1 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LT. We're working on final timings as the Branch AGM will take place before the Session but things should be underway by 7.30pm at the latest!

Upcoming events

Hope you had a great summer of trad music and song - though it looks like there maybe a little bit more sunshine left leading up to the Kirriemuir Festival this coming weekend. While you are waiting for this festival, we thought you might like to know about the Naustedalen Spelemannslag group from Norway who will be performing at Edinburgh Castle, this Wednesday (3rd September) at 1pm - once the one o'clock gun has fired presumably! They come from Sunnfjord, West Norway, and their programme contains music and dances from all over southern Norway as well as displaying the different costumes from these different communities. Meanwhile we hope to have details here soon of our Carrying Stream Session & Branch AGM (November); Muckle Sing/Singers Gathering in February 2015 and Northern Streams in April 2015.

Northern Streams 2014 - on next week!

Northern Streams 2014 is coming soon. We are putting the final touches to preparations to greet our guests and audiences in our new home at the Grassmarket Centre - which we think you will find is a lovely new venue created by the Grassmarket Community Project - complete with cafe, auditorium and rooms ideal for workshops. Check out all the programme, guest and ticket details plus all those who have financially supported us this year, at the website www.northernstreams.org. See you next week!

Northern Streams 25 & 26 April 2014 - Tickets now on sale!

After having to investigate alternative ways to let you buy tickets for the Northern Streams Festival from what we have been able to do before, we have set up an Eventbrite page to let you purchase your tickets with credit or debit cards online! The direct link is https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/northern-streams-2014-festival-of-nordic-british-music-song-dance-tickets-10802126451 (copy and paste this into your browser if the link isn't 'live', or you can go through the Northern Streams website at: www.northernstreams.org where you can read more about the great artists invited for this year's festival - the Storm Weather Shanty Choir from Norway (Aaarrr!); Maggie Adamson & Brian Nicholson from Shetland; Kristin Borgehead & Nathan Bissette from Sweden/Scotland; and Kevin Lees, Dave Wood and Noa Shamir from Denmark/north Britain. You can also check out our new venue for this year - the great Grassmarket Centre - home of social enterprise - the Grassmarket Community Project which helps many local people gain skills and confidence to go forward in many areas of their lives. We think you'll like it as much as we did when we first looked at it for Northern Streams 2014 (especially the cafe onsite!) If you have any difficulties accessing the online ticket system - please let us know by email: eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 0795 191 8366 / 0786 661 1954.

Not long until The Muckle Sing 2014 - book now!

Not long now until our next event on Saturday 15 February 2014, Queen Margaret Hall, Linlithgow: 10am-5.30pm, with acclaimed singer and tutor, Christine Kydd (http://www.christinekydd.com/). There are still some tickets available and discounts for TMSA affiliated groups. Contact Branch Convener Clare Button Tel: 07866 611954, or email: catarina_9@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible. We'd also like to thank West Lothian Council for their funding support of this event which means we've been able to keep our prices the same as the 2012 event! If you would like to see/print a copy of the booking form please click through on this link below to a website that allows us to upload documents! www.voluntaryarts.org/2014/02/04/the-muckle-sing-2014/

The Muckle Sing, Saturday 15 February 2014, Queen Margaret Hall, Linlithgow: 10am-5.30pm

The Muckle Sing is a one-day event open to singing groups and interested individuals. The tutor is Christine Kydd (http://www.christinekydd.com/) We do a couple of sessions singing together in a large group - learning songs, harmonies and other interesting things. After that we have a Performance Platform for groups who want to let others hear what they have been working on, followed by a chance to hear some of Chris’s repertoire in a short informal concert by her. Tickets are £12/£10 (usual concessions including TMSA members), inclusive of tea or coffee or cold drinks. BYO lunch or buy nearby (supermarket/bakers very close by!) Tickets on sale from mid-November: contact Convener Clare Button Tel: 07866 611954, or email: catarina_9@hotmail.co.uk - though book soon as there are limited places available.

Edinburgh & Lothians Branch awarded funding in the Second Round of Trad Arts Small Projects Fund 2013/14

We were pleased to hear that we have been awarded funding to assist us with our Northern Streams Festival in 2014. The Northern Streams Festival, now in its eleventh year, is a celebration of Scotland’s influences and relationships with Scandinavia. The festival is a platform for emerging artists alongside recognised tradition bearers, bringing people together to experience how traditions are evolving today. Run by the Branch on a voluntary basis, the festival fulfils the TMSA's aim of increasing and encouraging participation in cultural activities, particularly through cultural exchange and passing on the tradition from one generation to the next. We are planning that Northern Streams 2014 will run in Edinburgh from 25 to 27 April. Once the festival programme is finalised, details go up on the event’s website - www.northernstreams.org as well as on this website, Facebook: TMSAEdinburghandLothians and Twitter: @northernstream1. The Trad Arts Small Project Fund is devolved from Creative Scotland and managed centrally by Enterprise Music Scotland and its appointed specialist advisors. Funding is awarded to successful applications from traditional artists and organisations to create, platform, tour and showcase their work as well as support professional development projects. More details are at: http://www.enterprisemusicscotland.com/discover/traditional-arts-fund/