Monday 18 December 2023

The Muckle Sing 2024 with Choras

Saturday 10th February 2024: 10.00am to 5.30pm

Queen Margaret Hall, Blackness Road, Linlithgow, EH49 7JA

Back by popular demand! An event for community singing groups and for individual singers, including morning and afternoon workshops, a performance platform and a short concert from our tutor.

All welcome, from the beginner to the experienced performer - no need to be able to read music.

Booking information is at the bottom of this post.

Choras consists of three much loved and respected traditional singers - Barbara Dymock, Janice Reavell and Aileen Carr - each with many and varied musical collaborations behind her and a vast experience of performing. Covid interfered with their plans to sing together, but they were able to hit the ground running when live music returned, specialising in a cappella harmony arrangements of an eclectic mix of songs traditional and modernish.

Programme

10am DOORS OPEN - Registration/coffee

10.30 – 12.30 Muckle Sing Workshop Session 1

12.30 – 13.45 Lunch and informal singing session

14.00 – 15.45 Muckle Sing Workshop Session 2

15.45 – 16.00 Tea Break

16.00 – 16.45 Performance Platform for groups

16.45 – 17.15 Concert – Choras

17.15 – 17.45 Clearing up: any help appreciated!

Ticket prices

Full price – £19.00, Concessions - £16.00

Concessions Individual Concession price is available to TMSA members, students, Age 60+, unemployed, disabled people and their helper.

Groups which hold affiliated membership of the TMSA will be entitled to the concessionary rate for ALL participants in that group. If you are not sure whether your group is affiliated or not, before sending in your booking, please check with Susan Streater: her contact details are in the Enquiries section of the booking form which you can download below.

For more information and to book

Have a look at the event flyer here for more details including access/travel to the venue and catering during the day.

A postal booking form is available here or if you want to book and pay online - use the Paypal buttons below to book and pay for your ticket(s):

Full price tickets:

Muckle Sing 2024 Ticket Type
Send us a message here eg names of attendees

Concession tickets:

Muckle Sing 2024 Ticket Type
Send us a message here eg names of attendees

If you want to buy multiple tickets please use the Quantity field in the Paypal cart screen to increase or decrease the number of tickets you require. Also if you want to buy the other type of ticket click on the 'Continue shopping' link in the top right hand corner of the Paypal cart screen (on the same line as the title 'Your shopping cart'). This will take you back to the the website post, so you can then click on the other type of ticket paypal button, which will take you back to the same shopping cart, which means you can buy your selection all in one go!

Friday 27 October 2023

Annual joint session of Edinburgh and Lothians TMSA and the Edinburgh Song Session: Sunday 12th November 2023 - 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm & Branch AGM

As in previous years, we are delighted to be able to hold a joint session with our friends at the Edinburgh Song Session. Part of the Carrying Stream Festival, the session will celebrate the songs, poetry and other writings of Hamish Henderson; given the time of year, we will also no doubt have some items relating to war and the Armistice. These themes are not at all compulsory, and we are happy to hear whichever songs, poems, tunes or wee tales you feel like bringing along! The session is now back in its pre-Covid home: The Canons' Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ (mezzanine room, down a few steps from the main bar area). More information about the session on the ESS Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289402087759974

The 2023 AGM will be held online on Thursday 16th November 2023 at 6.00 pm via Zoom

We have decided to continue to hold the AGM online, for maximum accessibility for widespread branch members. If you would like to attend this meeting, but are unable to do so online, please advise the Branch Secretary (contact details at foot of this letter), and we will look to set up arrangements for you to attend from a location in Edinburgh.

We are delighted to welcome all Edinburgh and Lothians Branch members to the meeting; we shall be very pleased to hear from anyone who would like to join our small Committee, or who is willing simply to help at events. Please intimate, preferably by email, any nominations for office, apologies or other competent business to the Branch Secretary, Paul Streater (paul.streater@hotmail.co.uk.) Please do not reply to the ELTMSA email address.

Thursday 27 April 2023

Northern Streams Evening Concert being livestreamed

The Northern Streams Evening Concert on Thursday 27 April at 7.30pm featuring Fromseier & Hockings and The Låtmores - is now going to be livestreamed from the Scottish Storytelling Centre. You will be able to join it online at the TMSA Edinburgh & Lothians Branch Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TMSAEdinburghandLothians

If you do join us online at the time or watch it later we would appreciate it if you might consider making a donation to help support future Northern Streams Festivals by clicking the PayPal Donate button below - thanks!:

Tuesday 11 April 2023

Northern Streams Festival is celebrating Nordic & Scottish Music, Song & Dance fully in person again, in Edinburgh & Dundee.

www.northernstreams.org

Taking place 27-30 April, the 2023 festival features as its guests: Fromseier & Hockings – (Ditte & Sigurd) a Danish Folk Award winning fiddle/guitar/voice duo from Denmark with songs & tunes. They come from the tiny village called Øksendrup, where they also run a small organic orchard and cidery. Their tunes and songs are inspired by their surroundings and the people in them with voices and instruments intertwining, grooving and moving! https://www.fromseierhockings.com/ AND The Låtmores – Paul Sinclair (fiddle) and Janeta Österberg (accordion) – a Scottish/Finnish duo with a mix of traditional and modern folk tunes including ones they like people to dance to…! They feature 'Finlandssvensk Musik' subculture of Finnish folk music in their repertoire as both Janeta and Paul are part of that community. https://www.facebook.com/the.latmores

In our 18th (+2!) year, Northern Streams is working in partnership with the North Atlantic Song Convention (NASC) https://www.northatlanticsong.com in its first time in Scotland and the Pomegranates International Trad Dance Festival https://linktr.ee/pomegranatesfest to bring the Nordic and Scottish mix to different groups of people during the weekend. Plus thanks to funding we’ve got some great ticket prices and discounts as we are aware things are currently a bit tight for many!

The outline Festival programme is:

Thursday 27 April

7.30pm Evening Concert with Fromseier & Hockings & The Låtmores

Friday 28 April

Afternoon Workshop Danish Songs @NASC with Ditte Fromseier

Saturday 29 April

11.00am Day Concert @Wighton Centre, Dundee DD1 1DB with Fromseier & Hockings & The Låtmores (tickets available at the door on the day)

8pm CEILIDH with Pomegranates International Trad Dance Festival with Fromseier & Hockings & The Låtmores providing a couple of dances alongside a Scottish Ceilidh Band

Sunday 30 April

11am Danish Tunes Workshop - Fromseier & Hockings

12.30pm ‘Finlandssvensk’ Musik (Finland-Swedish tunes) Workshop - The Låtmores

2-5pm Open Music & Song Session - FREE entry - in partnership with NASC

For more details of the Northern Streams programme, guest artists or for booking links, visit www.northernstreams.org. All Edinburgh events take place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh EH1 1TE - where you can also purchase tickets in person or over the phone 0131 556 9579 if you prefer not to use the online booking options. Ticket prices range from £6 for a workshop – £14 for the concert tickets, with concessions and discount deals worth checking if you plan to attend more than one event.

Other ways to get details are by email: eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 0795 191 8366, or Facebook – TMSAEdinburgh&Lothians and Twitter @northernstream1.

The Northern Streams festival is organised by the Edinburgh & Lothians Branch of the Traditional Music & Song Association of Scotland (TMSA) and acknowledges support from Tasgadh Traditional Arts Small Grants Scheme, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in association with the City of Edinburgh Council and Covid recovery funds from the national TMSA support for local Branches.

Friday 10 February 2023

Northern Streams 2023 coming soon!

Things are gearing up for our next event in April after The Muckle Sing this weekend. The full schedule for Northern Streams 2023 is currently being finalised but there's a concert on 27 April and Session on 30 April and few other things such as workshops in between. Details should be confirmed soon on the website! 😀🎻

Monday 12 December 2022

TMSA Edinburgh & Lothians Branch presents The Muckle Sing - Saturday 11 February 2023 - with Jo Miller

Saturday 11th February 2023: 10.00am to 5.30pm

Queen Margaret Hall, Blackness Road, Linlithgow, EH49 7JA

Back by popular demand! An event for community singing groups and for individual singers, including morning and afternoon workshops, a performance platform and a short concert from our tutor.

All welcome, from the beginner to the experienced performer - no need to be able to read music.

We have closed the bookings as we have reached capacity for the venue - please see at the bottom of the listing how you can get on the reserve list!

Jo Miller is a singer, fiddler, ethnomusicologist, and community musician. She is based in Stirling where she leads the house singing group ‘Our Front Room’, whose diverse repertoire ranges from Scots songs to jazz and pop. She also tutors the Tolbooth’s adult fiddle class. Jo grew up in Galloway, SW Scotland, and is currently working on an album of music from the area. As a performer, she enjoys bringing new life to songs from archives and published sources. As a music leader, Jo is particularly interested in learning and teaching in community-based environments. Her book Community-based Traditional Music in Scotland: A Pedagogy of Participation has just been published by Routledge. Together with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), she organises mentoring programmes for traditional musicians, dancers and storytellers. In 2017, Jo received the Hamish Henderson Award for services to traditional music.

Programme

10am Doors open - Registration/coffee

10.30 – 12.30 Muckle Sing Workshop Session 1

12.30 – 13.45 Lunch and informal singing session

14.00 – 15.45 Muckle Sing Workshop Session 2

15.45 – 16.00 Tea Break

16.00 – 16.45 Performance Platform for groups

16.45 – 17.15 Concert – Jo Miller

17.15 – 17.45 Clearing up: any help appreciated!

Performance Platform

An opportunity for community singing groups who wish to perform songs from their own repertoire for the entertainment of other participants. (No compulsion, very informal, and you are among friends!) Groups wishing to perform should prepare up to three songs. If possible let Susan Streater know in advance if your group wishes to perform - there is a means of doing this on the booking form.

Ticket prices

Full price – £18.00, Concessions - £15.00

Concessions Individual Concession price is available to TMSA members, students, Age 60+, unemployed, disabled people and their helper.

Groups which hold affiliated membership of the TMSA will be entitled to the concessionary rate for ALL participants in that group. If you are not sure whether your group is affiliated or not, before sending in your booking, please check with Susan Streater: her contact details are in the Enquiries section of the booking form which you can download below.

For more information and to book

Have a look at the event flyer/booking form - https://www.tmsa.scot/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Muckle-Sing-2023-Leaflet-20221212.pdf - for more details including access/travel to the venue and catering during the day.

We have closed the Paypal link and removed the booking form as we have now reached capacity for the venue.

If you would like to be put on the reserve list in case we have any spaces become available or have any queries, please email paul.streater@hotmail.co.uk to be put on it - thanks!

Friday 11 November 2022

Our annual joint session with the Edinburgh Song Session (ESS) - Sunday 13th November & Branch AGM 1 December

Edinburgh & Lothians Branch’s annual joint session with the Edinburgh Song Session (ESS) - Sunday 13th November - 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm. Part of the Carrying Stream Festival, the session will celebrate the songs, poetry and other writings of Hamish Henderson; Armistice and other song themes are welcome. The session is now back in its pre-Covid home: The Canons' Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ. More information on the ESS Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289402087759974. 
The Branch AGM will be held online on Thursday 1st December 2022 at 6.30 pm via Zoom. Branch members should have received direct information about it already. If you have any further enquiries, please contact Branch Secretary, Paul Streater: paul.streater@hotmail.co.uk; or phone 01506 843592 or 07557 797139. Other events in The Carrying Stream Festival are The 21st Annual Hamish Henderson Annual Lecture at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh Saturday 12 November 2022 from 12:30pm - 1:30pm by Tom McKean, Director of the Elphinstone Institute at the University of Aberdeen and a former student of Hamish Henderson. Alison McMorland and Geordie Macintyre will be providing some songs and tunes. Free but ticketed available from https://scottishstorytellingcentre.online.red61.co.uk/events/ or by calling 0131 556 9579.Also 2 shows at the Ukrainian Community Centre (at 3:30pm and 8:00pm) featuring the talents of Paul Anderson, Gary West and Steve Byrne -  IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF COLM CILLE and THE BANES O THE TURAS – more details can be found at: https://efc1973.com/carrying-stream-festival.

Thursday 21 April 2022

Northern Streams 2022 Programme Information

Northern Streams 2022 is on this weekend with archive concert footage available online from 7.30pm Friday 22 April; Workshops to watch and learn from online from 11am on Saturday 23 April and then an inperson ‘Scandi Session’ celebrating World Nyckelharpa Day at Teviot Student Union 2-5pm on Sunday 24 April (details in the post below). The online content will be available through the relevant pages (concerts/worskhops) on www.northernstreams.org These are all free but if you would like to give a donation to help this and future Northern Streams Festivals happen - please consider donating through the Paypal button below - thanks!

Northern Streams 22-24 April 2022

Thursday 7 April 2022

Northern Streams Festival 2022 Update

Due to the unexpected closure of our planned venue, we will not be presenting an Northern Streams Festival concert and workshop programme this year. Instead we will be presenting some online content and a ‘Scandi Session’ celebrating World Nyckelharpa – Sunday 24 April, Day 2-5pm in the Lounge Bar at Teviot Student Union, 13 Bristo Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AJ – Free entry! (We hope to be presenting a full programme in 2023!!). More details at www.northernstreams.org as they get arranged!

Thursday 22 April 2021

Muckle Sing & Northern Streams Festival postponed to 2022

It will come as no surprise that the Branch have decided to postpone both The Muckle Sing and Northern Streams Festival events to 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-18 situation. If things allow next year we would hope to be running The Muckle Sing in Linlithgow in February and Northern Streams in late April. There may also be a project around Northern Streams launching online before then. We hope to have details soon!

Friday 6 November 2020

ONLINE Branch AGM & joint session with the Edinburgh Song Session - Sunday 8 November

As in previous years, we are pleased to be able to run a joint session this month with our friends at the Edinburgh Song Session (formerly called the Traditional Songs and Tunes Session). In more normal times, this has been part of the Carrying Stream Festival. As usual the session will take place on the same day as the Branch AGM — which will be from 2pm on Sunday 8 November, followed by the Session at 3.00 pm, and running for 2 to 2½ hours, depending on the number of people taking part. If you are a TMSA member affiliated to the Edinburgh and Lothians Branch and would like to attend the AGM please email eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk before Sunday to get sent a link to use. If you just want to attend the Session contact Bob, the Edinburgh Song Session organiser, through its Facebook Page for log in details!

Wednesday 25 March 2020

Northern Streams postponed to 23-25 April 2021

Unfortunately due to the current public health measures around COVID-19, instead of telling you all about the event happening next month we are letting you know it has been postponed until 23-25 April 2021 – make a note of the dates now! The website http://www.northernstreams.org has the details of who we were looking to invite as our plans are to keep them the same. Please keep well in the meantime!

Tuesday 7 January 2020

The Muckle Sing 2020 with tutor Christine Kydd

A day led by Christine Kydd for community singing groups and individual singers - with two workshop sessions, Performance Platform and short informal tutor concert.

All welcome - from beginner to experienced - no need to be able to read music. The programme runs 10.30am to 5.15pm with registration open at 10am.

To view & download the Muckle Sing 2020 leaflet click below: https://www.tmsa.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Muckle-Sing-2020-Leaflet-Revised.pdf

Both individuals and groups can book through two different online booking agencies (small service charge) Brown Paper Tickets: https://mucklesing2020.brownpapertickets.com or Eventbrite: https://themucklesing2020.eventbrite.co.uk

If you book online, you do not need to complete the booking form below but if you want to book and pay by cheque - here is the postal booking form link: https://www.tmsa.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Muckle-Sing-2020-Postal-Booking-Form.pdf

Friday 18 October 2019

The Carrying Stream Festival Session & Branch AGM Sunday 10 November

Just letting you know of the date of our forthcoming TMSA Edinburgh & Lothians Branch AGM which will be held in: The Canon's Gait Pub (lower bar), 232 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DQ on Sunday 10 November at 2pm. All welcome to attend both, though only members may vote at the AGM. Then we join between 3-6pm in the same venue, the regular monthly Traditional Song & Tunes Session for the annual session celebrating Hamish Henderson's (100th!) birthday - all are welcome to sing or play (or both). This session is part of Edinburgh Folk Club's "Carrying Stream Festival" which has concerts on Friday & Saturday, an annual lecture, songwriting workshop and ceilidh - more details at: https://efc1973.com/carrying-stream-festival?fbclid=IwAR2dKyCjafybXufcAAC1cc0Fz34QahMuDORvNZ50fTzfo6THHgNZu8oz9i0