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/

Carrying Stream Singer's Session and TMSA Edinburgh & Lothians Branch AGM

Tuesday 12 November 2013 Meeting 6.45pm; Session 8pm Downstairs at the Canon’s Gait pub, Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH8 8DQ Please come and join us to celebrate another great year of Branch activity. Why not consider joining the committee to ensure that next year is just as exciting? All welcome to attend, including non-members, but only TMSA members may vote. Please bring any ideas that you have for future events! Contact Branch Convener – Clare Button for more details of committee duties and how you can help. Tel: 07866 611954, or email: catarina_9@hotmail.co.uk Then stay on for the Singers’ Session at 8.00pm, as part of the Carrying Stream festival – All welcome! http://www.carryingstreamfestival.co.uk/ Other upcoming events Muckle Sing - Saturday 15 February 2014 The next Muckle Sing Day will be at the Queen Margaret Hall in Linlithgow 10am-5.30pm, a one-day event open to singing groups and interested individuals. Limited numbers. The tutor will be Christine Kydd see http://www.christinekydd.com/ 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 as in AGM section above. For groups, you may wish to take part in the Performance Platform in late afternoon, and you can also hear some of Chris’s repertoire in a short informal concert by her. Further details TBC. Northern Streams Festival 2014 Details of next year’s Northern Streams events are currently being organised. We are looking at the dates 25-27 April. More details when they get confirmed, so watch this space!

Update on monthly Singing Session & November Carrying Stream Festival Session

It is with regret that we announce we will not be running the TMSA Branch Singers' Session at the Canon's Gait until further notice, as due to variable attendance numbers over the past year, it is not currently viable to run a monthly session at this particular venue. PLEASE NOTE: We will be hosting our annual singing session in partnership with Edinburgh Folk Club as part of the Carrying Streams festival, on Tuesday 12 November from 8pm (preceded by the Branch AGM) at the Canon's Gait. Hope to see you there! We are looking for alternative options for our monthly session and if anyone has any ideas for other possible suitable venues for the future, we'd be more than happy to hear them. We'd like to thank everyone who has supported us over the past few years, and we hope to see you again soon. Otherwise, if you're looking for regular opportunities to sing or listen to singers in Edinburgh, why not try the World's Room (monthly, www.theworldsroom.com/en/) or the Wally Dug session (1st Sunday of month, 3-6pm, www.facebook.com/groups/289402087759974/?ref=br_tf)

September Singing Session cancelled

Due to another booking in the downstairs of the Canon's Gait pub where we usually meet for the Tuesday session (next one was to be 10 September) and not being able to find out if we would be able to meet upstairs instead, we have had to cancel it. Apologies for the short notice and to anyone who had been planning to come along. We hope to have things sorted for next month (8 October) so keep an eye on this website for updates.

The summer fun continues!

Our Tuesday singing session takes a break in August - but there's plenty trad music, song and dance happening around the city during the Festival such as Folk at the Oak, the Canon's Gait, Queens Hall and of course the Acoustic Music Centre (AMC) to name but a few locations.

If you like Irish dance and music I will shamelessly make a plug for the 'Absolutely Legless' concerts on Sat 10 August at the AMC (which I will be appearing in). And if not, there's certainly many other trad flavours in the programmes. Not to mention some occurring out of town, away from the Edinburgh madness, at spots such as Innerleithen, Mull of Kintyre and early September in Kirriemuir, then Linlithgow!

We resume our second Tuesday evening of the month singing sessions at the Canon's Gait, Royal Mile, 8pm onwards, 10 September. Hope to see you there!

Summer Singing Season starts!

We had an interesting session at the Canon's Gait this week - Swiss chocolate, cutlery percussion and waylaying an interested person fom the function downstairs!

Our next gathering is Tuesday 9 July at The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ - usually downstairs from 8-11pm.   We then take a rest for August as there's the usual feast of folk music, song and dance at the Royal Oak, Acoustic Music Centre to name but a few Festival locations. And of course there are also the out of town attractions such as TMSA Keith and Loanhead Festivals this weekend; The Falkland Traditional Music Festival with the new TMSA Fife Branch running competitions at the end of the month; Innerleithen Festival and many more - check out the Events page at www.tmsa.org.uk for details.

We will return on Tuesday 10 September if you want to note this date in your diaries.

Jiving into June

Great to see some new people including visitors from up Aberdeen way at our May session this week. 

Our next gathering is the regular Singers Session, Tuesday 11 June, in our new venue - The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ. Usually we are downstairs but it looks like we may be upstairs this time around - check it out when you get there. It's from 8-11pm. All are welcome on every second Tuesday of the month (except August as it's Festival time!). Any updates we will post here.

What's on next?

Thanks to all those who came to Northern Streams as performers, volunteers, participants and audience members - there were many memorable moments - even if not all of them were planned!

Our next gathering is the regular Singers Session in our new venue - The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ: downstairs bar (buy drinks upstairs) from 8-11pm. All are welcome on Tuesday 14 May, and due to the date it is part of Voluntary Arts Week (11-19 May 2013). Visit www.voluntaryartsweek.org for more details!

And from then on, the session is on every second Tuesday of the month except during August.

One week to go until Northern Streams!

Don't miss out on the great line up of artists we have this year:

• Marit Fält and Rona Wilkie (BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2012) 

• Irmelin - Swedish folk singing trio - Eva Rune, Karin Ericsson Back and Maria Misgeld, 

• Danish Folk Award winners - Hal Parfitt Murray & Nikolaj Busk

• dancing male Danes - ‘3 Men and a Bottle’ (Henrik Johansen, Chris Pedersen and Henning Christensen)  and accompanist, Pia Nygaard.

• Scottish/Swedish fiddler: Kirsty-Jacqueline Lingard

Click through on the Northern Streams logo to the right of this post to get all the details of our concerts and workshops for adults and children, 26 & 27 April in Edinburgh.

New location for our monthly Singers' Sessions from May

The location of our monthly Singer's Session will change from next month - Tuesday 14 May. Our New Venue is The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ: downstairs bar (buy drinks upstairs).

Otherwise arrangements will be exactly as before - time: 8.00. - 11.00.pm. All welcome to sing (accompanied or not), tell a story or just listen. As ever, we would be delighted to see any new or returning faces.

It would also be great if any readers who run singing groups or classes could pass the details to their members/students.

Sessions will always be on the SECOND TUESDAY of each month, except in August.

Many thanks to The Royal Oak pub for allowing us to hold sessions there for the last couple of years.

Spring Singing Session

Our next singing session, downstairs at the Royal Oak, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, is on tonight from 8pm until 11ish. They are every second Tuesday of month except August.

And if you like singing - check our our singing workshops and performances (along with instrumental folk and dancing) at Northern Streams 2013 - click on the logo to the right of this post for more details.