Scots fiddle supremo Paul Anderson will bring the spirit and atmosphere of the UK’s last natural wilderness to the heart of Scotland’s third largest city.
Paul’s Heilan Symphony, inspired by the Cairngorm region of Scotland, is being brought to a big stage setting and will be performed by a 48 piece orchestra at Aberdeen’s Music Hall on Saturday, April 11.
Another notable first will be the live premier of The Ballad of Blue, Granite and Green, Paul’s collaboration with composer Benjamin McMillan that won VisitAberdeenshire’s Sound of the North East competition to find a piece of music encapsulating the spirit of the region.
Paul took a walk on the wild side and followed paths of drover roads, known as Heilan Ways, to find inspiration for a soundtrack that captures the majesty of the Cairngorms landscape.
The celebrated fiddler was commissioned to pen the piece by the Huntly-based contemporary arts organisation Deveron Arts a few years back in celebration of the tradition of moving cattle long distances from the region on foot to markets in the south.
The arrival of the railways in the 1840s was transformative and spelled the end of this tradition but many of the drove routes have survived and Paul roamed many of them – including ones on his own Aberdeenshire doorstep exploring the theme.
Paul said: ‘It is a classical symphony that is very Scottish in style, and that features leads from all sections of the orchestra – woodwind, brass and strings.
‘It has been performed only a few times in community halls in the Cairngorms region, but I’ve always thought that, with an orchestra of almost 50 musicians, it would lend itself to being performed on a big stage, and that’s the thought behind this concert.
‘I’m looking forward to his being presented to an audience at Aberdeen’s Music Hall which is one of my favourite venues.’
The award-winning fiddler has organised a stellar line up to complement the Aberdeen performance of Heilan Symphony.
The symphony itself will be performed by the Orchestra of the Cairngorms under the conductorship of Robin Versteeg.
Compere for the evening will be Scottish actor Iain Robertson, star of the movie Small Faces and television soap opera River City.
The Ballad of Blue, Granite and Green has never been played live in front of an audience, and Paul is looking forward to joining forces with Benjamin, with whom he collaborated on the 10 minute composition that VisitAberdeenshire will use in tourism campaigns locally, nationally and internationally.
Paul created the melody, while Benjamin added synths and drums before the track was remastered and re-recorded in full.
Paul added: ‘We’re going to be performing the full 10 minute long piece, accompanied by projected images of the City and Shire.
‘This will be the first time the public will get to experience the full work and it’s going to be quite exciting to perform.’
Some other fine traditional musicians also feature in the concert. Piper Calum Brown – a member of Grade 1 Pipe Band World Champions, Inveraray and District, who is currently studying in Glasgow – will return to his home city to take part, and Paul’s wife, the award-winning Scots singer Shona Donaldson also features in the line-up.
The event begins at 7.30pm and tickets priced £22.50 are available HERE.
Paul and his wife Shona live at Tarland, Aberdeenshire with their two sons. Known as The Tarland Wizard, he is regarded as one of Scotland’s finest traditional fiddle players and has toured the world performing. He is a composer, teacher, and adjudicator and has produced a number of albums.
For more information, visit Paul’s website at https://www.paulandersonscottishfiddler.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook at @paulandersonfiddler
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