Perth Festival of the Arts comes to a climax this year with the world premiere of a composition by musician Dougie MacLean.
The Perthshire Cantata was commissioned by the festival for the final night of this year’s programme on Sunday in Perth Concert Hall.
Perthshire is MacLean’s home and many of his songs and melodies have been inspired by the countryside and the people he has grown up with.
Now the renowned singer/songwriter has created a collection of songs which will be woven around the original four movements of the Perthshire Amber Suite to create the new work.
It was in 1998 that he was commissioned to write a piece of music for the Perth Festival of the Arts. He wove slow airs, marches and toe-tapping reels and jigs into a string arrangement by the late Kevin McCrae.
The composition was called Perthshire Amber and the name was later chosen to be the title of MacLean’s popular autumn festival.
His Perthshire Cantata is that earlier piece extended into a full-length concert work which incorporates all of MacLean’s skills as composer, songwriter, instrumentalist and storyteller.
He will be joined on Sunday by the 11 strings of the Perthshire Ensemble and by Jenna Reid (fiddle), Ross Ainslie (whistles, pipes, cittern), Sorren MacLean (guitar, vocals) and Iain Sandiland (percussion).
Featuring added strings arrangements by John Logan, tickets for the performance are available from the Perth Festival of the Arts box office by calling 01738 621031, or online at www.perthfestival.co.uk.
On Wednesday the Reduced Shakespeare Company will be performing the complete works of the bard at breakneck speed 37 plays in 97 minutes at the concert hall.
On Thursday the Mnozil Brass ensemble from Vienna will be at the same venue.
Friday is another busy day at the concert hall, with the Confessions of Gordon Brown, a candid portrait of life inside Downing Street, in the Norie Miller room, and Scouting for Girls in the main auditorium.
The Royal Northern Sinfonia perform on Saturday night in the concert hall.
St John’s Kirk is the venue on Friday for Nocturne the Romantic Life of Federic Chopin, a programme of words and music, and on Saturday morning soprano Colleen Nicoll and pianist Andrew Johnston will perform there.
The series of lunchtime concerts in the kirk continued on Tuesday with a performance by the Community School of Auchterarder and on Wednesday it will be the turn of Perth High School.