The second City of Discovery Charity Concert takes place in the Caird Hall, Dundee on June 4. Helen Brown spoke to Angus-born Nashville resident Laura McGhee about performing on home territory and the inspiration behind her Arbroath Suite.
It’s an ambitious work, Laura McGhee’s Arbroath Suite. A concerto in all but name, it takes listeners through Scottish history from Bannockburn to the present day, its music full of the atmosphere of the composer’s native land and traditions but with an energy and momentum that makes it thoroughly contemporary.
Laura McGhee’s appearance as soloist in her own original work at the Caird Hall in June is also a landmark in the history of this fascinating piece. Its premiere with a musical ensemble of seven took place at the Webster Theatre, Arbroath in 2008 and it has also been performed in the USA. There is also an “unplugged”, limited edition recording of around 10 tracks.This year’s concert is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, marking the organisation’s 100th anniversary, and will feature the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under conductor Christian Kluxen with Laura McGhee and Nicola Benedetti. The concert’s patron is Lorraine Kelly.The piece is very popular and excerpts are regularly played at Tartan Day and Scottish-based events worldwide but June 4 will see the premiere performance of selected highlights around 25 minutes from the hour-long suite by a symphony orchestra. It’s a prospect that its creator is finding tremendously exciting.
The Arbroath Suite is subtitled The Journey of a Nation and that and the music says it all, really.
Laura describes it as “a personal journey of Scotland’s music” and is, she confessed, absolutely thrilled at the prospect of working with the orchestra and hearing her own creation in a very different way.
“It’s something I’ve always been very proud of writing, in its various forms, and now having it scored for orchestra by Oliver Searle is something I never thought would happen. I’m thrilled it will really open up new orchestral opportunities for the suite and take it further than it’s ever been before.
“The idea behind it was to trace Scottish history through the music and there are several different sections that correspond to events, characters and important places -the first piece refers to Bannockburn, the second to the Declaration of Arbroath, then there’s the Jacobites, Robert Burns and Commemoration, which is to pay tribute to the Great War soldiers.Tickets are priced at £22.50, £20 and £17.50 with concessions available, from the Dundee City Box Office, City Square, Dundee, by phone on 01382 434940 and online at www.cairdhall.co.uk. Email enquiries to citybox@dundeecity.gov.uk.”I played that at events in the British Memorial Garden in New York in memory of 9/11 and the British lives lost there.
“It seemed very cheeky to write music about Robert Burns when so many of his songs are so beautiful and memorable. But I picked one poem, Banks of Cree, that I’m as sure as I can be hasn’t been set to music yet. I think it hasn’t, anyway!
“There’s a reel I wrote to mark the huge Scottish emigration all over the world and the last piece, the finale represents all the different cultures of Scotland Jewish, Asian, Chinese, Italian that have come together here and helped to make us what we are.
“I’m hugely excited about doing this and really looking forward to rehearsing with the orchestra in Glasgow and Dundee. So far, I have played a lot of it as separate pieces or solo items so I’ve been busy not only practising the music but also building up my stamina for the big night. I will be playing it on my best, classical violin and I’m so pleased about that because it’s not an instrument I get the chance to play so often these days. Playing acoustically is very different from the electric, ‘plugged-in’ style and it’s wonderful to get the chance to do it for this amazing occasion.
“The suite has a section that I originally wrote with Roxburghe House in Dundee in mind which also links with this concert’s support for Macmillan Cancer Care. I can’t think of a better cause to support and I’m just delighted to be able to do this so close to home.”
The first City of Discovery Charity Concert took place in Dundee in 2009, featuring tenor Alfie Boe, the RSNO, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and highly-acclaimed Dundee-born pianist Christina Lawrie. It raised around £6000 for local charities.
The aim of the organisation behind the event is not only to organise a biennial concert to benefit local and national charities, but also to inspire young people by giving then the opportunity to perform with leading professional musicians.
This year’s programme opens with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, followed by Laura McGhee’s Arbroath Suite and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol.
The second half of the concert will feature the RSNO in Rossini’s overture to The Thieving Magpie and Sibelius’s Finlandia, with Nicola Benedetti joining the orchestra for the last movement of Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (Gipsy Airs).
Continued…
Trained as a classical violinist at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Laura also had strong musical roots in traditional and folk styles from early youth. Born and brought up in Monifieth, she first showed an interest in music at Seaview Primary, going on to Monifieth High and then to college to take her honours degree and postgraduate qualification. In the interim, she played in many traditional competitions and festivals, winning several awards, for composition as well as performance.
“I had a fantastic teacher at RSAMD, Gerry Gibson, who taught wonderful classical technique but I was glad to have the traditional background, too, to be able to incorporate that into my playing. Keeping both going wasn’t always easy but I have diverse tastes in music and I’ve been lucky to be able to pursue my own path.
“For this composition and performance with the RSNO, I hope the audience can hear those influences. To me, it’s cool to be able to do that.”
Her move to the USA came last year after a period travelling back and forth on a regular basis to perform and work with a wide range of American artistes.
“Nashville is definitely inspiring, there is so much music here and a great community of musicians in a relatively small city. They say there are 32,000 songwriters in Nashville!
“Within two weeks of coming out here to live, I was meeting the same musical people on a regular basis and making a lot of contacts. There is a lot of interest in Scottish music and the traditional roots of a lot of contemporary folk, blues and country styles.
“Currently I’m running a residency and hosting a show of live music there and I’m also been lucky enough to meet and work with some amazing performers.”
She’s not wrong. Since she first went out to America a few years ago and played with the legendary Pete Seeger in New York, Laura has worked with big names from Odetta and Ricky Skaggs to Josh White (she provided harmony and fiddle on his song for the Obama campaign, We Can Do It), Jim Lauderdale, songwriter for the Dixie Chicks and The Pogues and Shane McGowan. Her album, Celticana, spent 10 weeks on the Americana Top 40 chart last year and her recording of the multi-culturalism anthem, One Scotland, was featured in Sean Connery’s New York charity event, Dressed to Kilt.
At a Scottish Roots Celebration at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, she presented Johnny Cash’s family, including his son, John Carter Cash with a Scottish Heritage Award. The Cash family has long acknowledged and highlighted its Scottish roots, particularly in Strathmiglo in Fife.
Laura was named UK Youth Ambassador to the September Concerts, formed with UNESCO and supported by Quincy Jones and Ravi Shankar to foster awareness and world peace through music events. She is also Scottish Youth Ambassador to The Prince’s Trust and Youth Ambassador to the British Memorial Gardens in New York.
Back in Scotland, she was a featured artist on the BBC’s Scotland’s Music and took part in a BBC New Year’s Eve special about Robert Burns and his song, Auld Lang Syne.
She was home again over last Christmas and New Year for a project with Glasgow schoolchildren, creating and recording a song about the city in collaboration with both pupils and teachers. “My manager Peter Ferns, is also a songwriter so we all worked together and everyone went into the studio, at least for me to record my vocal here. I recorded the fiddle part in Nashville! There is also going to be a video to go with it and hopefully it will be released this year.”
Currently, she is also working on a new recording ranging in style from country rock to ballads and reckons, not surprisingly, that this is one of the busiest periods she has ever had in her already packed career.
“I wouldn’t have imagined, coming out of college, that I would be here in Nashville, involved in this kind of music but I’ve been able to work with some wonderful people and learn so much.
“And I love to be out performing. It’s a bit busy at the moment but it’s all good because the different projects are very exciting in hugely different ways.”
Friends and family from Monifieth will be there on June 4 to cheer her on, as will the Arbroath Suite’s arranger, Oliver Searle.
“It’ll be great for both of us to hear it played by the orchestra for the first time!”
Trained as a classical violinist at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Laura also had strong musical roots in traditional and folk styles from early youth. Born and brought up in Monifieth, she first showed an interest in music at Seaview Primary, going on to Monifieth High and then to college to take her honours degree and postgraduate qualification. In the interim, she played in many traditional competitions and festivals, winning several awards, for composition as well as performance.
“I had a fantastic teacher at RSAMD, Gerry Gibson, who taught wonderful classical technique but I was glad to have the traditional background, too, to be able to incorporate that into my playing. Keeping both going wasn’t always easy but I have diverse tastes in music and I’ve been lucky to be able to pursue my own path.
“For this composition and performance with the RSNO, I hope the audience can hear those influences. To me, it’s cool to be able to do that.”
Her move to the USA came last year after a period travelling back and forth on a regular basis to perform and work with a wide range of American artistes.
“Nashville is definitely inspiring, there is so much music here and a great community of musicians in a relatively small city. They say there are 32,000 songwriters in Nashville!
“Within two weeks of coming out here to live, I was meeting the same musical people on a regular basis and making a lot of contacts. There is a lot of interest in Scottish music and the traditional roots of a lot of contemporary folk, blues and country styles.
“Currently I’m running a residency and hosting a show of live music there and I’m also been lucky enough to meet and work with some amazing performers.”
She’s not wrong. Since she first went out to America a few years ago and played with the legendary Pete Seeger in New York, Laura has worked with big names from Odetta and Ricky Skaggs to Josh White (she provided harmony and fiddle on his song for the Obama campaign, We Can Do It), Jim Lauderdale, songwriter for the Dixie Chicks and The Pogues and Shane McGowan. Her album, Celticana, spent 10 weeks on the Americana Top 40 chart last year and her recording of the multi-culturalism anthem, One Scotland, was featured in Sean Connery’s New York charity event, Dressed to Kilt.
At a Scottish Roots Celebration at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, she presented Johnny Cash’s family, including his son, John Carter Cash with a Scottish Heritage Award. The Cash family has long acknowledged and highlighted its Scottish roots, particularly in Strathmiglo in Fife.
Laura was named UK Youth Ambassador to the September Concerts, formed with UNESCO and supported by Quincy Jones and Ravi Shankar to foster awareness and world peace through music events. She is also Scottish Youth Ambassador to The Prince’s Trust and Youth Ambassador to the British Memorial Gardens in New York.
Back in Scotland, she was a featured artist on the BBC’s Scotland’s Music and took part in a BBC New Year’s Eve special about Robert Burns and his song, Auld Lang Syne.
She was home again over last Christmas and New Year for a project with Glasgow schoolchildren, creating and recording a song about the city in collaboration with both pupils and teachers. “My manager Peter Ferns, is also a songwriter so we all worked together and everyone went into the studio, at least for me to record my vocal here. I recorded the fiddle part in Nashville! There is also going to be a video to go with it and hopefully it will be released this year.”
Currently, she is also working on a new recording ranging in style from country rock to ballads and reckons, not surprisingly, that this is one of the busiest periods she has ever had in her already packed career.
“I wouldn’t have imagined, coming out of college, that I would be here in Nashville, involved in this kind of music but I’ve been able to work with some wonderful people and learn so much.
“And I love to be out performing. It’s a bit busy at the moment but it’s all good because the different projects are very exciting in hugely different ways.”
Friends and family from Monifieth will be there on June 4 to cheer her on, as will the Arbroath Suite’s arranger, Oliver Searle.
“It’ll be great for both of us to hear it played by the orchestra for the first time!”
Trained as a classical violinist at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Laura also had strong musical roots in traditional and folk styles from early youth. Born and brought up in Monifieth, she first showed an interest in music at Seaview Primary, going on to Monifieth High and then to college to take her honours degree and postgraduate qualification. In the interim, she played in many traditional competitions and festivals, winning several awards, for composition as well as performance.
“I had a fantastic teacher at RSAMD, Gerry Gibson, who taught wonderful classical technique but I was glad to have the traditional background, too, to be able to incorporate that into my playing. Keeping both going wasn’t always easy but I have diverse tastes in music and I’ve been lucky to be able to pursue my own path.
“For this composition and performance with the RSNO, I hope the audience can hear those influences. To me, it’s cool to be able to do that.”
Her move to the USA came last year after a period travelling back and forth on a regular basis to perform and work with a wide range of American artistes.
“Nashville is definitely inspiring, there is so much music here and a great community of musicians in a relatively small city. They say there are 32,000 songwriters in Nashville!
“Within two weeks of coming out here to live, I was meeting the same musical people on a regular basis and making a lot of contacts. There is a lot of interest in Scottish music and the traditional roots of a lot of contemporary folk, blues and country styles.
“Currently I’m running a residency and hosting a show of live music there and I’m also been lucky enough to meet and work with some amazing performers.”
She’s not wrong. Since she first went out to America a few years ago and played with the legendary Pete Seeger in New York, Laura has worked with big names from Odetta and Ricky Skaggs to Josh White (she provided harmony and fiddle on his song for the Obama campaign, We Can Do It), Jim Lauderdale, songwriter for the Dixie Chicks and The Pogues and Shane McGowan. Her album, Celticana, spent 10 weeks on the Americana Top 40 chart last year and her recording of the multi-culturalism anthem, One Scotland, was featured in Sean Connery’s New York charity event, Dressed to Kilt.
At a Scottish Roots Celebration at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, she presented Johnny Cash’s family, including his son, John Carter Cash with a Scottish Heritage Award. The Cash family has long acknowledged and highlighted its Scottish roots, particularly in Strathmiglo in Fife.
Laura was named UK Youth Ambassador to the September Concerts, formed with UNESCO and supported by Quincy Jones and Ravi Shankar to foster awareness and world peace through music events. She is also Scottish Youth Ambassador to The Prince’s Trust and Youth Ambassador to the British Memorial Gardens in New York.
Back in Scotland, she was a featured artist on the BBC’s Scotland’s Music and took part in a BBC New Year’s Eve special about Robert Burns and his song, Auld Lang Syne.
She was home again over last Christmas and New Year for a project with Glasgow schoolchildren, creating and recording a song about the city in collaboration with both pupils and teachers. “My manager Peter Ferns, is also a songwriter so we all worked together and everyone went into the studio, at least for me to record my vocal here. I recorded the fiddle part in Nashville! There is also going to be a video to go with it and hopefully it will be released this year.”
Currently, she is also working on a new recording ranging in style from country rock to ballads and reckons, not surprisingly, that this is one of the busiest periods she has ever had in her already packed career.
“I wouldn’t have imagined, coming out of college, that I would be here in Nashville, involved in this kind of music but I’ve been able to work with some wonderful people and learn so much.
“And I love to be out performing. It’s a bit busy at the moment but it’s all good because the different projects are very exciting in hugely different ways.”
Friends and family from Monifieth will be there on June 4 to cheer her on, as will the Arbroath Suite’s arranger, Oliver Searle.
“It’ll be great for both of us to hear it played by the orchestra for the first time!”