StAnza previews in Dundee

StAnza's Director, Eleanor Livingstone

Eleanor Livingstone hosted the StAnza Preview at Dundee Rep this week, with poets Stewart Conn and Dawn Wood reading to an appreciative audience. The Courier covered the story.

Dundee Courier article

StAnza ‘takes off’ at the NLS in Edinburgh

New festival director Eleanor Livingstone hosted a preview of StAnza’s festival programme at the NLS in Edinburgh last night, offering a taster of  the poetic and musical feast to come.

Poets Rab Wilson and Claire Askew and the traditional group Lurach showcased three aspects of the festival programme: the two themes, Timepiece and the Poets Ark, and a special focus on Gaelic poetry and music. Eleanor and members of the StAnza team read a selection of  poems by some of the UK and international poets who are coming to StAnza in March: Philip Gross, Carrie Etter, Selima Hill and Tom Petsinis among over 60 talented voices to look forward to.

Picking up on the theme of history (Timepiece) Rab unearthed the hidden history of  Fife mining and Claire Askew explored the intersections between her own ancestors and history. Lurach gave us some slip jigs and reels and heartstoppingly lovely melodies: a sample of the Gaelic riches to come.

If you are in Fife or Tayside area, don’t miss the Preview on Tuesday 15th February at Dundee Rep with guest poets Stewart Conn and Dawn Wood. For more about the programme and to view our brochure online, check the StAnza website: http://www.stanzapoetry.org

Poet Claire Askew at the Preview (Photo Chris Scott)

Three young composers bring sweet music to StAnza

One of the highlights among many exciting events at StAnza this year will be a concert featuring the first performances of work by three talented young composers: winners of the Sorley MacLean musical composition competition.

All three winning pieces will be performed as part of a concert at StAnza on Sunday 20 March at the Byre Theatre, St Andrews, with the St Andrews Chamber Orchestra, three Scottish Chamber Orchestra soloists and the soprano Lesley-Jane Rogers. To complement the music, StAnza’s Poet-in-Residence, Maoilios Caimbeul, will read Sorley MacLean’s poems in Gaelic.  Tickets are available from the Byre Box Office, 01334 475000.

The competition winners are as follows:

Elisabeth Cowe (pictured) studied cello at Napier University and gained a Masters in Composition at the University of Edinburgh in 2010. She is currently working on a number of compositional projects and enjoying playing in a trio with two flautists. She said: ‘I was so pleased to hear that I had been selected as a winner in the StAnza competition. I am really looking forward to the concert and hearing my piece performed.’

Matthew Oglesby is a young composer based in Leeds. ‘Having come to orchestral writing after several years simply as a choral composer,’ he says, ‘I’m pretty shocked to find that I will actually have the opportunity to hear my work rehearsed and performed this year. I’m already grateful to the folks at SCO for their input and help so far, and I also look forward to working with the St. Andrews University Chamber Orchestra in the run-up to the March performance.’

Lliam Paterson (pictured) studied piano, horn and composition at Aberdeen City Music School and St. Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh, before starting studies in Music at Cambridge University (Fitzwilliam College) in 2009. He said: ‘Opportunities for young composers to have their works performed by world-class musicians are quite rare, so I’m very excited about having my song performed by the musicians and Lesley-Jane Rogers. As an admirer of Sorley MacLean’s poetry, I’m proud that my work will form part of his centenary celebrations – it is a chance to honour a great Scottish creative mind.’

There’s more about the competition and the winners on the SCO website: http://www.sco.org.uk/connect

Part of this year’s centenary celebrations of the birth of the poet, the competition was held in partnership with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the University of St Andrews Music Centre; with the support of the Garrick Charitable Trust; and in association with The Sorley MacLean Trust and Carcanet Press.