Come hear a Norse & Celtic brew this November!

Come hear a Norse & Celtic brew this November!

I sing with a group called the Norwegian Manx Collaboration (it does what it says on the tin!) along with talented Manx musicians Tomas Callister (Barrule, Mec Lir) and David Kilgallon (Mec Lir), and renowned Norwegian trad. musicians Erlend Apneseth and Margit Myhr. We can’t wait to get together in November on the Isle of Man: we’ll be presenting a series of school-concerts for hundreds of Primary School children across the Island and doing a public concert on Saturday 29th November at the Peel Centenary Centre at 8pm. It’s going to be great fun!

Our collaborative journey began back in February 2013. The project was initiated by Manx cultural organisation Culture Vannin, and they sent Tom and I to Norway to meet and work with our Norwegian counterparts Erlend and Margit. For those of you reading this who aren’t aware of this: the Isle of Man has a longstanding relationship with Norway in that the Vikings settled on the Island c.800AD and established ‘Tynwald’, which is the longest continually-running parliament in the world! The Isle of Man was also, incidentally, the first place in the world to give women the vote (it’s often wrongly thought to be New Zealand): ’tis a small, but seriously mighty nation! Our project was developed by Culture Vannin to help people understand the links in a creative, meaningful way. It focuses on the fiddle and vocal music from each nation – weaving and blending them together. Margit and I have fun singing in each other’s languages – Norwegian and Manx Gaelic!

After our initial work with Erlend and Margit, Tom and I got talented multi-instrumentalist David Kilgallon involved with the project: he plays keys. We gave our first performance in November 2013 – less than a year ago! – and since then we have performed at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient 2014. We will also have a limited-edition collaborative tune/song book of Norwegian and Manx music (with mini CD) ready for our November 2014 performances!

If you’re on Island (or if you fancy a trip to the Isle of Man… I would highly recommend it; it’s very beautiful!) and would like to come along to the concert, you can buy tickets at Celtic Gold, Shakti Man, Thompson Travel or Peter Norris Music: £10 in advance, £12 on the door. Also performing with us will be one of Norway’s top traditional dancers – Vetle Springgard – who is coming over specially for the event, and talented Manx dancers Gráinne Joughin and John Kilgallon.

Hope to see you there!

Norwegian-Manx project Peel Castle