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Aberdeen FluteFling Weekend 2024

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John Crawford reflects on the Aberdeen FluteFling 2024, Ruthrieston Community Centre early November

The Aberdeen FluteFling took place 1-3 November 2024 and featured workshops with Claire Mann, Freya Rae and Laura MacKenzie, plus Dougie Pincock in conversation with flute maker George Ormiston.

Aberdeen FluteFling musicians celebrating a fine day of music together. Photo (c) Linda Harkness

Thanks to all participants, guests, tutors, organisers and venues including Ruthrieston Community Centre, the Blue Lamp and Rishi’s Indian Aroma! FluteFling will return to Aberdeen in November 2025.

Friday

The weekend opened with a lively session in the upstairs lounge of The Blue Lamp in the Gallowgate. Thanks to Lewis Brown for providing the venue and continuing to support live music in Aberdeen.

The Friday night session at the Blue Lamp (c) John Crawford

It was interesting to find ourselves sharing the facilities with a Halloween party; some of revellers in fancy dress got lost on their way to the big downstairs lounge. Re-directing them Claire Mann said:

Saturday

The Saturday workshops at Ruthrieston Community Centre this year were something very special with all three of our first all-female tutor line up teaching in Aberdeen for the first time.

The teaching resources provided by the tutors delivered an intriguing mix of traditional and contemporary music from Scotland, Ireland and Sweden for participants including some wonderful and mesmeric countermelodies.

During the day Flute-maker George Ormiston had a pop-up space that allowed people to try out various models of his instruments and there was a constant flow of people in and out all day.

Dougie Pincock demonstrated the importance relaxation in a flute player’s daily regime.

Dougie Pincock finds a quiet moment to rest during the Saturday workshops (c) John Crawford

In Rishi’s Indian Aroma Freya provided an important lesson in nutrition for flute and whistle players and made sure she had a snack for the train journey home. (c) John Crawford

Saturday evening saw a return to The Blue Lamp for some essential rehydration and work on what had been learned during the day.

Flutes in full flow (c) John Crawford

The session warms up… (c) John Crawford

Laura MacKenzie (left) introduces a Stateside tradition to Scotland — of flute players linking arms to make a chain. (c) John Crawford

Pipe tunes on the whistle (c) John Crawford

Three flute players on their other instruments: L-R Rachel (clarsach), Claire Mann (fiddle), Freya Rae (fiddle) (c) Kenny Hadden

The Saturday session in full flight (c) John Crawford

Whistle and flute from Claire and Freya (c) John Crawford

Sunday

A fine brunch at “Cup”, in little Belmont Street, delivered on Laura’s need to sample the vegan breakfast including haggis and restored the remainder of the survivor’s for the Sunday session. Altogether a more sedate outing than Friday and Saturday but still good craic and tunes!

The Sunday session always has a more relaxed vibe (c) John Crawford

More pipe tunes flying off the whistles (c) John Crawford

More photos from the weekend can be found here.

What people enjoyed

What did people say they enjoyed about the weekend? This is some of the feedback we had.

Loved the mix of ornamentation, technique and tunes. Every tutor had a very different approach and I took a lot which I’m excited to use to go further with my playing in future.

 

Another well organised and valuable weekend. Thanks to all concerned. Oh and thanks for the rain free weather!

 

Inspiring… Will always recommend

 

Enjoyed it lots. Would certainly recommend it to others, and look forward to the next one! Thank you!

 

[I learned] that the flute playing world takes on many shapes and styles and no one should turn their back on new forms and ideas. The sharing of knowledge is a great aspect of the flute playing fraternity.

 

Next Event: Edinburgh 4-6 April 2025

After drawing breath, the team are now looking towards making the 2025 Edinburgh event a success. The event will take place 4-6 April 2025, so look out for news of tickets going on sale. We’re also making early plans for Aberdeen 2025.

Please let us know if you have any specific ideas or suggestions for future events. As always, make sure you are signed up to the mailing list to hear about it all first before tickets go on general sale.

About the author: John Crawford is a long-co-organiser with FluteFling. John enjoys exploring the forgotten pre-revival Scottish flute manuscripts that reside in online libraries and collections, such as this Scottish fife player’s manuscript from 1799.

 

Flute players celebrate Scottish Folk Day

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A celebration of the flute in Scottish traditional music

Dougie Pincock (flute) and Dierdre Graham (clarsach) performing for Scottish Folk Day 2024.

Traditional flute players from Scotland and beyond have contributed to a video project to mark Scottish Folk Day — 23 September 2024.

As members of the Traditional Music Forum who are organising the event, FluteFling wanted to mark the success of The FluteFling Collection tune book, which will shortly be going into a second print run.

Claire Mann performs for Scottish Folk Day 2024.

For the event, the contributors were invited to make a video of one of their contributions to the book, highlighting some of the range of material and styles of playing the flute from a Scottish perspective. Featuring whistles, wooden flutes and Boehm system flute, the videos reflect the wide range of ideas and influences at FluteFling events.

The resulting videos were put together by FluteFling supporter Peter Saunders and can be found on his Scottish Flute Channel on YouTube.

FluteFling thanks the video contributors: Sharon Newton Creasey, John Gahagan, Kenny Hadden, Niall Kenny, Rebecca Knorr, Davy Maguire, Claire Mann, Orlaith McAuliffe, Tom Oakes, Dougie Pincock and Gordon Turnbull.

The FluteFling Collection

The FluteFling Collection was the first collection of music for traditional flute players in Scotland to be published for about 150 years. Published in 2022, the organisers invited previous tutors to contribute to the book, which contains over 100 tunes from some of the leading flute players and teachers in the traditional music scene.

There are still a handful of copies of the book available, from our online shop or in person from a FluteFling event, such as Aberdeen in November. Plans for a second volume are currently being explored.

Celebrating the traditional music scene

Organised by Scotland’s Traditional Music Forum (TMF), Scottish Folk Day is running in tandem with European Folk Day, held on the same date, which has been conceived and coordinated by the European Folk Network.

Scottish Folk Day will take place once more on Monday 23 September, celebrating the country’s lively traditional music scene, and offering a platform for musicians and artists at every level to showcase their talents. The event gives the public the opportunity to connect with the vibrant folk scene in Scotland and right across Europe.

The next FluteFling event takes place in Aberdeen 1-3 November.

Edinburgh FluteFling Tenth Anniversary Weekend

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Edinburgh FluteFling 2024 – Newhaven

A great turnout for the Edinburgh FluteFling in April (c) Gordon Turnbull

Well, we did it again! The 10th Anniversary Weekend was a great success, with our biggest ever concert and sold-out workshops. The sun shone for us too!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make this a success, and we look forward to seeing you at the next one.

Friday

The weekend opened with a stellar concert headlined by the award winning Calum Stewart with Luc McNally accompanying on guitar and Sophie Stephenson bringing her Scottish step dance footwork for percussive and visual interplay.

Dougie Pincock performing solo at Edinburgh FluteFling 2024. (c) Gordon Turnbull

There was a veritable buzz and a sense of occasion as people gathered in the atrium and the hall beforehand. The first half of the evening saw Dougie Pincock take the stage in front of a packed hall to promote the humble D whistle with a versatile and dazzling performance that included tunes in keys that normally wouldn’t be played on the instrument. The audacity and dexterity brought audible gasps from an audience that included many musicians.

Freya Rae (flute) and Siannie Moodie (clarsach) performing at Edinburgh FluteFling 2024. (c) Gordon Turnbull

Freya Rae took the stage next, accompanied by Siannie Moodie on clarsach. A multi-instrumentalist, Freya is known in Edinburgh for her Boehm flute playing of traditional music and we were treated to some recent dynamic compositions that went down well with the audience. If the duo were at all nervous, it wasn’t apparent in an assured and tight set. Hopefully we will all be hearing more of their music together, as their interplay and sound was perfect for what was to come.

Luc McNally, Sophie Stephenson and Calum Stewart in concert (c) Gordon Turnbull

The main concert lived up to its promise, with an energetic and vibrant performance from Calum, Luc and Sophie, three performers at the top of their game, complementing and playing off each other throughout. The uilleann pipes were crisp and clear, the flute rich and sonorous as Calum presented new material alongside more familiar tunes from earlier recordings.

Luc McNally and Calum Stewart (c) Gordon Turnbull

A mix of newly composed tunes with older ones from his native Moray, the blend was finely balanced. Luc’s guitar alternated between rhythm and melody, the bell-like tones augmented by a bass octave pedal to give a sudden sonic depth to the music. The top end of the sound was provided by Sophie’s intricate percussive steps, sometimes highlighting the beat, at other times playing off the melody line.

One the strands of FluteFling is participation, and after the encores, the room was turned around to create a session space for the many musicians in the audience, and continue the music into the night.

Edinburgh FluteFling Friday night session (c) Gordon Turnbull

Saturday

The workshops were the busiest yet, the Anchor Hub building buzzing with activity as people caught up with each other in between immersion in flute talk and playing. The relationship between the pipes and the flute, Boehm system, keyless systems and whistles were all explored.

Workshop with Dougie Pincock (c) Gordon Turnbull

Workshop with Sharon Newton Creasey (c) Gordon Turnbull

Flute-maker George Ormiston had a pop-up space that allowed people to try out various models of his instruments and there was a constant flow of people in and out all day.

Sharon and Kenny try out George Ormiston whistles. (c) Gordon Turnbull

While the flute workshops were taking place, Sophie Stephenson also held a couple of dance workshops and joined Calum for a demonstration and talk on the relationship between dance and music in what became a celebration of two reviving traditions, Scottish step dance and Scottish flute.

Calum Stewart and Sophie Stephenson demonstrate aspects of playing for dancing. Host Peter Saunders looks on. (c) Gordon Turnbull

Everyone reconvened later that evening for another session into the night at the Heart of Newhaven Community.

The Saturday night session at the Heart of Newhaven Community (c) John Crawford

Sunday

We tried a new venue for the Sunday farewell session, having outgrown the Sandy Bells space, which struggled to accommodate the numbers last year. Thanks to Marie-Elaine Maguire for suggesting Leith Depot, which is on main public transport routes and has good food and drink. The atmosphere was relaxed and the tunes mellow.

Leith Depot Session (c) John Crawford

Leith Depot Session (c) John Crawford

Leith Depot Session (c) Gordon Turnbull

Leith Depot Session (c) John Crawford

What people enjoyed

What did people say they enjoyed about the weekend? This is some of the feedback we had.

Meeting other flute players

New ornamentation techniques, a fantastic session experience and a sense of community.

Varied and interesting teaching sessions

There were some great pieces of advice in the workshops… Reminders of various techniques for practising tone… relationship between Scottish piping & fluting… a more general understanding of the flute in Scottish trad.

An inspiration to look out more in the way of resources on the internet, and a resolution to: pay more attention to embouchure and tone; and to pick up the flute every day.

…inspiration and new musical connections

Would certainly recommend it.

Really enjoyed the workshops… Already recommended it to a friend.

Loved it, can’t wait til the next one

Excellent event and would definitely recommend it

Positive & reinforcing. Just good to hang out with other flute players who have similar enthusiasms. Always good to see younger people as a part of the whole thing. Would and have recommended to others.

 

Next: Aberdeen 1-3 November

After drawing breath, the team are now looking towards making Aberdeen a success. The event takes place 1-3 November 2024, so look out for tickets going on sale later in the summer. We’re also making plans for Edinburgh 2025 and will reveal more towards the end of the year.

As always, make sure you are signed up to the mailing list to hear about it all first before tickets go on general sale.

Flutes and whistles at Stonehaven

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Workshops and concerts featuring whistles and flutes at Stonehaven Festival

A woman holds a wooden penny whistle as she looks at the camera. She is smiling. The background shows an image of an array of penny whistles in an open cloth carrying case.

Joannie Madden from Cherish the Ladies will be appearing at Stonehaven Folk Festival. (c) Joannie Madden

Stonehaven Folk Festival takes place 11-14 July this year and our friends there have organised a weekend that features a number of whistle and flute concerts and workshops that are worthy of your attention.

With Joannie Madden and our own Kenny Hadden amongst them, there is something here for everyone and spaces available at the time of writing. Like many of these things, if we’re able to support them then they will continue to be offered.

Stonehaven flute and whistle workshops

Whistle (Intermediate) – JOANIE MADDEN
Friday, 12 July 11:00-13:00 – Community Centre £12.00

Whistle (Intermediate) – KENNY HADDEN
Saturday, 13 July 10:30-12:30 – Community Centre £12.00

Flute (Intermediate) – GUILLERMO DEL VAL
Saturday, 13 July 13:30-15:30 – Community Centre £12.00

Groupwork (Intermediate) – ROSS AINSLIE, TIM EDEY, MARC CLEMENT
Sunday, 14 July 10:30-14:30 – Community Centre £12.00

The main website is here:
https://tickets.stonehavenfolkfestival.co.uk

Thanks to John Crawford for sharing the information.

 

Alex Green Whistle Festival

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Alex Green Whistle Festival – Aberdeen 1-3 March

It seems that there is so much more on for flute and whistle players to attend these days and it is great to see that the inaugural Alex Green Weekend will take place in Aberdeen 1-3 March. The weekend celebrates the NE whistler with an impressive lineup of concerts and workshops organised by The Elphinstone Institute, which is part of the University of Aberdeen.

Featured performers and tutors are Cathal McConnell, Mary Bergin, Fred Morrison, Dougie Pincock, Claire Mann, Tom Oakes and Kenny Hadden in a range of events, some of which are free to attend.

It’s a good chance to see and hear so many contributors to The FluteFling Collection – five of those mentioned are included. You can get your copy here or catch Kenny Hadden over the festival weekend.

Tickets are on sale through Aberdeen Performing Arts and at the time of writing this is the best way to find out what is happening.

Update 2 February: The full programme is now available on The Elphinstone Institute website.

About Alex Green

Alex Green had a unique and authentic style of playing, which has been described as “spit-staccato” (I’m sure there must be a better and more attractive descriptor — maybe someone who knows NE Scottish dialects can suggest one). A highly influential and generous musician by all accounts.

Alex Green passed away in 2017 and has since been inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. You can learn more about his life at Hands up for Trad.

His album Whistle O’er The Lave O’t has an accompanying video: