Remembering Boxwood Aberdeen

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Gordon

Scottish Flute Weekend 16-18 Nov 2001: Twenty Years of Scottish Traditional Flute

Malcolm Reavell in Ma Cameron’s snug, Aberdeen. (c) Gordon Turnbull

November 2021 marked twenty years since Boxwood Aberdeen took place, a weekend that sowed the seeds for FluteFling and inspired many others to further explore the flute in Scottish traditional music contexts.

Organised by Malcolm Reavell for Scottish Culture and Traditions, here he describes the background to the event, which was possibly the largest such gathering in Scotland.

Publicity for Skyedance performing and teaching in Banchory

In 1997, representing Scottish Culture & Traditions organisation (SC&T) I contacted Duncan Hendry who was at the time managing the Aberdeen Alternative Festival (now at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre) to see if he would help us arrange to get Alasdair Fraser’s band Skyedance to run a day of workshops for traditional musicians. The lineup at that time was Alasdair on fiddle, Eric Rigler on pipes, Peter Maund on percussion, Paul Machlis on piano, and as American/ Canadian flute player Chris Norman had joined the band, we could have flute a workshop as well.

The workshop was held on a snowy January day in Banchory Academy. Chris Norman had previously held workshops at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, attended by just a couple of people, so when he walked into the room, he was pleasantly surprised to be confronted by about a dozen flute players.

Flute players in Banchory. Chris Norman is front row, in white. Malcolm Reavell to the right of him.

Chris advertised the Boxwood week he ran, and so that was where I went for my holidays the next two years – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It was an inspiring event, and I really wanted to do something like this in Scotland, and I got the chance in 2001. Chris got in touch about coming over to Scotland, I jumped at the chance to try and organise something.

I thought it would be good to try out the format Chris used for Boxwood with three tutors covering different styles and traditions. As well as Chris I invited Eddie McGuire whose reputation as composer as well as flute player appealed to classical flute players, and from Limerick, Niall Keegan, who was pushing the boundaries of traditional Irish flute playing.

Flyer for the Boxwood Aberdeen Weekend

It was going to cost a bit of money to put on the event. We could not run it for a whole week as Chris did in Lunenburg, but a weekend seemed achievable.

At this time I was still working shifts as an aircraft engineer, so I had days off during the week which I could devote to SC&T (in fact SC&T took up most of my spare time anyway).

I investigated Scottish Arts Council funding and luckily Dave Francis pointed me in the direction of a new funding stream for which few people had applied.

I submitted the grant application and budgeted for about half of the amount I put in the application (that’s kind of normal for such applications). The Scottish Arts Council approved the whole amount. This was not supposed to happen! I had to then revise the programme and remove all the cost saving I had incorporated to use up all the money we were getting (you can’t give it back – you must spend it!).

So… venues for workshops, evening concerts, sessions, accommodation for artists, publicity, leaflets, press releases, flyers, catering,… the machine was set in motion. It wasn’t all plain sailing, I had several weeks, and a few frantic days, sorting out last minute international work permits with the UK Home Office.

Organising it under the SC&T banner gave us access to volunteer resources of the SC&T committee and helpers. The Elphinstone Institute under the auspices of Dr Ian Russell became involved, and Ian gave a talk on the flute bands of NE Scotland. (a photograph of one of the flute bands was used by Chris on his album cover for The Caledonian Flute).

Kenny Hadden helped put out the word to all the flute players we could find in Scotland, and by some magic, we managed to attract participants from the south of England, and one lady (who I had met at Chris’s Boxwood event in Lunenburg) that decided to come all the way from Wisconsin in the US.

The workshops took place in the Aberdeen Foyer. We had an evening concert in Cowdray Hall, and one in the Lemon Tree, and Friday night session in The Globe.

(Left to Right) Chris Norman, Robin Bullock, Niall Keegan, Malcolm Reavell, Dr Ian Russell, Eddie Maguire

The weekend was the first time this number of traditional flute players had gathered in Scotland and acted as inspiration to continue from there. A young Calum Stewart was even in the audience, (although he told me recently, at the time, he didn’t play much flute).

Niall Keegan, Chris Norman and Eddie Maguire performing

I can’t remember how many participants we had at the weekend, (data protection means I no longer have access to enrolment details), but I seem to have the number 45 in my head.

As for names… well, have fun looking through some of these pictures and try putting names to faces, and a video of the weekend was made by Dr Ian Russell and we hope to make some of it available in the future.

Eddie Maguire and the Whistlebinkies with the participants. Notice the animated music stand. (c) Malcolm Reavell

Aberdeen Press and Journal. Some weel kent faces here: Rebecca Knorr (left) and a young Mhairi Hall centre left, Ann Ward just behind them, a young Calum Stewart (partly hidden behind Mhairi), Munro Gauld and Gordon Turnbull (back right). The lady in the Fairisle pattern sweater is Ann Huntoon from Wisconsin. Apologies for not being able to recall other names at present.

Aberdeen City Evening Express a few days later: Kenny Hadden, Rebecca Knorr and Ann Ward front and centre.

A workshop with Chris Norman. Pete Saunders back, right.

Some more faces to spot, this time with Eddie Maguire.

Chris Norman in a workshop

Niall Keegan with a group

The participants at the end of a full day animated and ready to listen to the three tutors.

FluteFling Online with Tom Oakes

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Gordon

FluteFling Online with Tom Oakes 22-24 April 2021

In April 2021 the second FluteFling Online event took place, with a weekend curated by Tom Oakes featuring an online concert, workshops and a masterclass. Finally, I have managed to complete writing it up.

Following the success of the first FluteFling online workshops with Clare Mann in December 2020, the team were keen to try to mark the Edinburgh weekend that was cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020. Tom Oakes had been due to perform that weekend, so it was natural to approach him.

After exploring a few options together the outcome was a core series of four workshops over two days, with an additional multi-location concert on the Friday night. The weekend finished with a masterclass from Tom on using the keys on keyed flutes for traditional music, an aspect of the music performance which is often overlooked. Delivered via Zoom, the main workshops were recorded to allow access across different time zones, a popular decision that we carried over from our previous event.

Despite the beginning of the easing of some lockdown restrictions, cumulative screen fatigue, better weather and improving daylight hours, numbers were very healthy. 35 people attended the evening concert, 38 attended the workshops and 21 attended the masterclass. This still compared favourably with previous in-person events and has encouraged FluteFling organisers to consider including online access in the future, regardless of circumstances.

Friday night concert

The Friday concert was informal and international, featuring Tom Oakes (Edinburgh) who had invited Aoife Granville (County Kerry, Ireland), Philippe Barnes (London) and Kirsi Olja (Finland) on a variety of flutes, whistles and recorders. The musicians played solo from their homes but there was engaging crossover chat and conversation about music, instruments and traditions, ending in questions from the global online audience.

Technology didn’t let us down and the audience at home enjoyed a journey with flutes across Europe. Aoife Granville’s music from Kerry included punchy and spirited traditional fife tunes that resonated with Scottish traditions. Her performance also referenced her project that celebrates the pioneering contributions of women to Irish traditional flute music. You can watch a video on that topic on YouTube.

The Boehm system flute is becoming better understood in traditional music and Philippe Barnes showcased a fine range of driving tunes and slower pieces with tone and colour more associated with wooden flutes. He also played a simple system wooden flute and introduced us to a richly sonorous Boehm alto. Philippe is a multi-instrumentalist who also plays the uillean pipes, his fingered articulation carries over from them effortlessly. A personal highlight was a slow air that I failed to make a note of, so I’ll have to try and catch him again.

The music of Finland is not necessarily well-known in Scotland and Kirsi Olja introduced us to traditional airs and dance music on recorders and end-blown flutes that invite us all to learn more. However, her improvisational singing while playing primitive fipple flutes with bark intact was as elemental and arresting as it was unexpected.

Weekend workshops and masterclass

The workshop formats of Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon sessions worked to allow everyone screen breaks and keep things fresh. From his studio in a 17th Century building in Leith, the old port for Edinburgh, Tom took us through a wide range of tunes for all tastes. These included The Keilder Schottische and Matt Seattle’s The Four Winds — Borders tunes from his time living in Newcastle, while the pipes jig The Snuff Wife and Hamish the Carpenter from Cape Breton reflected more his time in Edinburgh and Glasgow sessions. The vibrant contemporary folk scene in Scotland often features more modern tunes that play on traditional themes and Tom also treated us to one of his own compositions.

As if that wasn’t enough, the weekend finished with a Masterclass from Tom. Initially focusing on the use of keys on keyed flutes in traditional music, he also covered tuning, embouchure and ergonomics, tone, flute design and the differences between historical flutes and contemporary models used in traditional music.

With so much covered, there was something for everyone to take away and explore. Thanks again to Tom for taking it on and keeping the energy levels going. Thanks too to Pete Saunders who manned the decks admirably and kept the technology running smoothly. Not to forget the FluteFling team who worked in the background and were on hand to assist when called upon.

It has taken me a while to get around to writing this up, but Tom has been working hard. He has a new album coming out as I write. By popular demand his solo flute outing, entitled Water Street, is available for pre-order. See his website for more details: https://www.tomoakesmusic.com

Update: Tom’s album has launched and can be ordered or downloaded from Bandcamp.

FluteFling online with Claire Mann

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Gordon

The first FluteFling Online event took place in December with a mini-series of workshops led by Claire Mann. The event marked what would have been a weekend event in Aberdeen and attracted a great turn-out, with participants from across the world.

When John Crawford approached me in September and asked what the plans were for the FluteFling Aberdeen Weekend, which usually takes place every November, I confess that my heart sank a little. It was a good question and needed addressing in some way, but it meant that we had to bite the bullet as so many have done and dive into the Online experience.

What did we know about putting on such things? Had we attended any? I personally had shied away from teaching online so didn’t really know what was involved. In addition, so much our working and personal lives are lived online during the pandemic, did we want to spend our spare time wrangling with setups, links and connections? And each of these questions seemed to have others lining up behind them. Wasn’t there online fatigue? Or was that just me?

John has been involved in the FluteFling weekends for many years and has been active in the Aberdeen event too and links up the Aberdeen flute community. He brought in fellow FluteFling supporter Pete Saunders, who has been running the SCaT flute and whistle classes in Aberdeen online this autumn and the technical experience and confidence that was needed. John had also attended a number of online workshops over the summer and had been taking plenty of notes of what worked well.

Over Zoom calls and emails with Sharon Creasey and Kenny Hadden, we realised that it was doable with manageable risks. We quickly identified Claire Mann as a tutor we wanted to involve and with her we were able to shape an event. We all wanted it to be a little different and supportive of those facing the common experience of not being able to meet and play music with others, having to dig deep for inspiration and motivation.

The result was a two-weekend event just towards Christmas. People were unlikely to be going anywhere during the pandemic and we felt that a week between the two workshop days gave people time to work on the material and learning, whatever their commitments. Providing the music and recordings from Claire a week in advance extended the learning focus and we extended it further by including a joint recording project for a video that will be completed soon.

The workshops were timed to be short and focused to avoid fatigue, which meant that they flew by an a lot was packed in as Claire took us through some choices from the online archive of the William Gunn Collection and Shetland reels. The Q&A session became highly technical as Claire responded to questions about rolls, cuts, strikes and alternatives with ease and clarity.

An unexpected development came from those looking to attend from USA and Canada. We had timed the workshops to be either side of lunchtime here in Scotland, but this was still 4 in the morning for some people, or even earlier. To attend at that time was a level of commitment that we hadn’t expected and we responded by recording the workshops and making them available to attendees for several weeks afterwards.

The implication for data protection was a concern and we had to seek consent. However, the way we ran the workshops helped enormously. Pete was a co-host and managed all of the running technical concerns — anchoring the workshops, muting participants and fielding questions through the chat facility. It meant that Claire could focus on the teaching, which was new to her in this setting too. The format was a success and was raised by a few as such in the feedback.

We were quite unprepared for the response, which was overwhelming. With over 70 participants, this was by far and away our biggest event and has caused us all to positively review future plans, including when we all get back together in person.

As participants began joining in the online session, people recognised each other and began chatting and creating a buzz. We have all seen each other on social media, but here we were again, with new faces coming in, some familiar names that are on our mailing lists but are never able attend. People spoke about the friendliness, as visitors from around the world logged in — from a chilly Niagara Falls to Spain, France and Germany. Meanwhile, Claire was in Newton Stewart, Pete was in Aberdeenshire and I was in Edinburgh. There was a definite community feel that spanned the globe.

The recordings enabled people to revisit the workshops and review the learning but also enabled those in California and Japan to be part of the event. Additionally, some people couldn’t attend all of the workshops or had to change plans at short notice, but didn’t miss out. In a non-online situation (IRL – in real life), these people couldn’t have attended or would have lost money or needed a refund.

Our eyes have been opened and while there is no substitute for an IRL experience, this has proved to be a decent substitute with a lot of potential. We are already in the process of organising our next event and what we continue to learn we will be taking into the regular workshops when they are able to resume. Can they be live-streamed or recorded? Or can they be sit alongside our regular events diary? Maybe, maybe.

In the meantime, look out for the video and also for news of our next event.

April update: a celebration of community

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Gordon

With events cancelled and many of us in lockdown, a look ahead to what this means for FluteFling.

The Magic Flute! FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend 2019 (c) Gordon Turnbull

It’s a sunny Wednesday in Edinburgh, the windows are open and birds are busy outside. Spring is upon us and all would seem well if it wasn’t for the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic and most people are in some form of lockdown or restricted movement. It is an uncertain and worrying time for everyone, with various concerns for health, loved ones, neighbours and colleagues, physical and mental well-being, work and finances.

It has been heartening to witness many examples of people supporting each other in the community, both locally and across the world. And there has also been much celebrating and sharing of music and song to help unite people and raise spirits in these strange and difficult times.

Traditional music connects people, places and histories and celebrates what is common to us all and the festival season would be fast approaching, when musicians, dancers and lovers of music reunite, share tunes, stories and good times together.

Traditional flute workshop with Sharon Creasey at FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend 2018 (c) Gordon Turnbull

We would have seen some of that last weekend too, with what was promising to be an amazing FluteFling Edinburgh Weekend, our seventh no less. In previous years, people have travelled far for the events in Edinburgh and Aberdeen to meet, play and learn more about traditional flute playing in Scotland and to be part of a revival. As an organiser and sometimes tutor, it is both humbling and inspiring to be part of this and to witness it take on a life of its own, fuelled by the energy, enthusiasm and support of the community that has grown up around FluteFling.

It is a particularly difficult time for those freelance musicians and performers who rely on performances and audiences for an income. Please do what you can to support them — if you buy their music, follow them on social media, share their work or reach out to them, it all helps. And look out for performances from home via various streaming apps. Facebook seems to be popular for this, but there will be other outlets too, such as Youtube.

For some of us in lockdown and not key workers on the front line, events force us to slow down, restrict our movements and reflect. For me, this slower pace and gifted time has allowed me to get the flute out more, to begin thinking about ideas for future FluteFling activities, to begin tweaking and tidying up the website. The various people who are involved in running FluteFling events will also be exploring ideas together.

On a personal note, I have found it difficult in recent months, maybe years if truth be told, to focus on some parts of my own music-making. It is true I am sure for many of us with busy lives and commitments and so maybe this is an opportunity for us all to reconnect with our own music, be in less of a hurry to learn that tune for this session, to maybe explore existing repertoire. Time to to reexamine tone and tuning, revisit ornaments and articulation, to slow down and rediscover the joys and consider what our music means to us.

I have begun to take inspiration from something Paul McGrattan shared at Cruinniú na bhFliúit -The Flute Meeting in Ballyvourney a couple of years ago. Alongside many other ideas, he suggested recording yourself once a week to monitor progress and focus your practice. So my underused YouTube channel is now going to have a new tune or set of tunes posted every Friday during the lockdown period.

To begin with at least, this will focus on tunes that I have taught or might otherwise already be found in the Resources section or on my Soundcloud account, where they are slowed down for playing. I expect other tunes, recalled, revived, relearned or newly discovered for me, will also feature on that YouTube channel.

A flute session in Sandy Bell’s Bar, Edinburgh (c) Gordon Turnbull

There will be some other posts on this website, certainly more regularly than in recent months. But in the meantime, thank you everyone, for being involved, for playing and sharing your music and for being part of the traditional flute and whistle community in Scotland.

Stay safe and stay well and we will see each other on the other side when this is all over. The next FluteFling Weekend, whenever that may happen, will be quite some celebration, for sure.

Autumn workshops in Edinburgh and Aberdeen Weekend 2019

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Gordon

FluteFling returns to Aberdeen 1-3 November 2019

The 3rd FluteFling Aberdeen Weekend for traditional flutes and whistles will take place Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd November.

The weekend will include:

sessions each day, including performance spots
a full day of workshops with 3 tutors, including a special guest
special guest discussion

Details are are very close to being finalised. Check back for further announcements, including ticket sales.

Edinburgh workshops schedule

Gordon will be resuming monthly workshops in Portobello, Edinburgh in September. Dates and booking details will be announced as soon as the venue details have been confirmed.

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traditional flutes and whistles in Scotland

Tag Archives: Scottish Flute Weekend