Stream: Celtic Connections - Opening Celebration Concert
Celtic Connections has become one of the biggest folk music festivals in the world and a very important part of Glasgow and Scotland's cultural scene drawing thousands of visitors and performers from all over the world. So it's good that the Festival has managed to produce a very good-looking programme, albeit without audiences, over the three weeks of the festival. Also credit to Glasgow Council, Creative Scotland and the Scottish government for continuing their financial support in these difficult times for musicians. .Also Donald Shaw the organiser and his team are to be congratulated for selling 10,000 tickets for the festival which is accessible all over the world.
Of course a virtual festival can't compare with a real festival. The conviviality and the audience response are perhaps even more important for folk music than classical music and opera which the Edinburgh Music Review also covers. That was apparent at the opening concert of the festival. The organisers put together a very interesting international programme using a number of different settings in Glasgow and overseas. From the opening sequence of the pipers marching up Buchanan St through every presentation it was perfectly executed in a very professional manner and yet it rarely stirred the blood and left me feeling a little flat at the end. Highlights of the opening concert were the Celtic Connections big band, Karine Polwart in Glasgow City Chambers giving a welcoming message in her remarks and her song ‘Come Away In’, French contributions from Les Vents Du Nord and other international contributions from Africa and Nova Scotia and Scottish performances from Fiona Hunter and the Kinnoris Quintet. They will all get a chance to flourish in the festival programme and I think give a more satisfying experience.
Interestingly the online concert ended just in time to join Duncan Chisholm the fiddler on BBC Alba (who had performed one tune in the opening programme) staging a one hour concert in the splendid setting of Kelvingrove Museum along with the superb musicians of the Scottish Ensemble. This was a perfect concert beautifully performed by fine musicians with great lighting and direction and of course showed up the opening concert which was a taster of a dozen different performers. So it may be that when Celtic Connections goes into its full concert programme, giving musicians room to breathe, it will come to life much more, but I and I'm sure the organisers hope that by next year we can get back to a real Celtic Connections.
Available to stream until the 22nd of January on the Celtic Connections website.
