AWARD-WINNING Gaelic singer, Maggie MacInnes, will be performing contemporary arrangements of songs from a previously unreleased private archive at the Harbour Arts Centre next week.
Accompanying Maggie will be some of Scotland’s finest musicians including Wendy Weatherby (cello), Calum Park (fiddle and guitar), Conal McDonagh (pipes and flute) and Dan Brown (keyboards) and Alex Palmer (percussion).
The performance will include material recorded by Maggie's mother, the great traditional singer from the island of Barra, Flora MacNeil MBE.
The archive of around 180 songs was recorded in the 1950s and 60s by an Australian folklorist, Dr James Kalokerinos, and includes many rare gems alongside some of the many traditional songs which Flora helped make popular today.
With assistance from Creative Scotland Scotland, Maggie has put together a show which pays tribute to Flora and to other tradition bearers who passed on the songs to her.
She has also recently recorded the songs from the show on her new album, Uiseagan Bharraigh (Barra Skylarks), which is to be launched at this event.
The show was first performed at Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival in January of this year to a sell-out crowd and is to tour the highlands and islands in the summer.
Tickets for the show are already selling quickly. Further information is available at www.maggiemacinnes.co.uk
Maggie said: "I am delighted to be coming to the Harbour Arts Centre and I feel excited to perform at North Ayrshire's flagship arts and culture venue.
"My mum Flora knew hundreds of songs, learned as she grew up in Barra, and since she passed away in 2015, I have been continuing to learn from her...
"I have chosen the songs in the show for their depth and beauty primarily but also to shine a light on some of those which are seldom, if ever, sung today and which might otherwise be lost.
"So please consider coming along to this unique showcase and being part of an evening to remember."
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