Doors Open 7:30pm
Starts 8:00pm
Finishes (approx.) 9:00pm
Legendary Braemar is a new commission from St Margaret’s, exploring landscape, love and legends: tales from the village and upper Deeside area.
A collaboration in music and storytelling, Legendary Braemar features original music from award-winning duo Chris Stout (fiddle) and Catriona Mckay (harp) and stories selected and retold by North East Makar Sheena Blackhall and actor Hamish Somers.
This new work is created especially for the magical, intimate surrounds of St Margaret’s Braemar, drawing inspiration from this unique corner of the Grampians which has borne witness to major historical events, hosting kings, queens, Jacobite rebels and mysterious murders — spawning countless ghost stories and local legends. Little wonder it was Braemar that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to create one of the most fiendish villains in literature in the form of Long John Silver.
The performers will weave together spoken word and music, immersing the audience in this world of local lore and legend.
Chris Stout and Catriona McKay
Catriona McKay is from Dundee and Chris Stout is from Fair Isle, the southernmost Shetland Island.
Catriona & Chris have their roots in Scottish traditional music. They use this grounding as a starting point to challenge their instruments and to develop and explore new music. The result is a dynamic and adventurous sound that retains the identity of their traditions yet allows the music to have a freedom and connection to other musical styles they are drawn to.
They have performed, explored and sculpted their musical identities together for 15 years. Through a respect for tradition and a spirit of experimentation they continue to evolve and create a sound sensation and style “operating at a rarefied level of expertise” (The Herald newspaper, Scotland). They recorded their first duo cd “Laebrack” in 2005 and in 2010 they present their self-penned album white nights. As trustworthy collaborators they have been part of many projects and are both members of the internationally acclaimed band Fiddlers’ Bid.
And so they merge together background, traditions and fresh vision to make their own space. Music celebrating the freedom shared by two diverse and dynamic musicians. Emotional music, music of stark beauty, using vulnerable tactile sounds. It’s a soundworld that they own, one they have created with a driving energy and a clear direction.
It allows them to find those magical, elusive emotions that connect to the soul, share a freedom, a feeling of abandonment, of letting-go. They cultivate an atmosphere of trust in which they can set sail. It is an intense sensation of witnessing the creation of something immediate and essential that is so captivating for them and for their listeners.
Sheena Blackhall
Sheena Blackhall is a prolific poet and local Makar with deep roots in Deeside. She has penned over a hundred and fifty publications, had 2 plays broadcast on TV, contributed to countless festivals and literary events. She is also a spellbinding storyteller and singer. She completed an M.Litt studying the Doric speech of the pupils of upper Deeside. She is delighted to be part of this celebration of the music and prose of the landscape of the Cairngorms.
She hopes this original work commissioned by St. Margaret’s will be the first of many celebrating the rich culture of Deeside.
Hamish Somers
Hamish Somers is an actor from Aberdeen who graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts with a BA(Hons) Performance - Acting.
Credits include: Beating the Bounds (Collage Arts), Macbeth (Lazarus Theatre & Quantum Theatre), Stories from the North East (Castlegate Arts) and Our War (Imole Theatre)