By Maxim Cormier
This year, I've been very fortunate to get to take part in this great new partnership, travelling in June 2014 to Australia for the National Celtic Festival. My stay down under started with a week in Melbourne, where I got to work on and perform John Somerville's new piece of music "The Voyage of The Hector"; a Multi-movement suite of music commissioned by Fèis Rois to celebrate the voyage of the Hector - a boat that sailed from Ullapool, in Wester Ross, to Pictou, Nova Scotia in 1773 carrying over 200 people from the Highlands and Islands - as well as the 15th anniversary of the Ceilidh Trail project and the year of homecoming in Scotland. The piece was premiered at the National Celtic Festival, where I also got to do several duo performances with Cape Breton fiddler, Rachel Davis. On August 5th, I'll perform "The Voyage of The Hector" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a different group of musicians. Then, in October, we'll take this piece of music to Celtic Colours in Cape Breton to perform it there, where so many emigrants from that time settled, with local young musicians.
I'm really excited to show the people from home what I've been up to this summer! It's been an amazing experience to collaborate with musicians from Australia and Scotland on such a project. I've made connections with many like-minded people; maybe some more music will come out of these friendships in the future!
Fèis Rois's Ceilidh Trail projects gives young musicians the opportunity to come together and do a 5 week tour. This year, being the 15th anniversary of the Ceilidh Trail, Fèis Rois has put together a special touring group called the the Commonwealth Trail, which comprises a lucky Canadian (guess who!) and Jack Wilson, a fiddle and piano player from Australia. Our touring schedule includes the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Calendonian Club in London, events during the Commonwealth Games such as the launch of the Glasgow 2014 media centre and a Gaelic Arts showcase hosted by Creative Scotland the Edinburgh Fringe, and visiting the Western Isles of Lewis and Harris, to name but a few stops along the way. The Ceilidh Trail is a truly amazing project; I really wish we had something similar at home to encourage more young Cape Bretoners to get involved in traditional music.
July 14-18 was our 'training week' for the Ceilidh Trail - 18 young musicians from across Scotland (and myself and Jack) spent a week rehearsing and taking workshops at the Old Brewery in Cromarty on the Black Isle just north of Inverness. On July 14th, I met the other members of my Trail: Charlie Grey, Lucie Hendry, Josie Duncan, Micheal Steele and I had already met Jack Wilson in Australia. By July 18th, we were expected to have two 45 minute concert sets ready, be able to play for a 3 hour ceilidh and be comfortable setting up and operating a PA system. It seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but these 5 musicians are extremely talented and keen to get this project together. It's been an absolute blast to learn a bunch of new music with them.
I can't wait to see more of this lovely country.
A Caper in Cromarty
