(Preview) Usher Hall Daytime Concerts in December and January
Get Organised Carol Concert and Emerging Artists
On Monday 4th December at 1.10 the Usher Hall hosts the annual Choir and Organ Christmas Special with the Edinburgh University Singers, conductor Calum Robertson, and John Kitchen on the organ. They promise seasonal music old and new for Advent and Christmas, with audience participation in carols, and perhaps a re-appearance of Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Tickets are £5.
Earlier that day at 11 am, Slideshow Trombone Quartet present the first of four Emerging Artists Concerts in December and January. Formed in 2018, they play a wide range of music from the Renaissance to the present day, and their programme includes work by Haydn, Bizet and Piazzolla, finishing with a medley of Scottish and Yuletide favourites. They’ll also be showing off some of their unusual brass instruments, including the euphonium.
Estonian lutenist/soprano, Kristiina Watt and French/American soprano, Heloise Bernard, are Ensemble Cordes en Ciel. Like the trombonists, they met while studying at the Royal Conservatoire, and their concert at 11am on Monday 15th January features solos on early music instruments, the theorbo, lute and baroque guitar. They also sing duets, some of them from all-female singing groups who were popular in 16th century Italy.
The Lark Duo, soprano Ines Mayhew-Begg and Lisa Robertson on violin, enjoy playing classical, contemporary, new commissions, folk and improvised repertoire. They hope their story-focused concert at 11 am on Monday 22nd January will provide an escape from the pressures of our fast-paced lives.
Finally on 30th January, The Fountaineers, formed during lockdown in 2020, perform classic bluegrass and old-time repertoire. Michael Wright, guitar, Callum Morton-Teng, mandolin, Jeri Foreman, fiddle and Rob Hart, banjo, were named after the Kelvingrove Park Fountain where they started their jamming sessions, and now regularly play at festivals across the UK and Europe.
Emerging Artists Concerts are supported by Live Music Now Scotland – look out for their poster outside the Usher Hall. Concert tickets are £3, with free entry for children and full-time students.
Live Music now Scotland is a charity and for more information about these artists and the charity’s work see Live Music Now Scotland – Inspiring Musicians, Changing Lives.
