Join us between 19-28 August 2019 for the biggest ever tour of the Hebrides by an orchestra!
Conducted by our Artistic Directors Holly Mathieson and Jon Hargreaves Nevis will give 35 concerts in public spaces and community venues on Barra, Vatersay, Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Berneray, Harris, St Kilda, Lewis and Skye, as well as in Garelochhead, Inverary, Ardfern, Oban, Fort William and Glasgow.
A highlight of the tour will see the whole orchestra travelling on four chartered boats to Hirta, the main island of St Kilda, on 24 August. The most remote group of islands in the British Isles, and evacuated in 1930, the archipelago is now home to a million seabirds, National Trust rangers and military personnel.
We will also give the world premiere of a new work by Rufus Elliot GEILT (a number of ways), based on the composer’s experiences of hitch-hiking around the Hebrides, as part of our ongoing partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and arrangements of Waulking Songs from the Isle of Lewis.
Every performance is different in terms of programming, and other repertoire includes works spanning the whole of music from the earliest written down music by Hildegard of Bingen (born 1098!) to the present day via Handel, Mozart, Debussy, Lutoslawski, James MacMillan and Shiori Usui, as well as pop music by A-Ha and Toto, and arrangements of Scottish ceilidh tunes and Gaelic songs. There is even some Shirley Bassey for those who feel like testing out their lung power .
This tour is able to happen thanks to the support of Creative Scotland, The Robertson Trust, Calendonian MacBryane Ferries, Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust, Foundation Scotland, William Grant Foundation, An Lanntair, and Cubby’s Midge Salves.
Have a look through the performance list below, and please do get in touch if you would like to know more.
PERFORMANCES
We’re back where we started (we had our first ever performance here), and kicking off our tour in the lovely village of Garelochhead.
Look out for us in the town centre as we give an impromptu performance in this beautiful town along Loch Fyne.
One of our favourite audiences of 2018, Nevis returns to Craignish Village Hall in Ardfern for a performance full of singing and dancing.
An early start (for both the musicians and young people…!), but great to be performing for the students of Oban before we head over to Barra.
Chamber groups from Nevis give performances in this residential care home for older people before the group jumps on the ferry to Barra.
Chamber groups from Nevis give performances in this residential care home for older people before the group jumps on the ferry to Barra.
Somewhere out in the Sound of Mull, Nevis will give a performance for ferry passengers heading to Barra to signal our arrival to the islands. Hopefully it’s a smooth crossing!
For our first performance on the islands, we’ll be giving a concert for locals and visitors in Castlebay on the gorgeous island of Barra.
The day starts with a performance for the schoolchildren of Barra. Castlebay is a bilingual English/Gaelic school – we hope our Gaelic pronunciation is OK…
If the weather is kind, join us for a performance on the beautiful beach at Vatersay Bay. This performance will act as a memorial to the more than 350 men, women and children of the Annie Jane (a ship taking migrants from Liverpool to Montreal), who perished off the coast of Vatersay in 1853, and whose bodies were interred here.
During the short crossing from Barra to Eriskay in the Sea of the Hebrides, Nevis will give a short performance on the ferry.
On the gorgeous island of Eriskay, we’re thrilled to give a performance in the island’s hall for the local community.
After crossing the causeway from Eriskay, we’ll be stopping off at Daliburgh for a morning performance at the school.
Kildonan Museum is a fascinating heritage centre that holds over 10,000 items relating to life on South Uist. We’ll be stopping by to give a performance for visitors and locals.
We love school performances, and can’t wait to stop off at Iochdar School on South Uist, for a lunchtime concert.
Arriving on Benbecula, we’ll head to Balivanich School for a performance for the whole school.
A first for Nevis, we’ll be giving a performance at the horse riding school! Going on previous form, expect an intrepid musician to play their instrument on horseback…
A relaxed evening performance for the community on beautiful North Uist.
We’ll be giving a performance for locals and visitors at this lovely arts centre in Lochmaddy. During the performance the orchestra will interact with Caolas na Hearadh (The Sound of Harris) a site-specific sound installation by artist Joshua Bonnetta.
Before we take the ferry to Harris, we’ll stop at Berneray for a performance on this beautiful beach. The silver sand and crystal waters look so tropical that the Thai tourist authorities mistook it for one of their own beaches during a marketing campaign!
As we continue to work our way north, thanks to Caledonian MacBrayne, we’ll give a performance on the ferry between Berneray and Harris.
Thanks to Historic Environment Scotland, we can give an intimate evening performance in St Clement’s Church, Rodel. Dating from the 15th century, it was built for the Chiefs of the Macleods of Harris.
A highlight of the tour, the orchestra will take the long trip out to St Kilda and give a performance for National Trust for Scotland staff, Military of Defence personnel, and visitors.
Occupied for 2000 years, before evacuation in 1930, the archipelago is a dual-UNESCO World Heritage Site (for natural environment and cultural significance). This will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and we can’t wait.
(If weather conditions mean the trip cannot go ahead on 24 August, we will travel the following day on 25 August.)
Once voted one of the top ten beaches in the world, we’ll stop off at Seilebost to give a short performance for those camping, visiting and living in the area.
Rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, we’ll stop off at Luskentyre and surprise those hoping for a quiet walk along the silver sands.
The first distillery on the Isle of Harris, we cannot wait to perform here for staff and visitors. We might even have to stay behind and have a taste of its world-renowned gin (if we must…)
Supported by An Lanntair, we’ll be giving a performance for Stornoway’s school children in the beautiful grounds of Lews Castle.
Supported by An Lanntair, we’ll stop off at the Western Isles Hospital for a performance for patients and staff.
Harris Tweed is famous the world over, and is having a revival being seen on the catwalks on Paris, Milan and New York with the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Alexander Macqueen using the material.
We can’t wait to stop by and give a performance at the mill for staff. We even have an arrangement of a Hebridean Waulking Song to share.
Thanks to Historic Environment Scotland, we can give an evening performance at the amazing Calanais Stones – Scotland’s most impressive and best preserved neolithic monuments. Erected around 5000 years ago, a performance among the stones at Calanais will be a special moment on the tour.
Our final ferry performance of the tour, Nevis will give a morning performance for those heading back to the mainland.
After a long drive, and back ‘over the sea’ to Skye, we’ll stop off at Portree High School for a concert to the whole school.
A Nevis summer tour wouldn’t be complete without a hilltop performance, so we’ll enjoy a short hike up to the top of the Old Man of Storr before giving a performance for fellow hikers and visitors.
An icon of Scotland, we’ll stop off at Eilean Donan Castle for a morning performance for staff and visitors, as we start the journey back to Glasgow.
Our final pop-up performance of the tour, find us in Fort William town centre for a quick performance as we continue the journey back to Glasgow.
Our final performance venue is still to be confirmed, but we’ll be sure to let you know so that all of our Glasgow audiences can come and enjoy our final concert of the tour.