Our August 2018 Movement Tour, was Nevis Ensemble’s first ever tour, and we decided to enter with a bang. In just two weeks, we put together an orchestra of 40 with players coming from 14 nations to give 70 performances in venues across Scotland as part of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships.
In partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, we commissioned Matthew Grouse to write a new work for the orchestra, entitled Attach, which received its world première at the world’s oldest surviving music hall – Glasgow’s Britannia Panopticon, on 31 July 2018.
‘First class musicians. First class entertainment. First class audience participation. First class. Everyone at the Fred Paton Centre will cherish the experience of being at the Nevis Ensemble Concert. All wished it could have gone on longer. The experience was exceptional in every way. A sight and sound spectacular.’
Fred Paton Centre, Glasgow Day centre for older people
Our Artistic Directors, Holly Mathieson and Jon Hargreaves chose the theme of Movement to tie in with the sporting action of the European Championships, as well as to inspire thinking about the movement of people and ideas. Apart from anything else, the orchestra also moves! Nevis soon became very much a ‘moving’ orchestra.
With 5-6 performances a day, this was an intense tour that took performances everywhere from train stations during rush hour to quiet gardens for an HIV/AIDS support group. In between, we reached the summit of the highest mountain in the British Isles, played alongside a nude life drawing class, and persuaded Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to conduct us during the Opening Reception of the European Championships.
Performances
| 31 July 2018 | 1300 – 1400 | Garelochhead Village Hall |
| 31 July 2018 | 1630 – 1700 | Faslane Peace Camp |
| 31 July 2018 | 1900 – 2100 | Britannia Panopticon |
| 01 August 2018 | 1000-1030 | Buchanan Street |
| 01 August 2018 | 1100-1145 | Glasgow Central Station |
| 01 August 2018 | 1315-1400 | Nan Mackay Memorial Hall |
| 01 August 2018 | 1500-1545 | House for an Art Lover |
| 01 August 2018 | 1800-1815 | City Chambers (PRIVATE) |
| 01 August 2018 | 1900-1945 | Gartnavel Royal Hospital |
| 02 August 2018 | 1030-1130 | Tickled Trout – Alzheimer Scotland |
| 02 August 2018 | 1230-1330 | Glasgow Lodging House Mission |
| 02 August 2018 | 1530-1630 | Glasgow Green – Yoga Session |
| 02 August 2018 | 1800-1900 | George Square |
| 03 August 2018 | 1000-1030 | Kelburn Castle and Country Park |
| 03 August 2018 | 1045-1130 | Kelburn Castle and Country Park |
| 03 August 2018 | 1250-1320 | Saltcoats Town Centre |
| 03 August 2018 | 1345-1415 | Auchenharvie Swimming Pool |
| 03 August 2018 | 1430-1500 | Stevenston Cross/Beattie Library |
| 03 August 2018 | 1600-1645 | CentreStage Communities, Kilmarnock |
| 03 August 2018 | 1930-2100 | New Lanark, Lanark |
| 04 August 2018 | 1030-1130 | Erskine Home, Bishopton |
| 04 August 2018 | 1200-1220 | Queens Park Glasshouse |
| 04 August 2018 | 1330-1430 | The Croft, Queens Park (SouthSeeds) |
| 04 August 2018 | 1600-1645 | Kinning Park Complex (Refuweegee) |
| 05 August 2018 | 1300-1400 | West Brewery |
| 05 August 2018 | 1300-1400 | Dunoon Burgh Hall |
| 05 August 2018 | 1530-1620 | Auchindrain Township, Inverary |
| 05 August 2018 | 1830-1930 | Craignish Village Hall |
| 06 August 2018 | 1230-1300 | Summit of Ben Nevis |
| 07 August 2018 | 0930-1000 | Waverley Train Station |
| 07 August 2018 | 1110-1140 | Edinburgh Airport |
| 07 August 2018 | 1330-1415 | Jupiter Artland (with the Cheyne Gang) |
| 07 August 2018 | 1630-1715 | Richmond Craigmillar Church |
| 07 August 2018 | 1900-2000 | St John’s Church, Princes Street |
| 08 August 2018 | 1100-1150 | Dunbar Battery, Dunbar |
| 08 August 2018 | 1300-1350 | Port Seaton Resource Centre |
| 08 August 2018 | 1430-1515 | North Edinburgh Arts |
| 08 August 2018 | 1600-1645 | Social Bite |
| 08 August 2018 | 1800-1900 | Whitmuir Organic Farm |
| 09 August 2018 | 1100-1145 | Waverley Care |
| 09 August 2018 | 1430-1445 | St Enoch Subway Station |
| 09 August 2018 | 1515-1530 | Kelvinbridge Subway Station |
| 09 August 2018 | 1545-1600 | Govan Subway Station |
| 09 August 2018 | 1615-1645 | St Enoch Square |
| 09 August 2018 | 1800-1845 | Drumchapel Park |
| 09 August 2018 | 2100-2200 | Glasgow Night Shelter |
| 10 August 2018 | 1245-1330 | Fred Paton Centre |
| 10 August 2018 | 1445-1530 | Reidvale Adventure Playground |
| 10 August 2018 | 1600-1630 | Merchant City Festival |
| 10 August 2018 | 1645-1715 | Merchant City Festival |
| 10 August 2018 | 1730-1800 | Merchant City Festival |
| 11 August 2018 | 1030-1100 | Loch Lomond Shores |
| 11 August 2018 | 1105-1130 | Balloch Park |
| 11 August 2018 | 1135-1200 | Balloch Train Station |
| 11 August 2018 | 1315-1400 | Hidden Gardens, Pollokshields |
| 11 August 2018 | 1600-1645 | Children’s Wood, West End |
| 11 August 2018 | 1900-1945 | St Mary’s Church, Kirkintilloch |
| 12 August 2018 | 1100-1200 | George Square |
| 12 August 2018 | 1230-1315 | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum |
| 12 August 2018 | 1430-1515 | Woodlands Community Garden |
| 12 August 2018 | 1600-1630 | Tesco Maryhill |
| 12 August 2018 | 1800-1830 | Merchant Square |
| 13 August 2018 | 1000-1040 | Kelvin Hall |
| 13 August 2018 | 1200-1245 | Riverside Museum |
| 13 August 2018 | 1500-1515 | Glasgow Erskine Home |
| 13 August 2018 | 1730-1815 | East Pollokshields Quad |
| 13 August 2018 | 2000-2100 | All The Young Nudes |
Repertoire
| Attach (world premiere, commissioned by Nevis) | Matthew Grouse |
| Romanian Dances | Béla Bartók |
| Symphony No. 7 (1st Movement) | Ludwig van Beethoven |
| Let’s Face the Music and Dance | Irving Berlin (arr. Rossum) |
| Songs of Scotland | trad. arr. Gordon Cree |
| Children’s Corner Suite | Claude Debussy (arr. Caplet) |
| Da Scheck O’ Da Smaalie | Fiddlers Bid (arr. Nauta) |
| Dances at Threave | John Maxwell Geddes |
| Scherzo, The Ladies | Cevanne Hopkins-Hopayian |
| Dancing Queen | ABBA (arr. Peter Keisjers) |
| Symphony No. 4 (4th Movement) | Felix Mendelssohn |
| Black Sun Rotation | Nicholas Morrish |
| I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) | The Proclaimers (arr. Cree) |
| Suite, The Fairy Queen | Henry Purcell |
| Bolero | Maurice Ravel |
| Carousel Waltz, Carousel | Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein |
| El agua de la vida | Salsa Celtica (arr. Zwagerman) |
| Valse Triste | Jean Sibelius |
| Cyched | Neil Tòmas Smith |
| A-Train | Billy Strayhorn (arr. Daams) |
| Infernal Dance of King Katschei, The Firebird | Igor Stravinsky |
| Caravan | Juan Tizol (arr. Evers) |
| Superfly | Treacherous Orchestra (arr. Bouma) |
| Ride of the Valkyries | Richard Wagner |
| Still, Glowing | Judith Weir |