Our April 2019 Unity Tour saw the debut of our Nevis Community Choir. Forty singers were brought together from choirs and community groups from around Glasgow and beyond to sing with Nevis in performances around the city. For some it was the first time in decades they had sung with a choir. And in the words of one of the participants:
What a belter of a day! The Ensemble is everything music should be – the talent, enthusiasm, the sheer joy of it all. Impressed beyond words.”
Choir participant
Funded thanks to the generosity of individuals through our Crowdfunder and Witherby Publishing Group, we managed to squeeze in seven performances across the day. Not only that, but we decided at even shorter notice to form a Nevis Community Choir to join us.
The reasoning behind the Unity Day was simply that as an organisation, we wanted to show solidarity with our European neighbours, as well as European citizens making their lives in this country. Like many orchestras in the UK, a significant proportion of Nevis Ensemble musicians are from outside of Scotland – particularly from other European nations. Our musicians have come to the UK to study, live and work, and we believe that their contribution to the ensemble and to society as a whole can only be positive and enriching.
As such, we thought that the perfect piece of music to embody this spirit of togetherness, was Beethoven’s Ode to Joy – the main theme from the final movement of his Ninth Symphony.
The melody is also used as the European Anthem, and expresses the ideals of a united Europe: freedom, peace, and solidarity. And apart from that, it was a good excuse to get some singers involved!
All that being said, we definitely did not want to make the day about politics(!), and we visited friends old and new at Nan MacKay Memorial Hall, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Reidvale Adventure Playground Association, and Refuweegee. We also gave performances on Royal Exchange Square and Buchanan Street, drawing appreciative crowds of bemused office workers, and we even managed to persuade a couple of shoppers to have an impromptu ceilidh with us.
The day finished with a performance from the orchestra and choir at the wonderful central hall in The Briggait for our good pals at Refuweegee.
Performances
| 19 April 2019 | 1000-1030 | Royal Exchange Square |
| 19 April 2019 | 1100-1145 | Nan Mackay Memorial Hall |
| 19 April 2019 | 1300-1345 | Queen Elizabeth University Hosptial |
| 19 April 2019 | 1530-1615 | Reidvale Adventure Play Association |
| 19 April 2019 | 1700-1730 | Buchanan Street |
| 19 April 2019 | 1830-1900 | Gartnavel Royal Hospital |
| 19 April 2019 | 2000-2100 | The Briggait with Refuweegee |
Repertoire
| Dancing Queen | ABBA arr. Peter Keisjers |
| I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) | The Proclaimers arr. Gordon Cree |
| Relight my Fire | Dan Hartman arr. Jorne Meijer |
| Caravan | Juan Tizol arr. Leonard Evers |
| Da Sneck o’ da Smaalie | Blazing Fiddles arr. Douwe Nauta |
| Scots Medley | trad. arr. Gordon Cree |
| Cathcart | Phil Cunningham arr. Douwe Nauta |
| Hebrides Overture | Felix Mendelssohn |
| Romanian Dances | Bela Bartók |
| Symphony No. 9 (4th Movement) | Ludwig van Beethoven |
| Black Sun Rotation | Nick Morrish Rarity |