The much loved Scottish Fiddle Orchestra will showcase their Hogmanay Celebration at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on Friday 30th December, with hundreds of guests expected to flock to the special gig.
The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra will perform at Scotland’s only five-star concert hall with conductor Blair Parham at the helm. Gary Innes, from Scottish supergroup Mànran and host of BBC's Take the Floor, has the job of compere and ringmaster with maybe a wee tune on his accordion. They will be joined by acclaimed singers, mezzo soprano Colette Ruddy and tenor Dennis Haggerty. Also joining the 80 strong orchestra will be Stockbridge Pipe Band, helping to raise the roof at what will be a fantastic show!
People of all ages can enjoy lively toe-tapping jigs and reels, poignant slow airs, and a sprinkling of well-known songs at the annual festive gathering.
The orchestra, which has promoted traditional Scottish music for more than 40 years, held its last Hogmanay Celebration in 2019 with an 1,800-strong audience.
Bob Diament, Chairman of Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, said: “We can’t wait to get back to our Hogmanay Celebrations on the Usher Hall stage, it really is one of our favourite venues and it’s lovely to play there at such a special time of year. It is a concert that can be enjoyed by all – couples and families looking to do something special during the festive season, friends wanting to enjoy rousing performances together, and visitors interested in soaking up some of Scotland’s finest culture.”
The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is a charity run by volunteers and is fully self-supported. The orchestra makes donations to other musical-related charities, partner pipe bands, medical charities and the RNLI.
The SFO’s Hogmanay Celebration starts at 7.30pm on Saturday 30 December.
Tickets are priced between £5 - £25 and are on sale now at: www.sfo.org.uk/concert/edinburgh-usher-hall
The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra (SFO) is one of Scotland’s foremost traditional music organizations. The Orchestra was formed in 1980, deriving its origins from Fiddlers’ Rallies which were – and are – held throughout the country. After one of these Rallies, a group of enthusiasts met to consider the formation of an orchestra which would draw its members from a’ the airts and would form a cohesive, vigorously rehearsed group of musicians.
The inaugural concert of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra was on 20th March 1980 in the Music Hall, Aberdeen. Since that time the Orchestra has settled into a sequence of six or seven major concerts each year in: The Royal Concert Hall (Glasgow), The Usher Hall (Edinburgh), The Music Hall (Aberdeen), Perth Concert Hall DG-One, (Dumfries) and a major venue South of the Border (e.g. York Barbican; The Sage, Gateshead).
A small number of other ‘special’ concerts are also undertaken each year and the Orchestra has also toured to Ireland, Canada, China, Australia, New Zealand, Orkney and Shetland.
Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, became the SFO’s patron in December 1993. All of the orchestra’s concerts are given in aid of one or more charities; over the years these charities have benefited by a sum in excess of £1 million.
Website: www.sfo.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ScottishFiddleOrchestra
Instagram: www.instagram.com/scot_fiddle_orch