Diverse mix of talent for festival fund-raiser

An eclectic mix of local musicians will come together on Saturday to play at a fund-raising concert to support the 70th year of the Shetland Schools Music Festival.

The festival gives youngsters the opportunity to get together and celebrate music making from across the islands.

And the fund-raiser held in the Scalloway Hall tomorrow will be in the same vein.

The line-up features: Full Swing, a vocal jazz band; Autopilot, made up of fourth year Anderson High School pupils; The Bluemelts, a soul and blues band; Shetland Heritage Fiddlers, all pupils of the late Tom Anderson; Evergreen, singing traditional folk, country and Shetland dialect songs; Aestawest, Shetland’s African Afro-Cuban drumming group; the all female Sandyburn Singers, and Alan Mackay and Robert Bennet.

SIC’s Creative Links officer, Noelle Henderson, said: “This fund-raising concert certainly offers something for everyone and I’m very grateful to all the musicians who are giving of their time, as well as Sioban Tekcan, our schools’ instrumental instructor, for all her hard work behind the scenes in organising this event.

“It’s amazing to think that the Shetland Schools Music Festival is now in its 70th year; a fantastic celebration and a great way to support young people in their music making into the future.”

Ms Tekcan said: “As a teacher and musician in Shetland I have one main passion in life, to play, and encourage others to play, music as much and as often as possible.

“This was the main motivation behind this fund-raising concert – to give musicians the opportunity to perform in front of an audience while raising money for a cause which will see future generations continue the legacy of Shetland’s musical heritage.”

This year’s Shetland Schools Music Festival will take place from 16th to 20th March. Saturday’s concert is at 7pm.