Musicians to play Europe’s largest winter music festival

Herkja are to perform at Celtic Connections. Photo: May Graham.

Shetland musicians will take to the stage at Europe’s largest winter music festival.

The Celtic Connections festival is set to take place in Glasgow through January and February of 2023.

Four-piece harmony ensemble Herkja will be among those performing.

The band, which is made up of Jenny Sturgeon on guitar, Lana Smith on accordion and Lyn Anderson and Martha Thomson on fiddle, are known for writing songs in Shetland dialect and playing tunes from the isles and Scandinavia.

The group will be joining more than 1,000 musicians taking part in the 18 days of events spanning across a variety of genres. Herkja’s performance will be at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall’s new auditorium.

Established duo, fiddler Jenna Reid and pianist Harris Playfair, are set to play the City Halls Recital Room on 25th January. Reid will also perform with her group Blazin’ Fiddles at the Theatre Royal on 28th January.

The Ross Couper Band, composed of Shetlanders Ross Couper and Paul Jennings, along with BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year for 2021 Michael Biggins, will play the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Strathclyde Suite on 26th January.

Shetland fiddler Chris Stout and Dundee-born harpist Catriona McKay’s latest collaborative project Möder Dy (meaning Mother Wave) will see the two internationally celebrated traditional musicians join the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for a celebration of contemporary folk and classical music at City Halls on 27th January. This show will also take place in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall the night before their Celtic Connections performance.

Creative producer for the festival, Donald Shaw, said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming audiences from near and far to the 30th edition of Celtic Connections in Glasgow – it’s set to be a really special start to the new year.

“We’re always thrilled to be able to showcase brilliant Scottish artists from across the country and we’re looking forward to seeing them entertain crowds on this international stage this January.”