STRING Sisters will be bringing their unique sound to Celtic Connections at the Royal Concert Hall on January 20 as they prepare for the release of their new album Between Wind and Water in February of next year.
The band will be playing tunes from their new album as a prelude to Donald Shaw’s score to accompany Scotland’s Wild Heart – the BBC television programme exploring the wildlife of the Highlands.
A unique fusion of Nordic and Celtic traditions, the collective, comprising fiddlers from Shetland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland and the United States, captivates from the first listen.
Raw and emotional, the music and song of these masters of their art is stirring and riotous in equal measure.
The band was founded at Celtic Connections in 2001 by Shetland fiddler Catriona Macdonald and she plays alongside Chicago native and legendary composer Liz Carroll, Liz Knowles, another American fiddler of renown, Annbjørg Lien, one of Norway’s most eminent fiddlers, Emma Härdelin from Sweden, who comes from a family of nationally-acclaimed musicians and who lends her hauntingly beautiful voice, and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from Ireland - one of the most important exponents of the Donegal fiddle style.
The band is completed by Dave Milligan on piano, Tore Bruvoll on guitar, Conrad Molleson on bass and James Mackintosh on drums.
The entire evening promises to be an immersive experience with the BBC’s renowned aptitude for wildlife cinematography complemented by the live music from Shaw himself, and featuring Michael McGoldrick, Patsy Reid, Aidan O’Rourke, Catriona McKay, Sorren MacLean, James Mackintosh, Greg Lawson and a double string quartet.
It promises to be just one of many nights not to be missed at the forthcoming winter festival.
There will be lots more to come on Celtic Connections in the weeks running up to the launch so get your diaries out.
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