Ceòl Feasgair/ Evening Music

This event sees Fraser Fifield (Traditional Artist in Residence at the University of Edinburgh) welcome celebrated piper, singer and composer Allan MacDonald for an evening of extemporising, improvising and interpreting a wealth of instrumental music and song.

Doors open at 7:30pm, with the performance going from 8pm until 9pm.

Fraser Fifield is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Scotland, performing on low whistle, saxophone, and bagpipes. His distinctive instrumental voice draws influence from many sources; Scottish folk is identifiably present but also Jazz, Indian, Balkan and more. He currently holds the post of Traditional Artist in Residence at Edinburgh University.

Over a 30-year career, Fraser has performed with many influential bands from the Scottish folk scene and released a series of acclaimed solo recordings. His most recent, ‘One Great Circle’, refers to the legacy of Traveller Stanley Robertson, and features Chris Stout and Catriona McKay. It is Fraser’s 10th studio album to feature his original compositions and is due for release on 8th March 2024.

Allan MacDonald was born in 1956 and raised in the Gaelic-speaking community of Glenuig in a family that includes two equally famous piping MacDonald brothers: Iain and Dr. Angus. Allan was taught first by Pipe Major John MacKenzie of Campbelltown at Queen Victoria School in Dunblane, and later by Bob Nicol and Roddy MacDonald of South Uist.

Though he won the Gold Medal at Inverness in 1984, and two straight Clasps there in 1989 and 1990, his style has more often been the antithesis of the successful competitive piper, particular in piobaireachd. He has been strongly influenced by a wide range of traditional music plays Scottish smallpipes, Border pipes, whistle, harmonica, button accordion and Jew’s harp. Like that of his brothers, his playing reflects a style of power and rhythm deeply rooted in the Highlands of Scotland.

In 1995, Allan finished a M.Litt thesis at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Scottish Studies that explored the relationship between piobaireachd and Gaelic language rhythms in song. From this work came radical new interpretations of piobaireachd that he has played frequently in public.

Allan currently lives in Edinburgh and teaches at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow where he specialises in the degree program offered by the Centre in conjunction with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Host or Publisher School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures