Grand idea
AN American writer and musician was in Dunfermline recently and visited the town's Carnegie Hall. Admiring the sumptuous rooms of the Music Institute, he asked if he could play a piano for a while. Manager Evan Henderson enjoyed the visitor's playing very much and wondered that the instruments in his building were played so little. The collection in the institute includes four grands, among them a Steinway and a 110-year-old Bluthner.
The result is that Henderson has instigated an open-door policy and made the rehearsal rooms available for one-hour practice sessions. Groups are also welcome, but only of acoustic instruments and unamplified voices.
For the moment, the rehearsal space is free of charge, but after November 30 it will cost (pounds) 6.50 an hour. Call 01383 314111 or visit the Music Institute reception desk to book your slot.
Tour de force
THERE is still time to join in with Galloway End to End, a musical journey that kicked off in Portpatrick on Friday. Tonight the caravan reaches Kirkcudbright's Gordon House Hotel where Bobby Rob and Benny Graham will be leading the shanty singing. Tomorrow it's The Market Inn, Castle Douglas, and bothy ballads with Geordie Muirison, Dave McFadzean and Billy Martin. Thursday night is Burns night at The Normandy in Dumfries with Ian Bruce, Joyce Cunningham and Phyllis Martin, and on Friday Mick West and Ray Fisher will be singing travellers' songs at the Galloway Arms Hotel in Crocketford on the eve of the Galloway Folk Festival.
Musically gifted
THE Finzi Charitable Trust, established to promote the music and ideals of English composer Gerald Finzi and his wife, Joy Black, has announced new travel scholarships to be made available for next year. The (pounds) 20,000 bursary will be divided between two to four arts-based projects with a musical focus and is aimed at supporting practical experience, education or individual research over a period of three to eight weeks, either within the UK or abroad. Previous professional musical experience is not required, but applicants must be UK residents.
Grant applications will be assessed on the vision, realism and practicality of the proposals. They have to be submitted by November 20 and interviews will take place in January. Application forms are available from The Finzi Trust, PO Box 2, Hereford HR1 3YQ.
Give it a blast
CHASED, Chopped, Stabbed, Blasted is the arresting title of a new exhibition by Scottish Lettercutters Association which opens at Number Ten gallery at 10 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, on September 16. Although the association was established in 2001 with the aim of improving the skills of artists in Scotland, this is its launch exhibition and a chance to see the results of the work the group has done on courses run by the organisation Memorials by Artists. The group includes artists working in glass and wood as well as stone and the exhibition will be mounted outside on the terraced garden as well as in the gallery. It continues until September 30. The gallery is open daily from 10am to 4pm, except Sundays.
Book up
WIGTOWN Book Festival might sound a long way for a day trip but High Days and Holidays has included the book town in its new schedule of trips. The company is offering the door-to-door accompanied journey from west-central Scotland on September 20
for (pounds) 85. An ideal option for anyone who loves books but doesn't fancy the drive. Contact
07796 696275 for details.
Billboard is edited by Keith Bruce. Contact: Herald Arts, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB. 0141 302 7019; or e-mail arts@theherald.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article