A Bellowship of Accordionists
A couple of weeks ago, on midsummer, I headed to Orkney for the first time to attend a course with Karen Tweed and Karen Street, two wonderful accordionists from different musical backgrounds, as part of St Magnus International Festival.
A lovely group of twelve accordionists took part and learned a whole load of music, from reels to airs to the tango. It was an intense few days but I had a brilliant time and felt so accepted and supported by this group of accordion-mad folk. The two Karens played an awe-inspiring concert at Deerness Distillery on the Wednesday night along with Andy Tweed on saxophone and clarinet.
Some of the music was specially composed and arranged by the two Karens for a concert we performed at St Magnus Cathedral on the Thursday. It was such a special experience to play in a circle in the middle of the cathedral as part of the Assembly of Accordions. There were solos by folk on the course and guest appearances by young Orcadian box players, who were all brilliant. A highlight for me was getting to sing and play my version of Runrig's Air an Tràigh on the night. I'm grateful to the two Karens, everyone involved in putting on the course and concert and my fellow course mates for making it such an inspiring week