Peat & Diesel to perform at Celtic Connections schools’ concert

Peat & Diesel has announced a special schools’ concert at Celtic Connections.

The band will showcase their award-winning live performance to thousands of school children on Friday 20th January.

The Stornoway three-piece have gone from playing sessions at their local pub to becoming world-famous across social media and on the UK touring circuit.

Since it started in 1999 over 200,000 children from all over Scotland have benefited from Celtic Connections education programme including some of the professional musicians seen on stages across the festival today.

Over 6000 children from across Scotland will attend three free schools concerts at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall this winter.

Opening for Peat & Diesel will be Ron Jappy and Rachel Hair who will perform an exciting array of traditional tunes on clarsach and guitar.

Québec’s Le Vent Du Nord will entertain the young crowds with their high energy and rocking performance. Although rooted in the Celtic diaspora, Le Vent Du Nord’s sound has a vast range of global influences and their incomparable live performance at previous school concerts has had teachers and pupils dancing in the aisles.

Opening this show will be the St Roch’s Céilí Band. Formed over 40 years ago by Frank McArdle as a lunchtime club in a Royston secondary school, this organisation is now responsible for teaching traditional music to hundreds of children across Glasgow.

The third and final schools concert will be a joint celebration that marks Celtic Connections’ 30th edition but also its pioneering education programme. Over 30 young musicians will come together from regions across Scotland, showcasing their home traditions before premièring a brand-new ensemble composition by Treacherous Orchestra co-founder John Somerville.

John Somerville, said: “The Celtic Connections education programme has always been the jewel in the crown of the festival, not only does it inspire future generations of musicians but it also gives young people the opportunity to experience live music in an incredible setting like the Glasgow Royal Concert hall - an opportunity they may not have had otherwise.

“Playing a Celtic Connections schools concert to thousands of kids is absolutely unforgettable, you will never hear cheers like it or feel an energy similar, you literally feel how Ed Sheeran must feel walking out onto that stage and I can’t wait for the thirty young musicians with me on this bill to feel the same.”

Joining John and the young musicians on the final schools concert will be Scottish super group Session A9 who will delight the young audience with their high-energy, rocking performance.

In addition to this series of concerts, there will also be a series of taster workshops taking place in schools across Glasgow. Professional celtic musicians will introduce a variety of traditional means of expression to children, including Scots and Gaelic song, piping demonstrations and workshops, scottish step dance, alongside instrumental tuition featuring the tin whistle, bodhran, fiddle and clarsach. These workshops are all delivered free of charge and are completely inclusive.

There will also be a host of weekend workshops for the whole family to enjoy throughout the festival, these will include Gaelic, Gospel and Scots song, as well as a family ceilidh that will all take place in the beautiful surroundings of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall will also host weekend workshops for all ages, including music workshops for guitar, strings, ukulele, mandolin, accordion and banjo.

For pre-school ages and babies, there will also be the very special Moon Dragon classes. These interactive workshops carry their young audience on a journey of discovery as they watch and interact with Bertie the Moon Dragon, Mrs Unicorn, the Owls and Frogs all trying to find the Moon and to get him to rise in time for the night.

Rachel Huggins and Corrina Hewat bring live music together with catchy tunes, magical storytelling and the simple but effective story of Bertie the Moon Dragon to young audiences.

The festival will run from Thursday 19 January to Sunday 5 February 2023.

Peat & Diesel to headline Celtic Connections schools’ concert

22 November 2022