Scotland meets Canada with fiddles in hand

Saturday 10th. August saw the meeting of young fiddlers from Canada with contemporaries from Berwickshire. Members of the Coast String Fiddlers, led by Holly Beckmyer, from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia in Canada shared in a concert with Berwickshire’s Highhline, led by Carly Blane. It was an energetic performance entitled ‘Canada Meets Scotland’.

The concert was started by the youngest fiddlers, members of Junior Highline who played ceildh music, supported by Carly Blane.

Junior HIghline was replaced by Highline who performed a programme of Scottish fiddle music which delighted the large audience present.

Taking us to the interval, Carly and Holly performed — and that’s Heather and Harris providing an accompaniment on their electric piano.

The second half of the concert was provided by the Coast String Fiddlers who played twelve numbers and presented us with some music from Scotland but mostly from their native Canada. It was a splendid programme and hugely enjoyed by everyone present.

After the concert everyone posed happily for Molly our photographer.

And Molly found the perfect spot to take a picture which made a splendid memento for all our visitors (and for us as well).

It had been a splendid concert and very well supported by an extremely enthusiastic audience. An excellent way to spend a Saturday afternoon … but the weekend was not yet over.

On Sunday evening Holly presented a programme of songs, all of which were composed by female composers including Lili Boulanger, Leslie Uyeda, Dika Newlin and Heather Cattanach. One of the songs had been written for her by her mother, Heather, who accompanied Holly on the piano. It was another great evening and as Heather told us, it was very exciting for her to have her daughter across in Fogo, visiting from her home in Canada. We look forward to welcoming Holly and all of her fiddlers back to Scotland in the future.