MUMBAI:The BBC will be striking the right chord with fans of traditional and contemporary folk at the 2015 Celtic Connections in Glasgow. Under its BBC Music banner, the broadcaster is featuring more artists and performances than ever before from the UK’s biggest winter festival of folk music.
Coverage will be across the BBC on radio, television, iPlayer and online throughout the festival from 16 January.
For the first time, from the BBC’s home at the festival – the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Sauchiehall Street – it is planned that all the performances for BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and Radio Scotland will be screened online.
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There will be two highlights programmes on BBC Two Scotland, featuring performances from many of the artists at the BBC’s CCA sessions as well as a programme dedicated to the opening concert of the festival.
BBC Radio Scotland kicks off its coverage on Friday 16 January when Janice Forsyth (pictured) hosts a special edition of The Culture Studio from 2- 4 pm at the CCA. From Monday, 19 – Friday 23 January, the station will also be broadcasting live music from the venue from 8 pm.
On Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 January at 7pm, BBC Radio 2 will broadcast live from the CCA with Mark Radcliffe presenting. The concert in the first show pays tribute to Ewan MacColl, one of British folk music’s most influential figures; January 25 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. Featuring on the second programme will be Allison Moorer, Sarah Jarosz and The McCrarys.
On BBC Radio 3, Mary Ann Kennedy will be at the venue, introducing World On 3, the station’s world music programme, on Friday 16 and Friday 23 January at 11pm. The line-up in the first programme includes leading Quebec roots musicians Vent du Nord; Indian classical violin duo Ganesh & Kumaresh; plus Manran, one of Scotland’s new generation of folk bands, who infuse Gaelic song with heavyweight Highland and uilleann pipes. The line-up for the 23 January show includes Romanian gipsy band Taraf de Haidiuks, Songhoy Blues from Mali, and Italian tarantella band Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino.
And on World on 3 on 30 January at 11pm, Lopa Kothari presents the best of Celtic Connections, live from the BBC’s Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow.
It features highlights from the previous night’s concert given by two major African bands, Konono no.1 from Congo, and Bombino from Niger, and a live session with Canadian folk duo Pharis and Jason Romero.
On television, BBC Two Scotland at 9.30 pm on Thursday, 22 January, will show highlights from the festival’s opening concert – the world premiere of a live performance of GRIT – the final masterpiece of Scottish musician Martyn Bennett, ten years since his untimely passing. It will be performed by a specially created orchestra of folk, classical and jazz musicians, singers and contributors.
Before that, there’ll be another chance to see the Artworks Scotland documentary which celebrated the life and work of the gifted musician.
On Sunday 1 February from 5pm at the City Halls, Glasgow, BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year Final will be broadcast live. The event will be filmed by BBC ALBA for transmission on 2 February at 9pm.
Also for BBC ALBA, the channel’s established concert series, Cuirm@Celtic will be covering the festival. Three shows will be recorded and broadcast weekly from Saturday 31 January at 9pm, with Le Vent Du Nord, Mairi Smith & Friends and the Horizons concert featuring Kate Rusby, Al Lewis, Declan O’Rourke, Karine Polwart plus support. The Horizons concert is co-financed by MG ALBA, TG4 and S4C.
And the channel will also be recording sessions at Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow’s West End, drawing on the rich pool of talent appearing across the festival and creating opportunities for amazing and sometimes unexpected musical collaborations. Lahore Ce?l Mor featuring Gaelic Singer of the Year Mischa MacPherson, Irish supergroup Danu, and Cahalen Morrison and Eli West represent a small sample of the talent to be featured. Mary Ann Kennedy will host each programme which will feature collaborations curated by a guest musical luminary of the festival. The series is co-finance by TG4 and is for transmission in autumn 2015.
Bob Shennan, Controller, Radio 2, 6 Music and Asian Network and Director, BBC Music says, “I’m proud of the BBC’s continuing support of Celtic Connections, and next year’s festival promises to be the most exciting yet.”
BBC Scotland head of entertainment and events Eileen Herlihy adds, “It’s very exciting to be at the heart of Celtic Connections again and this year we are putting more resources into filming the featured performances on radio so our audiences across the UK can enjoy even more of the festival experience.
“The festival covers such a wide range of music, connecting artists from so many different genres, it’s great to able to treat our audiences to an even bigger helping of some of the best musical talent from Scotland, the UK and beyond.”
