Haddo House’s arts organisation has announced the Aberdeenshire stately home has been awarded a grant by the People’s Postcode Trust for its Song for Haddo music project.
The new grant of £8,798 has been added to the funding already committed by Udny Community Trust.
The extra funds mean the Haddo Arts project can be extended to include participation by young musicians from local academies, allowing them to join the McOpera Ensemble in a professionally mentored string orchestra and brass ensemble.
For its 10th anniversary Haddo Arts Festival, they have commissioned composer Peter Kemp and Music Co-OPERAtive Scotland (McOpera) to create a work for local primary-age singers and high school instrumentalists, mentored by McOpera professional musicians and presented in collaboration with National Trust of Scotland.
Inspired by bringing people together
A Place to Play – A Haddo Oratorio is inspired by Haddo House and its ethos of using music-making to bring people together. It’s a celebration of resilience and the power of talent, imagination and creativity.
Singers from four Aberdeenshire primary schools will be joined by young musicians from the surrounding academies and their instrumental music instructors to take part in blended workshops, coaching and recording sessions with baritone Andrew McTaggart and the McOpera Ensemble.
The project will culminate in a live visit to Haddo House where – led by the guides from the National Trust of Scotland – the young people will be able to explore Haddo’s childhood haunts and its “nooks and crannies”, prior to being filmed and recorded in socially-distanced bubbles and performing alongside the professional musicians from McOpera.
Haddo House welcomes return of live music and announces 10th anniversary arts festival
Concert recorded at Haddo House
In 2020, Song for Haddo: Fables and Foibles was delivered virtually, with the young singers and musicians recording their individual contributions at home.
This year’s project, A Place to Play: A Haddo Oratorio, will be recorded live over several days at Haddo House in September and mixed into a final ensemble.
The complete performance will be broadcast as a YouTube premiere on Thursday October 14 during the 10th anniversary Haddo Arts Festival.