La Banda Europa
An extraordinary 35-piece band of virtuoso musicians assembled from some of the finest performers across Europe.
In 2006, composer Jim Sutherland was awarded the Creative Scotland Prize for artists of distinction - one of the richest arts awards to an individual in Europe. This award allowed him time to develop his ideas for an orchestra that could make a unique 'Sound of Europe'.
Celtic Connections will include a world premiere of two new pieces written by Jim Sutherland, specially commissioned for the festival. The project was initially inspired by Jim's score for the BAFTA and British Comedy Award winning film Festival for which they famously flew the Drambuie Pipe band to Seville to record Jim's score with La Banda Tres Caídas, an eighty piece Semana Santa band.
Jim put the orchestra together and wrote the first pieces of music over the winter of 2006/7. La Banda Europa's first performances were in the spring /summer of 2007 as part of Before the Wolf, a theatrically presented outdoor production which was commissioned by Newcastle Gateshead initiative and The Scottish National street arts festival, Big in Falkirk.
"All in all we've got some incredible musicians, some of the very best in the world on their particular instruments. The Armenians play an ancient instrument called the duduk made from the wood of the apricot tree and which sounds like a woman singing alto. Bagpipes of five countries, Swedish nyckelharpas, Turkish drums, trumpeters from Scotland and Serbia. Instruments like the ancient Celtic carnyx will grab the eye - it's the only one of its kind in the world and was reconstructed from one found in bogland in Scotland. It's a bronze war horn which was 6ft long and held vertically above the player's head. The vielles à roue (hurdy gurdies) are amazing to look at, like Elizabethan ships, with a sound somewhere between the violin and the bagpipes. The nykelharpas are similar, having a strange, other-worldly sound to them." Jim Sutherland - Director
Quotes from members of La Banda Europa:
"The ensemble is truly a unique sound because of this diversity and, at the same time, is a sonic representation of how Europeans can (and should) be creative together." Simon McKerrell - Scotland
"I think that the enthusiasm with which musicians from all over Europe have joined La Banda Europa is truly amazing. Jim Sutherland's composition is thoroughly eclectic and offers every individual musician and instrument the chance to express itself in the piece." Oscar Kamstra - Netherlands
"The opportunity to play with such wonderful musicians from across Europe was an absolute delight which managed to widen my understanding of other cultures while, at the same time, refreshing my interest in our own regional traditions and the exciting possibilities for development within this genre of music." Alistair Anderson - England
"One of the groundbreaking ideas that will become a major cultural force in uniting all European families is the concept of La Banda Europa. The idea of having all European families together, united in one voice, in one orchestra, will send a strong signal that as Europeans we should use our differences to create a new Europe rather than use them as an excuse to destroy it. La Banda Europa is the "Language of Europe". One language that all nations understand." Slobodan Trkulja - Serbia
For forthcoming concerts and for information on the educational work and smaller concerts under the umbrella of La Banda Europa visit:
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