event details

Voices of the World

Thursday 31st January 2008, 7.30pm

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Auditorium

Please Note: This is a past event event.

In recognition of the power of world voices, Celtic Connections brings together two fabled female choirs from Italy and Bulgaria with one of Scotland’s longest-established Gaelic choirs, in a massed celebration of song that promises a truly unforgettable night.

Coro delle Mondine di Novi (the Novi Rice Weeders’ Choir) began life as its original founders toiled in Italy’s rice fields during World War II, singing to alleviate the drudgery, meanwhile smuggling messages and weapons for the resistance. After the war, the songs they shared became emblems of freedom, passed on in turn to their children, and now form the basis of the 35 strong choir’s spellbinding show Di Madre in Figlia (From Mother to Daughter), a collaboration with the young folk/fusion band Fiamma Fumana.

Joining them tonight is the legendary Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Angelite, whose extraordinary harmonic and rhythmic blend draws on vocal traditions dating back some 2000 years, the Aberfeldy Gaelic Choir, who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2007, directed here by the celebrated singer and folklorist Margaret Bennett and flying the flag for Scotland will be the well-known harmony trio of Corrina Hewat, Annie Grace and Karine Polwart as well as the sublime, earthy vocals of renowned Lewis Gaelic singer Mairi Smith.