Past projects
Cairn Chorus prides itself on collaboration, drawing on available local funding and talent to commission new songs and poetry to produce unique, immersive experiences for audiences capturing the essence of our local environment
Spring 2025: Galloway Sangstreams
in 2025, Cairn Chorus wanted to revisit the beautiful songs we had commissioned for the Cairn Valley Song Cycle (see below). Having secured funds, new songs, soundscapes, sonification, poetry and graphics were created in collaboration with local musicians and artists around the themes of life, land and legacy.
This was a truly community effort from the choir, its committee and its supporters. We were joined by:
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The award winning Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan who not only performed with us but composed three of the songs
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Award winning Hugh McMillan, local Penpont poet and regular performer with Cairn Chorus
Lucy Blane, a local musician and sound artist created a beautiful soundscape moving between snapshots of life on Galloway land, conjuring the physical environments of the urban and rural, natural and human, past and present, heritage and legacy. This was supported by Jo Ray, a local environmental artist and Kara Millen, a sustainability educator as well as choir members who contributed to the sound and images created in this project.
We were indebted to Liz Wyly and Andy Fairley who arranged the pieces for our village band who performed the prelude and interval music and with the choir.
Spring 2017: Cairn Valley Song Cycle
In 2015 Moniaive and Glencairn won a Creative Scotland's Creative Place Award which culminated in a year long programme of events weaving music, art and poetry representing the three rivers running through the village of Moniaive. Cairn Chorus created a Song Cycle in 2017 where our Music Director Kate Howard commissioned 10 women composers to write pieces about our community and connection to our rural landscape in Moniaive, and how changes in a rural community affect us. The composers reflected on migrations of communities through time, especially the current Syrian refugee crisis as well as the 18th and 19th century land clearances in large swathes of Scotland
The choir performed this with Galloway Agreement and The Scottish Ensemble as part of the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival.
Below, our Music Director Kate Howard tells you about the project:
Spring 2016: Songs of Separation
Our sell out concert with Songs of Separation as part of the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival 2016 was a treat for audience and performers alike. The choir had a fantastic day putting the concert together with the Songs of Separation girls and their hard work well and truly paid off as the collaborative pieces came together beautifully. You can find out more about Songs of Separation here.
Songs were from the American shape note tradition, Gaelic, Sweden, Macedonia, the UK, and Bulgaria.
Images from the rehearsal day:
And from the performance:
