Su-a Lee: Dialogues at Mackintosh church Celtic Connections 2025

 

What a glorious setting for her rich, glowing tones and the depth of character on Su a Lee’s cello! The concert explored Lee’s astute journey of her compelling musicianship and celebrating her collaboration work with Duncan Chisholm, one of Scotland's most revered fiddlers, celebrated multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer Donald Shaw, and husband and composer Hamish Napier. The cream of Celtic musicians Lee’s work ranges from classical, experimental and folk traditions.

The Concert

Lee explored her years playing the rhythmic drive of Scottish traditional music within the landscapes of classical music. She performed tracks from her album Dialogues 2023, including mostly original compositions. She was accompanied by pianists Hamish Napier and Donald Shaw and violinist Duncan Chisholm. (Shaw is also Celtic Connections festival director since 2006). 

Tonight rather than the fiddle or voice centre stage, it was the deep tones and dynamic range of the cello. Lee began with a poignant cello solo of Burns ‘Ae fond Kiss’, followed by the emotive drama of Donald Shaw’s Baroque suite, with three dance forms and a slow air – ‘Baroque March Mull’, ‘Cathedral of Trees’, ‘Malpica’ ‘Ocean Poem’. As well as performing Shaw’s renowned music ‘Islands on the Edge’.

“Shaw’s tunes are all bangers” she exclaimed! Her welcome and informed chat between sets added a personal note. With violin and cello, we were treated to Chisholm’s poignant slow airs ‘Prince Charlie’s Last View’ and ‘Precious Place’. Also Phil Cunningham’s ‘The Wedding Celebration’. Hamish Napier’s joyful strathspeys and reels on piano, flute and cello, with ‘John Stephens of Chance In’ and ‘Windsong’. 
All four musicians performed a moving Gaelic song ‘Mo Rùn Geal Òg’, (sung by Julie Fowlis on the album). They finished this lovely concert with the energy of upbeat tunes such as ‘The Wound and the Gift’.

Su a Lee celebrates her many collaborations. This wasn’t a concert about Lee’s classical music roots (via the New York’s Julliard school) but about her journey through Scottish musical traditions and it’s innovative new directions. The cello is the original Scottish folk rhythm section, long before guitar or piano and is now enjoying a revival through artists like Su-a Lee. The leading fiddle players of their day, Neil Gow and Peter Milne, had cellists that toured with them. Lee is a lead cellist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. 

The Album:  Her album Dialogues (2023) is about her musical connections from this expressive musician, with her accomplished fellow musicians. While Lee has played on many albums over her thirty year career, this is her first solo album of 15 compositions. Dialogues is both grounded in traditions and new compositions: exploring Scottish traditional music from reels and strathspeys, slow ballads and Gaelic song ending with the solo setting of her Burns Ae Fond Kiss. 

"As much as this album is about finding my own voice and a voice for Scottish folk cello, it is also about the interaction of two voices…..Welcome to our dialogue." Su-a Lee

(Sometimes if not often) culture leads the way for new visions. And new collaborations of how to view the world today and how our futures might be. Celtic Connections shines a light on this vision, after all music is the universal language. Her work ranges from classical, experimental, folk traditional. 

Su-a Lee is a cellist born is Seoul, South Korea and resident in Scotland. She is known for her wide-ranging collaborations across classical, contemporary, jazz and Scottish traditional music. Through her prolific career as lead cellist in groups like the Scottish Chamber Orchestra & Mr McFall’s Chamber Su-a has constantly explored the role of the cello in folk & world traditions.

Hamish Napier is a folk musician, composer and tutor who taught Stagecraft on the Trad Music degree course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for many years; Merryn Glover is a writer, workshop leader and storyteller, with a teaching degree in English, drama & dance.

Duncan Chisholm is a Scottish fiddle player and composer. He has released seven solo albums as a solo artist. His studio album, Affric 2012, was longlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award. In 2022, he released a seventh studio album, titled Black Cuillin. He tours with the Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis band. He is also a founder member of the folk rock group Wolfstone, He played fiddle for Runrig. .

 

Donald Shaw,  is a Scottish award winning musician, composer, producer, and one of the founding members of Capercaillie Shaw has composed for film and TV. In 2004, he composed Harvest, a commission for the opening night of Celtic Connections festival. He won the Scots Trad Music Composer of the Year award in December 2006.

CC Mackintosh Church Setlist

1.  Ae Fond Kiss 


2.  Baroque Suite
(i) Baroque March Mull (ii) Cathedral of Trees (iii) Malpica
 (iv) Ocean Poem 


3.  EbytheC 


4.  F Strathspey Set
(i) John Stephen of Chance In (ii) Windsong 


5.  Duncan Slow Airs
i) Prince Charlie’s Last View (ii) Precious Place 


6.  Water Set
(i) The Dance 
(ii) Waltz of the Grey River (iii) Corryvreckan 


7.  Bach Bourrées 


8.  Mo Rùn Geal Òg Instr 


9.   Donald’s Set 
(i) Madame Lulu
(ii) Islands on the Edge 


10. Hamish Tune Set 

(i) Bagh Seannabhad (ii) Speyside Line 

11. Paths Finale Set 

(i) Phillippa’s Tune (ii) Josianne
(iii) Speyside Way (iv) The Deer Path 

Encore The Wound and the Gift   62 mins   6 mins applause 

Su-a, Duncan, Donald, Hamish 

Gaelic Singers and Fiddlers

Celtic Connections makes me think of the wonderful Gaelic singers, fiddlers and unique collaborations. I’ve see it as pulsating, joyous, uplifting and colourful concerts. Celtic musicians of the British isles, Canada, France, Spain and the international musicians from Finland, India, Africa, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Brittany and many more..

Gaelic is a soft, flowing, dream-like language and very popular at Celtic Connections. 

 

Best known Gaelic singer is Karen Matheson of Capercaillie band. Also Julie Fowlis who tours worldwide and sings on movie soundtracks. Kathleen McInnes, 

 

**Impressive fiddlers include – Aly Bain, John McCusker, Duncan Chisholm, Chris Stout, 

 

The Scots diaspora across the world is around 28 to 40 million. Scots have for centuries been great travellers, being an island nation. Scotland is one of Europe’s most ancient nations (begun 9th century)

And has strong ties to Flanders, France, Italy. 

 

This year the world famous Celtic Connections festival is celebrating women musicians, with headline concert with Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, 

 

 

Edinburgh festival returns for 2023!

To offer new horizons

 

Edinburgh International festival 2023 now with new director Nicola Benedetti – firsts women and first Scot – this August with 2,000 artists, from 48 countries. 

of theatre, music, dance and drama. How can our institutions embolden and make people’s lives better.’

 

This years theme of ‘IDENITITY, COMMUNITY AND RESILIENCE.”

 

Nicola wants the festival to offer something mystical, magical, community and resilience. 

 

This year the festival will host the BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA – their motto  is “To serve the people”

Nicola discussed concerns over recent cuts to the Arts. “We must work together to put arts as a must. We must go out to the community. Once you’ve felt it, you want to feel it again. How can we make progress in a different way? It’s a complete picture. The Arts are not an added extra. “

Nicola spoke of positive ways we can make the arts matter.

Where do We Go From Here?

Aly Bain’s soaring Shetland fiddle

I’ve been taking photos at Celtic Connections Transatlantic Sessions since 2008, and one of the highlights is the soaring fiddle of Aly Bian. He plays with an ease and grace that makes it all look effortless -  which is genius in itself.

As a child Aly liked the shape of the violin and started lessons at age eleven when he sat on the knee of his teacher. He was a protégé of Tom Anderson and of the passing on the heritage of Shetlands.

 

Eventually he left for Glasgow and where he played radio Glasgow and played little clubs

He uses a driven bow. Aly play a Scandinavian fiddle made by Adolf springer – which is “sweet and more like a voice”.

 

Aly has recorded 11 albums with Phil Cunningham, with whom he continues to tour extensively. In 2023, he has been recording with Eric Clapton at Abbey Road - 

The Transatlantic Sessions – Since 2008, Aly, along with Dubro master Jerry Douglas, has led the ever more popular Transatlantic sessions as the finale of the major winter festival, Glasgow’s Celtic connections. Hosting many iconic musicians as well as popular Scots Gaelic singers, and American country singers.

 

1960s Aly played with several bands and was in great demand – The HUMBELBUMS, MIKE WHELLANS, BOYS of THE LOUGH. 

Kim Carnie at Celtic Connections 202

 Charmed with her soft, mesmerising voice

 

Carnie was the support artist for Duncan Chisholm, tonight and was backed by the strings and piano, and with Megan Henderson on vocals and violin and with Innes White on guitar. For tonight’s concert she performed Gaelic heritage songs. 

The song Chan Eil A’ Chuis was based on the work of a female bard, a hymn of the morning light and was backed with only piano, beautiful. Carnie has written new compositions for her album and with the festivals artistic director Donald Shaw producing – And So We Gather and She Moves Me. She has a bubble personality and it would be good to hear more of her upbeat and infectious final song – Nighearn sin Thall. The Gaelic song is ever popular with cc audiences and she performed with her clear tones and poignant songs. More please!

Duncan Chisholm at Celtic Connections 2023

Transported us with his engaging playing

 Chisholm has performed at every Celtic Connections since 1993. Duncan Chisholm engaged us with beautiful videos of his violin during the isolation of Covid, often shot on perfect locations on the Western Isles. His music has range of tone and atmosphere, transcends time and space. He has composed music of the Western Isles – of the swift-changing skies of Scotland’s western coastlines and dramatic mountain ranges; often foreboding but illuminating and hopeful as light breaks through.

 

**Tonight he played compositions from his new 2022 album Black Cullins –  the ragged range of jagged rocky mountains on the Isle of Skye. He was backed by an impressive line-up of award-winning Trad musicians - Jalath Henderson on uilleann pipes, Ross Ainslie on low whistle, Hamish Napier on keyboards and piano, Innes Watson on rhythm guitar, and Ross Hamilton on electric bass and guitar. Along with a string section led by Greg Lawson.

 

He began with the tender and forlorn Black Cuillin Theme with accompanying strings; Born on the Wind of Chaos soared with the full band, bass and electric guitar. The band took the energy and vibe up further with piano, pipes, whistle, percussion and rhythm guitar for the tune, To the High Mountain. Beneath the Fortress about the Skye bridge was majestic, as was the intimacy of Donald Shaw’s A Precious Place, who played piano on this tune, and the drama of pipes on Islands on the Edge.

The tune The Blue Cuillins of the Islands was Inspired by a poem of Sorley McLean’s. Followed by a touching performance of Donald Shaw’s Constellations. Chisholm played Phil Cunningham’s subdued, haunting When the Snow Melts, with only piano for his finale. Heart-warming.    https://www.duncanchisholm.com

 

Music of Resolutions.

Chisholm was supported by the excellent Gaelic singer Kim Carnie - Review and Photos here - 

 

Black Cuillin’ tells of a dream journey through this landscape over a day and a night.” 

Duncan Chisholm, Scottish fiddle player and composer, has released six solo albums. He tours with the Scots Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and has toured with the folk rock band Wolfstone and the band Runrig.

 

 

Rura at Celtic Connections 2022

 

For RURA’s Celtic Connections gig on the final Celtic weekend it was clear the band were glad to be back performing to a live and packed theatre audience. Their past gig in 2020 at their sold-out Old Fruitmarket gig was a rousing and energetic affair, when the band celebrated their ten years together.

Rura are multi-instrumentalists and play keys, pipes, guitar, bass, bohran, flute and drums. The band – Steven Blake (Pipes & Keys), Adam Brown (Acoustic Guitar), David Foley (Bodhran & Flute) and Jack Smedley (Fiddle) – and were joined by James Lindsay (Bass), Mark Scobbie (Kit), Sorren Maclean (Electric Guitar). Plus tonight a String section of Seonaidh Aitken, Megan Henderson (Violins), Pasty Reid (Viola) Alice Allen (Cello); 

Tonight there was a expectant hum in the packed venue. This concert was the launch gig for the band’s new 2022 EP Our Voices Echo, in which they have collaborated with several top talents of the Scottish folk world – Duncan Chisholm, Julie Fowlis, Ross Ainslie, Michael McGoldick, and Hannah Rarity. 

Rura electrified the Theatre Royal Glasgow with their full wall of sound and lively performance led by fiddle player Jack Smedley and dynamic rhythm guitarist Adam Brown. The band began with a set of their tunes from their 2018 In Praise of Home. 

Fiddle-player Duncan Chisholm who has been popular for offering  his tunes in idyllic settings during Covid, praised the band, saying he had listened to Rura’s Praise of Home during the lockdown and that it had helped him when the going was tough. Chisholm played on the haunting A’ Mhairead Og, followed by a Runrig song Chi Mi’n Geamhradh and Running the Cross, composed by Chisholm. 

Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis sang a poignant Dh’èirich Mi Moch Madainn Cheòthar, backed by soaring flute and fiddle. Michael McGoldrick performed on flute a joyful Famous Last Words (Donald Shaw). Ross Ainslie was upbeat on whistle on Floyd To Ke Anlong and on pipes for Peel Pier Fear, followed by The Wrangler. 

While rising talent Hannah Rarity brought the cast and audience together for an uplifting grand finale of Take This Heart Of Gold (Andrew Marlin). For the encore the band played Horizons.  

The band are multi-layered and enriching, with fast-paced fiddle, pipes and rhythm guitar, both refined and dynamic, no easy task! Rura is an award-winning, ceilidh band and join the ranks of those top Scottish touring bands. They have appeared on the BBC’s Hogmanay Live and played the main stage at many festivals.