Next week, over one hundred children from Moray will perform with Scottish Opera as part of a Language Development Project.

The Scottish Opera Education team will spend a day rehearsing with each of three local schools before bringing the groups together for a final rehearsal and performance in Lhanbryde Hall on Friday 15 June.  The group will perform 1719!, a children’s opera that includes songs in Spanish, Gaelic and English.  The opera tells the story of a real life historical incident that involved Scots Jacobites and their Spanish allies facing the Hanoverian army in the struggle for dynastic power in the eighteenth century.

Originally devised and developed by Scottish Opera in partnership with North Ayrshire Council, the Language Development Project aims to deliver a high quality arts education experience, using the medium of opera as a vehicle to enhance children’s understanding of different languages, their own heritage, and to assist in the development of their creativity, self expression, team work and citizenship skills. The work being done in Moray is funded by The Highland 2007 Moray Community Fund.

The schools involved are:
Mosstodloch Primary School, Mosstodloch - playing the Jacobites
Milne’s Primary School, Fochabers - playing the Spanish
Lhanbryde Primary School, Lhanbryde - playing the Hanoverians

Performance: Friday 15 June @ 2.00pm in Lhanbryde Hall, near Elgin

 

1719!
Original score                  David Munro
Original lyrics                 Allan Dunn
Additional music                Julian Evans
Spanish translations            Manuel Gómez Sanz & Sandra Marrimon
Gaelic translations             Lena MacLeod

Vocal animateurs                Timothy Dawkins        
                                Gloria Ellis                           
Music animateur                 Rachael Hannah                 
Drama animateur                 Lesley Workman                 
Company Stage Manager   David Sneddon

[ENDS]

For more information, please contact:

Jane Nicolson, Press Manager
Direct line: 0141 242 0511      Mobile: 07739077551
email:  jane.nnicolson@scottishopera.org.uk

Catriona Hutchinson, Press and Marketing Officer
Direct line: 0141 242 0551     
email: catriona.hutchinson@scottishopera.org.uk

Note to Editors:

Highland 2007, the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture, aims to promote the Highlands and Islands as a great place to live and to visit through showcasing the unique and special nature of the area’s culture past, present and future.  The project in Moray is a partnership between three principal funding agencies: Moray Council, the Scottish Executive, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.  See www.highland2007.com for full details.