On A Wing and A Prayer - Shetland at Scottish Music Centre

Nordic Viola will take you on an extraordinary journey in words and music to the Faroe Islands, Orkney and Shetland, Iceland and Greenland. The islands are bound together by a common seafaring heritage and share musical and cultural connections. In a programme shaped by six months travelling in the region, viola player Katherine Wren shares contemporary reflections, traditional melodies and personal testimonies that are shaped by vast northern landscapes.Founded in 2016, Nordic Viola is a flexible ensemble of woodwind and string players forming musical and cultural connections in the North Atlantic Region with an emphasis on contemporary music and its relationship with traditional forms.

Nordic Viola

A musical reflection on changing habitats in Shetland with Katherine Wren (viola) and Renzo Spiteri (percussion). Poetry by Lesley Harrison.

Scottish Music Centre Ltd

On a Wing and a Prayer – doing something in the hope that you will succeed despite being insufficiently prepared. Taking this figure of speech as a starting point for humankind’s approach to the climate crisis, Katherine Wren of Nordic Viola enters into musical conversation with percussionist, composer and improviser Renzo Spiteri.Together they explore Shetland's moorland and sea habitats moving from a state of serenity and harmony with nature to the impact of windfarms on the moorland habitat and of bird flu on species such as the gannet and great skua. The programme ends with the hope of a more harmonious existence between humankind and nature.Katherine and Renzo's original approach to their instruments and blend with natural sound, poetic fragments and electronics creates a unique and reflective soundscape.In the open, relaxed space of Scottish Music Centre, audiences will have the opportunity to meet the performers and their instruments before and after the show and to share their own experiences of our nature and environment.All are welcome at this relaxed performance and there is space to move in and out of the performance setting if desired. The venue is fully accessible.

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