A poetic night in Castlereagh…

Robbie Burns Night Celebrations

 

A lively night to celebrate the anniversary of Robbie Burns’ death, the great Bard of Scotland.  The lady Mayor of Castlereagh opened the evening with ‘The Selkirk Grace’ and a warm welcome to all present.

There were bagpipes and the unique Address to a Haggis, recited by Councilor Michael Copeland, here’s a little of it if you missed it:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy o' a grace

As lang's my arm.

…And if you don’t have a clue about what it means, you’re not alone! The ceremony was followed by food aplenty. Haggis with ‘neeps’ and ‘tatties’, a true Highland classic.

After the meal, ‘Bright Lights’ dance troupe entreated the audience to several Highland dances, and a beautiful Scots Ballet to the tune of the Burns classic ‘My love is like a red, red rose’.

Music stories and poetry were on display from ‘Keep er lit’ who finished out the evening to the ringing of laughter and applause.

Blown away by the wind …and the music!

First Friday Concert

First Friday concert series are back! Castlereagh Arts is delighted to indulge its audience again with a new round of First Friday performances, and our very own Jeremy Doherty was the first musician of the list!

Former recipient of the Ernest Anderson bursary, Jeremy took the audience to an enchanting musical journey across Ireland and Scotland, interspersing the music with some information and anecdotes about the composers.

While outside the wind was blowing, inside the council offices the listeners were blown away by the relaxing contemporary and classical music played by Jeremy!

He also moved the audience with the emotive piece that he composed to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing of La Mon Hotel in Castlereagh, where twelve people died and more than twenty were injured.


The next First Friday performance will be a traditional Ulster Session on 4th March at 1pm in the Castlereagh Civic Centre, not to be missed!

A Miracle...in Castlereagh!

Golden Oldies - Part 3

It was a very snowy evening last Thursday, the perfect enchanting atmosphere to enjoy a very Christmassy film!

Despite the snow shower, more than 50 senior movie lovers showed up for the third and last (but not the least!) film of the ‘Golden Oldies Movie Night’ series, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’. This classic Christmas film was chosen by our audience after the screening of ‘A Brief Encounter’ last month, and it was a perfect treat to get into the right Christmassy mood!

The expert film connoisseur Michael Smythe enlightened the audience with some pearls of wisdom about the film, he remarked that “..the film had been ranked n.9 on the American Film’s Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time”; he also explained that “…the film received a B rating from the highly influential Legion of Decency because Maureen O’Hara played the part of a divorcée”.

Miracle on 34th Street is an award-winning film and it is the story of what takes place in New York City following Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, as people are left wondering whether or not a department store Santa might be the real one. Because of its Christmas theme, the film has become a perennial Christmas favorite, even though the studio producers released it in May – keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret!

Our lovely audience – there’s also a very lively and chatty 93 years old lady among them!

We treated our spectators with popcorn, ice-cream and wine, which are always very much appreciated!

The ‘Golden Oldies Movie Nights’ proved to be a great success, with more than 150 people attending the films over the 3 nights and everyone asking to have it again…

Well, we won’t disappoint our film aficionados: ‘Golden Oldies Movie Nights’ will be back in 2011… but this time it will be on tour! We’re working on it and we’ll update you asap!

In the meantime, Castlereagh Arts wishes a fantastic festive time to everyone!

See you in 2011!

Helen Sanlon exhibition

Arts in the Library - Helen Sanlon’s Exhibition @ Dundonald Library

Inclement weather last Thursday didn’t put art-lovers off from attending the launch of the fantastic new exhibition of Helen Sanlon’s work. We thought we were under attack from snowmen, as white figures appeared through the door of the Dundonald library, but after they shook and brushed themselves down, we were relieved to find people under all that snow!

The exhibition of Helen’s new artworks includes paintings inspired by her stay in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre as part of her award of the Ernest Anderson Bursary 2009-2010.

Helen introduced her artworks and explained all the different techniques she used including taking pictures through an airplane window to the great annoyance of one of the members of the cabin crew.

The exhibition runs until 22nd December in the Dundonald library, so don’t miss this opportunity to view up-close the artist’s work, and perhaps find a nice treat for yourself or an original artwork for your loved ones this Christmas!

'A Brief encounter' in Castlereagh

Golden Oldies – Part 2




The film guru Michael Smythe introduced the film Brief Encounter, a milestone in British cinema.




‘A Brief encounter’ in Castlereagh.




More than 60 seniors (and not-so seniors) turned out for Castlereagh Art’s second installation in the ‘Golden Oldies Movie Night’ series. Having sent the audience home singing and dancing last time with ‘Singing in the Rain’, we slowed things down this month with Lean’s classic ‘A Brief Encounter’. Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard fall into a spiral of love, temptation, fulfilment and eventual emptiness through a chance meeting in the train station.



Robin Colvill had played Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in the First Friday concert last week, and I had been humming it since, wondering where I had heard it before… I was soon reminded as the film began. The sound track gives a great sense of gravitas to the piece, and Noel Coward’s writing, the imagined confession of Laura to her middle of the road husband, is a simple yet beautifully observed premise which carries the brief, ‘Brief Encounter’ (1 hour and 25 mins) throughout. The piece is an adaptation to screen from Coward’s one act ‘Still Life’.



The feedback was incredible with many asking that this become a main-stay in the council arts program, but that may have had a lot to do with the popcorn and icecream!

Rock & Pop School Graduation Day!

Congratulations to all the participants of the Rock & Pop School 2010! The Award ceremony occurred on 9th November to celebrate our young musicians and their completion of the Rock & Pop School, which took place from 19th to 30th July 2010.

Councilor Michael Copeland with Ben Flavelle-Cobain

23 of the graduates attended with their parent’s friend’s and family, and other people involved in the music industry such as Lisa Flavelle, DJ of Downtown Radio and daughter of the local jazz and blues legend Jackie Flavelle. Along with representatives from the Community Safety Partnership, who have funded the school for the past two years, the SEELB who partnered Castlereagh Arts in delivering the project, and representing the music tutors – renowned jazz musician Linley Hamilton -

Councilor Michael Copeland presented the graduates with their certificates and thanked the young musicians for their commitment…

Well done to all our talented musicians and singers, we wish you a successful future!  We hope to add some songs to our Blog soon for you listening pleasure

Classical Music performed with aplomb

First Friday Concert

Following the success of the First Friday concert on the 1st October, featuring 'The Dirty Blues Band', Castlereagh Arts proudly presented the second concert of the Autumn afternoon series on the 5th of November. This time we were treated to some classical music, with international concert pianist Robin Colvill performing popular piano classics.

Robin made a welcome return for the 3rd time in as many years enchanting the audience with music by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Chopin and Puccini among the others.

Frightfully fast fingers

The musician entertained the listeners, not only with his music but also with his words, explaining the beauty, harmony and background of the music, and interspersing the mesmeric melodies with anecdotes on his travels; playing music to thousands in Cuba on a piano the size of a tank was a particular highlight.

The next First Friday concert will take place on 4th February, write it down on your 2011 calendar!