Gaelic Culture: Joy Dunlop and Còisir Alba
In this round-up, the upcoming concert includes language workshops, a choir and a cèilidh
West coast ceilidh meets Glasgow’s West End as conductor Joy Dunlop leads Gaelic vocal ensemble Còisir Alba back to the city with a special event featuring a workshop, concert and cèilidh. Dunlop, best known to non-Gaelic audiences for her TV and radio work, also happens to be a huge star on the Gaelic singing scene. Leading the workshop herself, she’ll introduce newcomers to the language in a fun way, with singalongs ‘so that those new to Gaelic can feel part of the evening’.
Dunlop will then be joined by Còisir Alba, a group originally created to represent Scotland in the Eurovision Choir Of The Year competition in 2019. While the line-up has changed since then, they’ve continued to perform on the likes of BBC Alba’s Hogmanay celebration Cèilidh na Bliadhn Ùire, joined Runrig tribute band Beat The Drum on stage at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament.
The Adelaide Place audience can expect to hear Còisir Alba sing Gaelic mash-ups of traditional songs, translations of pop songs, and arrangements created especially for them. The evening finishes on the dancefloor. ‘We’ll have traditional music all-stars Adam Sutherland, John Somerville and Steve Fivey leading our cèilidh and I’ll call the dances,’ says Dunlop, who praises the venue’s acoustics for a cappella singing as well as suiting a lively Highland cèilidh dance.
Joy Dunlop and Còisir Alba, Adelaide Place, Glasgow, Saturday 8 July.