James Grant

Widely regarded as one of the finest singer-songwriters and performers around, ex Love And Money frontman James Grant plays material from all his critically acclaimed solo albums and a smattering of the old favourites in a solo acoustic setting. This is a show not to be missed, raw, heart-rending and uplifting...

'This is music from another place... ' MOJO

£12 full, £10 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Café Scientifique with Cheryl Ashworth

Celebrating National Science and Engineering Week 2010, we continue our Café Scientifique Aberdeenshire series with Professor Cheryl Ashworth of the Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research centres on factors affecting the quality and survival of embryos.

She is passionate about engaging with people on the impact that research can have on the wider public and will use Café Scientifique as a discussion forum for sharing views on a variety of topical scientific issues relating to her work.

Free entry. Held in Buchanans.

Reeling & Writhing presents 'If I was a mouse, I would hide in your hood'

Snuggle in and cozy up for an enchanting tale of imagination, friendship and discovery. Mouse wants to play games, ask questions, fly to the moon and go to the party. But she's shy. Mouse likes hide and seek best of all (mostly hiding) but there's no-one to find her… until a new family move in.

This is an adventure told by two performer-puppeteers; it's made of tricks and tales, puppets and people, music, mice and friends with music by international children's composer Paul Rissmann. Age 3 to 6.

All tickets £4. Limited tickets, advance booking advised...

You can also download 'I'm just a mouse' free e-book here!

Curry & Ceilidh with Clachan Yell

Sold out

An evening of curry and ceilidh with music from possibly the best ceilidh band in the world, Clachan Yell, and curry from the Buchanans. Tables for this event always sell quickly so don't delay! There will be a raffle to raise funds for Woodend Barn.

Tables of 10 are available to book.

£25 per person - Bar

Singing for Joy with Fiona & Mark Hope

Have you always wanted to sing? Come and discover your own voice and make new friends. No musical experience necessary. All welcome!

Six Tuesdays from 16 February till 23 March

10am to 11.30am. Tea and coffees from 9.30am!

£15 for six weeks or £3 per session

Random Accomplice in association with Tron Theatre present Promises, Promises

Maggie Brodie has been drafted back for a day's cover at her local primary school. Retired twice, once with a dishonourable discharge, it's going to be a tough shift. A day of battles with her never ending thirst for booze; with the soft soap headmaster and lastly with Rosie. Rosie is six, a new intake and refusing to speak. Maggie’s anger overloads as the child’s family and friends believe her to be possessed, forcing Maggie to take drastic action. Douglas Maxwell’s tense new thriller combines integrated projection and a specially composed soundtrack to make Promises Promises an unmissable theatrical event.

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

WMS presents 'Johann I'm Only Dancing' by Red Priest

With Piers Adam (recorders), Julia Bishop (violin), Angela East (cello), Howard Beach (harpsichord)

A dynamic presentation of music by the greatest genius of the baroque era, Johann Sebastian Bach, performed with Red Priest's legendary blend of creativity, wit and virtuosity.

The programme includes epic transcriptions of Brandenburg Concerto no.3 and the great Toccata and Fugue in d minor, alongside a host of dazzling allegros, whirling dances and some of the most sublime adagios ever composed. Red Priest's arrangements are inspired by Bach's own improvisatory zeal, and they play entirely from memory with astonishing energy, creating a virtual orchestra from their four instruments

"One of the most exhilarating groups I've encountered in many a long year" - Classic FM

£10, £2 students, under 18 and jobseekers

Folk Session at Crathes Hall

Sorry this session has been cancelled, next session Friday 30 April

Come along and join in if you play an instrument or sing or just want to listen, you'll be made very welcome!

£2 on the door  Bring your own refreshments

Ivan Drever Band

Veteran Orcadian singer songwriter and one time Wolfstone front man Ivan Drever returned to full band mode for recording and live performances early last year. With a brand new collection of skilfully crafted songs, Ivan has hooked up with good friend and ex-Wolfstone guitarist Andy Murray, drummer Iain Coates and guitarist/bassist and producer Finlay Wells to mould the new material into a perfectly weighted blend of acoustic/electric folk rock.

These live performances are a captivating mix of Ivan's original and distinctive vocal and guitar playing style, dynamic and intuitive accompaniment from his hugely experienced band and wonderful spells of spontaneous high energy improvisation.

www.myspace.com/ivandreverband

£12, £10 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Treacherous Orchestra

The explosive acoustically driven sound of the thirteen piece Treacherous Orchestra has landed on Planet Earth. Acoustic instruments shouldn't be able to sound this huge. The new generation of tune'n'groove-led Instrumental Folk Music has arrived but who the hell is responsible for lighting the stick of musical dynamite placed beneath this bunch of dazzling instrumentalists?

Featuring pipes, fiddles, flutes, whistles, guitars, accordion, drums, bodhran, banjo and bass, they create a mighty wall of sound that'll leave your chest bone throbbing, This band have the sonic ammunition to finish off any festival. You have been warned; miss them at your peril!

'The best new act at Cambridge Folk Festival 2009. ... their thrilling take on Scottish roots and dance music proved one of the highlights of the weekend.' - Cambridge Folk Festival

www.treacherousorchestra.com

£16, £14 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Photos by Lieve Boussauw and David Kosky

Puppet Lab presents Frog Princess

Based on a Russian folk tale about a prince who marries a strange Frog Bride. The Puppet Lab combines storytelling and puppetry in this show full of warmth and humour, for audiences aged 3 to 7 years old and their families.

The Russian tale tells of three royal brothers who are ordered by their father to find a bride. Each prince must shoot an arrow high and far into the air, and must take as his bride whosoever finds and returns it. For the two eldest brothers their arrows are brought back by beautiful, perfect princesses. But the third brother is surprised and dismayed when a frog brings back his arrow! But perhaps everything is not as it seems...

All tickets £5

Telling Stories by Anne Campbell and Susan Cassie

Words and pictures, photographs and fibres, altered books, handmade books, secondhand memories and firsthand impressions, an exhibition of new works by Anne Campbell and Susan Cassie
 
[Part of a piece called 'The Book of Dead Books']

Preview on Friday 2 April 6pm - 8pm. All welcome!

Exhibition runs until Monday 10 May. Open Monday to Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 1pm-4pm and during all public events.

Yugen presents The Water Kelpie of Loch Ness

Taken from our rich heritage of Scottish tales about the Loch Ness monster, or Water Kelpie, the most famous Scottish monster has its own story to tell.

Yugen Puppet Company creates a tale about one man's quest to seek out the beast, which in darker times terrorised the local countryside. He outwits the shape shifting water horse and takes away his powers but in doing so inherits powers of his own Using an original sound scape with Gaelic song, the tale is told with storytelling, puppets and animation.

All tickets £5

Objects Dart presents Tom Tit Tot

A puppeteer is happily going camping... until he discovers he has forgotten his tent! Luckily he has a big umbrella for shelter and woolly clothes to keep him warm...

A playful introduction to the art of mend-and-make-do leads to an exploration of wool making, which then quickly spins out of control...when the King – who desperately wants a new jumper – agrees to marry a girl who has caught his eye she has to spin five skeins of wool a day until he has enough wool for a new jumper...if she can’t do it...it’s OFF WITH HER HEAD!

All tickets £5. Age 2 to 10.

Bellevue Rendezvous

Bellevue Rendezvous are an inventive Scottish based trio of Gavin Marwick (fiddle), Cameron Robson (guitar, bouzouki) and Ruth Morris (nyckelharpa) plundering Europe for strange and interesting tunes. The nyckelharpa is a traditional Swedish instrument, like a cross between a fiddle and a hurdy gurdy.

With a collective CV that encompasses some of Scotland’s most fascinating outfits – including Unusual Suspects, Cantrip, Deaf Shepherd and Iron Horse – they draw on music and traditions as diverse as Serbia, Macedonia, Poland, Canada, France and Finland to create the quirkily alluring instrumental interplay that will surely make their Salamander CD one of the albums of the year.

£11, £9 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Café Scientifique with Dr Gangopadhyay

Forensics on the Brain

Based at the Foresterhill medical site and the Royal Cornhill Hospital, Dr Partha Gangopadhyay researches in the area of medical education, ethics and law. His area of expertise, forensic psychiatry, is frequently relied upon in court cases and other areas where expert opinions on mental health are needed. In this Café Scientifique session he will be chatting about his work, a lesser-known area of science happening on our doorstep, but nonetheless one which he freely describes as "fascinating".

Free entry

Jazz: Tim Richards

Tim Richards is one of the UK’s foremost jazz pianists, whose trio performances have delighted audiences from Inverness to Istanbul. He is also well-known for his leadership of the bands 'Spirit Level' and 'Great Spirit' since the 1980s.

His solo piano concert will feature a wide range of material, from jazz standards by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk to blues, boogie and gospel. He will also play some new original compositions for piano and selected tunes from his acclaimed Schott publications ‘Improvising Blues Piano’ and ‘Exploring Jazz Piano’.

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Rachel Hair Trio

Described as "Folk with a bit of attitude" (Folk and Roots), critically acclaimed Scottish harpist Rachel Hair brings her trio featuring Jenn Butterworth (guitar & voice) and Joe Rattray (double bass) to perform an eclectic mix of Scottish, Irish and original traditional music with a contemporary edge, as part of their 2010 Scottish Spring Tour.

£11, £9 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

WMS presents Ian Watt, guitar

We’re delighted to welcome back this outstanding guitarist for an evening concert at the Barn

Dowland: A Fancy - Fantasy No. 5 and Forlone Hope Fancy - Fantasy No. 2
J. S. Bach: Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV 998
Toru Takemitsu: All in Twilight
Aguado: Introduction and rondo in a minor Op.2/2
Albéniz: Mallorca from Barcorola, Op. 202
José: Sonata

£10, £2 students, under 18 and jobseekers

Folk Session at Crathes Hall

Come along and join in if you play an instrument or sing or just want to listen, you'll be made very welcome!

£2 on the door  Bring your own refreshments

The Cove - Film and Discussion

Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary and Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, The Cove, follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the international dolphin capture trade as practiced in Taiji, Japan. "A cross between 'Flipper' and 'The Bourne Identity" - Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE

The film will be followed at 9.10pm by a discussion with Leah Lemieux who will update everyone on the situation in Taiji and sign copies of her book, "The Truth About Swimming with Dolphins".

All tickets £5. Any profit from the showing will go to Save Japan Dolphins.

DavidHughesDance Productions present 'Solo Works'

DavidHughesDance Productions presents a quadruple bill performance of dance with commissions by Christopher Bruce, Cesc Gelabert, Siobhan Davies and Javier de Frutos.
 
Ten years on, this is a rare opportunity to see a selection of the original commissions of the acclaimed solo shows ‘Map’ and ‘Maps’. This is an intimate evening with the veteran Hughes, a chance for him to share with you his physical heritage and unrivalled dance experience.

"The solos are such a box of goodies you are spoiled for choice – a great vehicle for Hughes’ dramatic expression." [The Guardian]
 
DavidHughesDance is supported by the Scottish Arts Council and the Traverse Theatre.

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Aidan O’Rourke An Tobar Band and The Dave Milligan Trio

Two of Scotland’s most exciting and acclaimed composers present a stunning concert centred around a brace of contemporary musical pieces, which were originally commissioned by the An Tobar Arts Centre (Tobermory) in celebration of their tenth anniversary. The concert will also feature a specially written, new work by Dave Milligan and Aidan O’Rourke (Lau) which unites both of their respected ensembles for the first time.

"Intense, beautiful..." [The Independent] ****

£12, £10 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Karen Matheson

Widely recognised as the haunting vocals of Capercaillie, Karen Matheson will tonight  be performing material from her forthcoming album alongside songs which have seen her called ‘the finest Gaelic singer alive today’. Appearing with her band, Donald Shaw, Ewen Vernal and James Grant, this evening promises to be a very special concert indeed.

£17, £15 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Café Scientifique with Glenn Murphy

Why is Snot Green?

Lots of questions seem frivolous until you realise how much science lies behind them. In this Word Festival Café Sci special, best-selling author and Aberdeen University graduate Glenn Murphy is flying in from the US to chat about his books which thrive on people's natural curiosity. Join us, as we explore a whole world of questions about science and nature that will see us tackle everything from dinosaurs and vampire bats to moon bases and alien life. This is sure to be a fun, fast-paced, audience-participation event, not to be missed!

Free entry

Hilary Paynter Wood Engraving Workshop

Rare opportunity to study wood engraving with world renowned wood engraver and teacher Hilary Paynter.

£40 for 2 sessions. Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 10am-12.30pm

Hilary Paynter Exhibition Preview

Hilary Paynter, one of the most prestigious wood engraver in the world, returns to the Lang Byre for her second solo show here. Currently the President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, she will bring her latest prints which will include Ouseburn, seen in the Royal Academy last summer, The Romantics in Wales suite and the sharply observed Holding Out.

Preview on Friday 14 May 6pm to 8pm. All welcome!

Exhibition continues until Tuesday 29 June, Monday to Saturday 10am-4pm, Sunday 1pm-4pm and during all public events.

Rob Hall, saxophonist and Chick Lyall, piano

Rob Hall and Chick Lyall draw from an extensive range of sources to form an engaging and intimate musical dialogue. From melody driven improvisation through post-bop to classical chamber music and the influence of Celtic traditional music,  the duo explore a variety of approaches and formats holding composition and improvisation in a delicate balance.

“Both players are able to find their space in the music with impeccable taste and discrimination.” [Jazzwise]

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Birds of Paradise present 'Clutter keeps Company'

Written by Davey Anderson
Directed by Morven Gregor

Birds of Paradise return with a bittersweet comedy thriller about running away from an unholy mess and plunging into utter chaos!

It’s a school night… your mum’s at work and your dad’s away. Your sister is supposed to be looking after you. Instead, she’s wearing bright red lipstick and a tartan miniskirt. And you? You’re tucked up in bed, with a tape cassette under the pillow, dreaming of jellyfish… or are you?

The shows are in town. Scream if you want to go faster!

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Breabach

As one of the most versatile outfits to grace the folk scene, Breabach never fail to impress their audience with their collective charm and talents. Ewan Roberston and Patsy Reid share the vocal duties whilst multiinstrumentalists Calum MacCrimmon and Donal Brown alternate between pipes, flute, whistle, bouzouki and step-dance. One by one, these musical gems are unleashed like musical artillery, and to breathtaking effect.

The band release their highly anticipated second album “The Desperate Battle of the Birds” in March 2010.

"A young group performing with technical assurance and a feel for traditional idioms... Their raucous, driving attack is energised and exciting!" [The Scotsman]

£12, £10 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

WMS presents Nigel Clayton, piano and Gina McCormack, violin

Well loved locally, Nigel Clayton is joined by Gina McCormack on the violin for romantic evening of classical music.

Mendelssohn: Sonata in F Major (1838)
Fauré: Romance
Massenet: Meditation from “Thais”
Dvořák: Romance
Fauré: Violin Sonata in A Major Op. 13

£10, £2 students, under 18 and jobseekers

Eric's Tales of the Sea

Winner of the Three Weeks Editor's Award 2009

Former submariner Eric has taken the Edinburgh Fringe by storm for the last two years. Now, he's taking  his acclaimed one-man show on a national tour.

With the aid of astonishing visuals, Eric gives you an insider's view of the mysterious world beneath the waves in a nuclear submarine, and transports you to an underwater existence where edgy camaraderie, black humour, death and destruction are the closest of bedfellows!

"breathtaking, poignant, suspenseful, hilarious, enthralling, self-deprecating, never boastful, moving, humbling and comic. Highly recommended" **** [The List]

£9, £7 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

Red Note Ensemble present A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle

Music by Bill Sweeney
Poem by Hugh MacDiarmid
Performed by the Red Note Ensemble
Conducted by Jessica Cottis

Hugh MacDiarmid's poem, with its infamously thrawn narrator, is set to music of huge imagination and vibrancy by Glasgow composer Bill Sweeney. Perfomed by Scotland's finest contemporary music ensemble, Red Note, this is a night of humour, inebriation, beauty, politically-charged comment, wild musical and literary invention.

£10, £2 students, under 18 and jobseekers - Bar

Mairearad Green and Anna Massie

Multi-instrumentalists Mairearad Green and Anna Massie are a captivating duo. Providing a highly energetic performance with a warm and friendly stage appearance, this duo will engage any audience. Individually, they can be seen performing with a number of well-known artists such as The Poozies, Blazin’ Fliddles, Karen Matheson, Box Club, Eddi Reader and Karine Polwart, and together in Scotland’s one and only Celtic Big Band, The Unusual Suspects.

Having played together for 8 years, Mairearad and Anna share an innate understanding of Scottish culture and music and have an intuitive approach to each other’s musical ideas and interpretations.

“A wide palette of permutations, most of which featured in this relaxed, highly enjoyable performance… shifting the lead, accompanist balance, swapping and sharing the melody, harmony, chords and rhythms with deceptive fluency.” * * * * [The Scotsman]

£11, £9 conc, £5 under 16 - Bar

two’s company dance management, DanceXchange and Telford Culture Zone present 'Funny Bones'

Funny Bones is a brand new double bill of contemporary dance, choreographed by Enrique Cabrera and Luca Silvestrini. Enticing children aged 5yrs+ and their families into a new world of dance and movement, Funny Bones is a fifty minute interactive and sensory in-the-round performance by a company of outstanding dancers.

Enrique Cabrera’s piece, DanSense, explores the five senses and offers a stimulating interactive dance experience for young audiences featuring costumes adorned with plastic spoons, to buckets filled with water.

The second piece 'Go!', choreographed by Luca Silvestrini, is an imaginative and energetic piece of dance-theatre based on the theme of sport, moving from one sporting discipline to another, facing victories and defeats, competitions and challenges.

All tickets £6

Funny Bones Family Workshop

Funny Bones workshop will be a fun-filled family workshop for you and your child to explore the themes of Funny Bones. No previous dance experience necessary, please come in loose clothing ready to move and have some fun!

From 10.30 to 11.30am.

All tickets £5
Performance and workshop ticket £10