Date: Monday, Jul 5th, 2021 - Thursday, Jul 8th, 2021

Time: All Day


Location: Virtual
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This year ACGA’s Scottish Gaelic Song & Language Week will be held virtually, through Zoom, for the second year. The GS&LW features four days of instruction with six classes a day to choose from. This year’s instructors are Christine Primrose (song) of Lewis and Alasdair Mearns (language) of Sutherland. The total cost is $125 per student. The GS&LW will be followed on Friday by the North Carolina Provincial Gaelic Mòd, a song competition.

Every year, ACGA holds a Scottish Gaelic Song & Language Week, an intensive program with four days of classes, workshops, and cèilidhs with two to three instructors at three levels, from new beginners through intermediate and advanced learners.

The Gaelic Song & Language Week traditionally has been held at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina, the week before the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games.

This year, as in 2020, the GS&LW will be held virtually through the Zoom video conferencing software, which is free and available at https://zoom.us/

The event will be held July 5-8 (Monday-Thursday), followed by an online North Carolina Provincial Gaelic Mòd on Friday, July 9. Our 2021 instructors are Christine Primrose of Lewis and Alasdair Mearns of Sutherland.

This year’s event will revolve around two basic tracks:

  1. Language – using Scottish Gaelic for communication
  2. Singing – everything from teaching songs to the history of songs to the details of ornamentation and technique.

SCHEDULE

All times are in American Eastern Daylight Time:

TIME BLOCKS:

LANGUAGE: BLOCK 1 = 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM; BLOCK 2 = 1 PM – 2:30 PM; BLOCK 3 = 3 PM – 4:30 PM

SONG: BLOCK 1 = 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM; BLOCK 2 = 1 PM – 2 PM; BLOCK 3 = 3 PM – 4 PM

  • Monday
    • Block 1 – Intermediate Language; Beginner Song
    • Block 2 – Advanced Language; Intermediate Song
    • Block 3 – Beginner Language; Advanced Song
  • Tuesday
    • Block 1 – Advanced Language; Intermediate Song
    • Block 2 – Beginner Language; Advanced Song
    • Block 3 – Intermediate Language; Beginner Song
  • Wednesday
    • Block 1 – Beginner Language; Advanced Song
    • Block 2 – Intermediate Language; Beginner Song
    • Block 3 – Advanced Language; Intermediate Song
  • Thursday
    • Block 1 – Intermediate Language; Beginner Song
    • Block 2 – Advanced Language; Intermediate Song
    • Block 3 – Beginner Language; Advanced Song

 


Instructors

Christine PrimroseChristine Primrose

Rugadh agus thogadh Christine Primrose ann an Càrlabhagh ann an Eilean Leòdhais far an robh a’ Ghàidhlig mar chànan làitheil, agus tha i air a bhith a’ seinn bho ’s cuimhne leatha. Tha an t-seinn aice air a toirt air feadh an t-saoghail, gu h-àraid ann an Ameireaga, Canada, Astràilia, Èirinn agus pàirtean dhan an Roinn Eòrpa. Tha i a’ teagasg òrain Ghàidhlig air a’ chùrsa BA (le Urram) Gàidhlig agus Ceòl Traidiseanta aig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a’ Cholaiste Ghàidhlig anns an Eilean Sgitheanach agus cuideachd air na cùrsaichean goirid aig a’ Cholaiste. Tha i air iomadh duais a thogail airson a cuid seinn, nam measg Seinneadair Gàidhlig na Bliadhna aig na ‘Trad Awards’ ann an 2009. Ann an 2017 chaidh àite a thoirt dhith ann an Talla Deagh-chliù Ceòl Traidiseanta na h-Alba agus chaidh urram MBE a bhuileachadh oirre airson an t-seirbheis a thug i, agus a tha i a’ toirt fhathast, do cheòl Gàidhlig, Cultar agus Fòghlam ann an Alba agus gu h-eadar-nàiseanta.

Christine Primrose was born and brought up in Carloway in a Gaelic-speaking community on the Island of Lewis and has been singing for as long as she can remember. She has toured in America, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Europe. She is Head of Gaelic Song at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic College on the Isle of Skye, where she teaches short courses and full-time classes on the BA (Hons) Gaelic & Traditional Music Programme. She has won many awards for her singing, amongst them ‘Gaelic Singer of the Year’ at the Traditional Music Awards in 2009. She was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and was awarded an MBE in the Queens Birthday Honours List for “Services to Gaelic Music, Culture and to Education in Scotland and internationally”.

Alasdair MearnsAlasdair Mearns

Dh’obraich Alasdair fad 15 bliadhna ann an Sabhal Mòr Ostaig mar òraidiche na Gàidhlig. Ron sin dh’obraich san Roinn Eachdraidh ann an Oilthigh Guelph, far an d’ rinn e Ph.D, agus ann an Roinn na Ceiltis ann Oilthigh Toronto. An uair sin thàinig e a dh’Alba agus bha aonad Gàidhlig aig a fhèin ’s a bhean air an lot aca ann an Cataibh. A barrachd, bha e an-sàs ann an trì cùrsaichean bogaidh fo stiùir Cholaiste na Gàidhealtachd a Tuath. Bha e na cheannard air a’ Bhòrd Stiùiridh Chomhairle nan Sgoiltean Àraich, buidheann a bha an-sàs gu mòr ann am foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig. Sgrìobh e grunn phàipearan agus libhrig e taisbeanan eadar-nàiseanta mu dheidhinn teagaisg na Gàidhlig agus eachdraidh ceann a tuath na Gàidhealtachd.

Tha e air bhith ris a’ phìob mhòr fad a bheatha agus na fharpaiseach an dà chuid ann an còmhlan-pìoba agus mar aon-neach ann an Canada ’s Alba. Tha e an-dràsta na prìomh phìobaire anns a’ chòmhlan-pìoba Saor Alba, a thàinig ri chèile a dh’aona ghnothaich airson neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba. Tha e fhèin sa bhean a’ fuireach air an lot aca ann an Cataibh far a bheil iad a’ cumail crodh Gàidhealach. Tha e aithnichte mar neach labhairt an dual-chainnte ionadail.

Alasdair worked for 15 years at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig as a lecturer in Gaelic. He previously worked in the Department of History at the University of Guelph, where he completed his Ph.D., and in the Department of Celtic at the University of Toronto. He then came to Scotland and he and his wife had a Gaelic unit on their Sutherland property. In addition, he was involved in three immersion courses led by North Highland College. He was a chief executive of the Board of Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Àraich, an organization heavily involved in Gaelic medium education. He wrote a number of papers and delivered international presentations on Gaelic teaching and the history of the northern Highlands.

He has played the bagpipes all his life and is a competitor both in pipe band and as a soloist in Canada and Scotland. He is currently the principal piper in the Free Scottish Pipe Band, which formed specifically for Scottish independence. He and his wife live on their plot in Sutherland where they keep Highland cattle. He is well known as a speaker of the local dialect.


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