Wednesday, 30 September 2009 14:55

Young people from around Argyll and Bute will showcase their creative talents at a major cultural event next month.

The Homecoming Rhapsody event is the hottest date in this year’s cultural calendar, and will be headlined by the latest up and coming names on the music, photography and fashion scenes.

The event is a celebration of young talent in Argyll and Bute and will take place on 28 and 29 October in Oban and Helensburgh respectively.

Although the focus is on the work of the young musicians, artists and designers, there will also be internationally renowned musicians involved such as Oban’s Donald Shaw, who will work with young people in celebrating the culture of Argyll and Bute from a 21st Century perspective.

The two Homecoming Rhapsody events involve 120 senior pupils from all of Argyll and Bute’s 10 secondary schools coming together to celebrate Scotland’s unique heritage.

Following two days of residential rehearsals, the performers, artists and designers will open the event with a reprise of the unique Rhapsody musical work, written and directed specially for the young people of Argyll and Bute by Donald Shaw. The performance will involve a mix of gaelic song, pipes, drums, fiddles, accordions, guitars, woodwind, brass and percussion.

It will be accompanied by projected image representation of ‘our space’ – a photographic collection from pupils across the area’s secondary schools who have worked with international photojournalist Colin McPherson in a series of school workshops. An accompanying stills exhibition will then tour Argyll and Bute secondaries.

The second half of the event will be a fashion show featuring hats, shoes, jewellery and garments designed and made by Art and Design students from all secondaries, on the theme of ‘Scottish Influence Abroad’. The wild Scottish fashion will be accompanied by live wild Scottish music.

The hair and makeup for the show will be done by pupils from Islay High School, with assistance from professional hairdressers and make up artists.

Each school has selected several pupils as models for the fashion show. Each will work on choreography and performance skills with a professional choreographer and drama consultant.

Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for Education and Lifelong Learning, Councillor Isobel Strong, said Homecoming Rhapsody would be an occasion not to be missed.

“This provides an opportunity for young people from across Argyll and Bute to come together and work with professionals – musicians, sound engineers, stage craft experts, make up artists, hairdressers, dancers and dramatists - and be part of a real show case event,” she added.

“Several of the young people will have done some preparation in advance, but the entire cast will meet each other for the first time just two days before the opening show. It’s going to be a real achievement.

“I know the young people are very excited about the event, and we are all looking forward to seeing the results of all their hard work.

“These pupils are fantastic ambassadors not just for their schools but for Argyll and Bute as a whole, and I am delighted that they are being given the chance to showcase their talents in this unique way.”

The pipers and singers too part in several workshops earlier this month to prepare for the Fashion Show soundtrack.

The pupils will perform to audiences in Oban and Helensburgh which will include local and national policitians, Council and business executives, representatives of community partners and arts and cultural groups as well as family and friends.

This event is sponsored by Argyll and Bute Council, Determined to Succeed, the Scottish Arts Council and Homecoming Scotland and locally by Oban Common Good Fund and Ferguson’s Hair and Beauty.

Tickets for the shows are priced at £8, or £5 for concessions and Young Scot card holders, and are available from:

Corran Halls, Corran Esplanade, Oban, PA34 5AB - Box Office Tel: 01631 567333; Web: www.corranhalls.co.uk; email: info@corranhalls.co.uk

Hermitage Academy, Cardross Road, Helensburgh, Phone: 01436 672145; email: enquiries@hermitageacademy.argyll-bute.sch.uk

For more information on the event, please go to the website at www.rhapsody09.com.