Graduating the Ceòlas 2016 summer school

The culmination of the 2016 Ceòlas summer school saw the Ceilidh Mòr taking place on July 8th hosted by Kirsteen MacDonald .

As ever, the quality of the talent showcased at the South Uist event was impressive.

Rachel Walker, Christine Primrose and Alasdair C Whyte taught song classes all week to great acclaim.

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Griogair Làbhruidh sang Pìobaireachd song as well as performing his trademark rap, to the delight of the audience.

Piping was provided by Fin Moore and Angus Nicolson, who had been tutoring all week and supported by Seonaidh MacIntyre, who had been playing for the dancers.

Dance took centre stage during the week with Frank McConnell, Mats Melin and Jayne Macleod making it all look easy.

Jamie MacDonald and Sarah Hoy provided music for the dancers and Cape Breton guest Shelly Campbell also danced as well as play the fiddle.

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Calum MacKenzie taught fiddle and put his great piano skills to use to accompany Fin and Sarah Hoy’s set at the Ceilidh Mòr. He also accompanied his wife Alexis MacIsaac who played a lively set on the fiddle.

Allan Henderson who had been teaching Youth Fiddle all week was called on several times to accompany the singers and fiddlers.

Patsy Reid wowed everyone with her fiddle playing and Patsy Seddon’s Clarsach playing was sublime.

The concert was streamed live on ‘An Radio’ and there were over 500 people from across the globe listening in as well as the locals who could not get a ticket for this sold out event.

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From Registration on Sunday through until everyone left the Ceilidh Mòr on Friday evening the atmosphere was fantastic. One hour into the welcome ceilidh on Sunday evening a first time participant told Iain MacDonald that she was planning on coming again next year.

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