Podcast - Wax cylinder recordings from the English Folk Song & Dance Society

MP3, 91 minutes, 36.4 MB Listen now! For more information:- http://www.bl.uk/podcast

Podsafe - copyright cleared music files from SCRAN

"Short, copyright-cleared mp3 music files in a variety of styles, created by musician Steve Dale, are now available to download from the SCRAN website. These instrumental accompaniments can be used as a soundtrack to multimedia materials. Click here to investigate further. (opens in new window)" This item is a newsfeed from RSC - eNews from the JISC Regional Support Centres in Scotland.

RSAMD: Quartet for the end of time reviewd by Tumelty

Last Friday saw RSAMD Head of Keyboard Studies, Aaron Shorr, with cellist David Watkin, clarinettist Maximiliano Martin, and the young Armenian violinist Ani Batikian, performing Messiaen's Quartet for the end of time.

Michael Tumelty of The Herald was most impressed. Read his review.

Steve Forman gets praise from Tumelty

Read today's Herald (Wednesday 30th April) - there's a long feature about Steve and yesterday's Plug concert.

Curriculum Leader - Performing Arts & Media

From jobs.ac.uk:- Curriculum Leader Performing Arts and Media Wirral Metropolitan College http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/QN365/

A Guide to Using RSS Feeds for job-seeking

Another helpful posting from jobs.ac.uk - learn how to streamline your job-search by setting up RSS feeds to keep you posted. Nothing to it - and cleaner than spam-logging your inbox!

Also possibly of interest to a few of our readers - how to become a lecturer, a posting on the same website.

Scotland's Celtic Heritage - stories and art

Scottish Storytelling Centre Box office and information 0131 556 9579 or www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk

• Sheila Mullen Exhibition and meet the artist events
• Through Stranger Eyes: Stories of Travel

Based on Scottish ballad, Celtic legend and Scotland’s rich cultural heritage, artist Sheila Mullen’s vivid oil paintings capture the emotion, movement and power of oral traditions.

" ... stunning exhibition ... impressionistic style allowing room for imagination."

Meet the artist on 2nd May when she’ll be discussing the stories and ballads which inspire her.

Alternatively, go on 24th May - session of Celtic legends and Border ballads and the chance for children (and big kids alike!) to paint stories of their own.

Visit the Scottish Storytelling Centre website to find out more.

Jobs for music and drama graduates

From the nice people at Jobs.ac.uk:-

LEEDS

Research Officer, Research into Digital Preservation for Performing Arts School of Music & School of Computing University of Leeds http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/YZ083/

GLASGOW

Research Assistant Centre for Cultural Policy Research Theatre, Film & Television Studies University of Glasgow http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/TP155/

Clan Donald Library

If you make it to Skye, then head for Armadale, where you'll find the Castle Gardens and Museum of the Isles. Why is a music website telling you this? If you're interested in the history of Gaelic music, there might be useful leads here. Read what they say on their homepage:-

Library and Study Centre Housed in one wing of the Museum building, the Clan Donald Library has one of the best reference collections in the North West. It covers all aspects of Scottish culture and history, especially that of the Highlands, as well as natural history, topography and biography. Visitors to Armadale are welcome to browse our impressive collection of over 7000 books.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

Ever wondered what happens at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, on the Misty Isle of Skye? Here's their website. It's the place to learn Gaelic - short summer courses are just one of the options on offer - and the views from the college are to die for! "This truly is an inspiring place; one of the finest settings for education imaginable and a physical symbol of renewed confidence. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is special, not just because of its setting and the excellence it consistently attains, but because of the contribution it makes as the national college for Gaelic". (Soundbite from Jack McConnell MSP, First Minister for Scotland, on a visit last week.)

Jazz in Time - brush up on your jazz!

Here's a website from the Kennedy Center, telling you the history of jazz with sound-clips - Artsedge.

International Summer Academy, Goslar (University of Music & Drama, Hanover)

16th- 31st August 2008 International summer academy for instrumentalists and chamber music in the mediaeval town of Goslar. Closing date 1 June 2008. (Send biography, photo, repertoire, works list - and a recording if you've started studying with a new teacher this year.) Organised by the University of Music & Drama, Hanover. Website Email: uwe.gelowik at hmt-hannover.de (email address altered to confuse spammers!)

Accessible formats for learners with special needs

JISC, TechDis and the Publishers Association have collaborated in producing this online resource:-

Guide to obtaining publications in alternative formats

Here's what they say by way of introduction:-

The guide is for anyone who needs to source text books in an alternative format for a reading impaired learner. This is potentially a complicated area.

Disability law protects disabled learners by requiring the educational institution to make appropriate provision. Copyright law protects publishers from inappropriate copying of textbooks.

Between these two sets of rights are the staff who have to provide alternative formats in a timely manner to disabled learners. In most cases the optimum accessibility solution is to obtain the textbook in electronic format. This allows immediate personalisation of text size, colours and contrast. In addition, electronic text is usually an important intermediate stage for the production of non-text formats such as audio or braille.

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Flickr image from msbellee, with thanks.

THREE FULLY-FUNDED PHD STUDENTSHIPS

Here is an opportunity for THREE fully-funded collaborative PhD studentships, commencing 1 October 2008.

These arise from a collaboration between three august bodies -

• Department of Music at the University of Southampton (UK)
• Opera Rara
• Arts and Humanities Research Council

The studentships form part of the research project ‘Franco-Italian Cultural Transfer: Opera and Song 1800-1850’ (FICTOS).

PROJECT SCOPE

Wide scope, encompassing the widest spectrum of contact, transfer and exchange between Italy and France and vice-versa in opera and song.

INVESTIGATION INCLUDES:-

• The transfer of works between languages and genres
• Careers of composers and performers
• Investigation of the wider principles of cultural transfer in the context of Franco-Italian operatic cross-fertilisation.

TO APPLY: Further particulars, details of funding, and instructions for applicants are available at Southampton University Music Department website.

Farne - Folk Archive Resource North East

A web site about the music and culture of the North East of England. This is what the FARNE people say about it:-

Welcome to FARNE, home of Northumbrian music online and the region's new hub of folk information. From here you can access 4,000 songs, tunes, sound recordings and photographs from across North East England, bringing the musical heritage of the region alive as part of the FARNE archive. Discover more about the tunes, musicians, and instruments of our area.

Image from the FARNE website, with thanks.

IAML (UK & Irl)

What has your Music Librarian been up to this weekend?

Why, attending the IAML (UK & Irl) Annual Study Weekend, of course! (Where else?) It's the annual music librarians' conference, this year being held in Canterbury. See what she's been up to here - ASW overview.

Flickr image by robjtak, with thanks.

Britten-Pears Foundation - online info

You can now view the Britten-Pears Thematic Catalogue online. Visit the Britten-Pears Foundation website, and take it from there! Image from Tomski on Flickr, with thanks

Intute - what in the www is out there ...?

Have you come across Intute? If you're looking for reliable, subject-related information, it's a great place to start.

• Intute - Arts and Humanities - Music & Performing Arts
• Intute homepage

Here's how the Music and Performing Arts resource describes itself:-

In combining the resources and services of these hubs, the Arts and Humanities service of Intute offers an easy-to-use and powerful tool for discovering the best Internet resources for education and research in Creative Arts and Humanities.

London Music Trades 1750-1800

The Centre for Performance History at the Royal College of Music has created a very useful resource in this database for the London Music Trades 1750-1800. Find out about:-

• Music publishers
• Instrument makers
• Apprenticeships
• Insurance records
• Poll books
• Wills

Great for historical research!

Concert Programmes - valuable resource

If you'd like to find out the performance history of a certain piece of music - or perhaps find out about a performer or composer - this new database will be just what you're looking for. It indexes the programmes from 12,000 international venues from 1690 to the present, covering 25,000 personal and corporate names. Concert Programmes database - click here.

Subscribe to Whittaker live!

If you'd like to receive an email alert each time Whittaker does a new posting, then please follow the link to the right of this entry. Please email Library at rsamd.ac.uk if you need further assistance. The message will be passed on to the Music & Academic Services Librarian.

Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland

Here's a useful link for anyone interested in the history and promotion of Scotland's culture, and in particular, the culture of the Highlands. The RHASS has been in existence since 1784. There's a library with very useful archival material. Visit the RHASS website here.

Glasgow's first Subway Festival

• Read about the Subway Festival on the Glasgow West End website here.
• You can also check out what's happening on The List.

It starts today -have fun!

Edgar Bainton - Sonata for Cello and Piano

Just received by the Whittaker Library at RSAMD, a new publication from Stainer & Bell -

Bainton, Edgar

Sonata for violoncello and piano

Available to borrow by staff and students at RSAMD. Visit the library catalogue here.

Available for purchase from Stainer & Bell.

Musicians Health - physiotherapy for performing artists in Scotland

The Whittaker Library recently received a flyer for musicianshealth.co.uk - visit the website here. NB Whittaker Live cannot endorse services; we simply alert you to information that we have received.

Musicians Union supports traditional musicians

www.musiciansunion.org.uk - a postcard flyer from the MU reminds traditional musicians that the Musicians Union can:

• Support you
• Advise you
• Help develop your skills
• Help with tax issues
• Give legal advice
• Advise you on touring abroad
• Advise on negotiating contracts
• ... and there's free instrument and public liability insurance for all members. Visit the website to find out more.

NB Whittaker Live cannot endorse services; we simply alert you to information that we have received.

Play chamber music in the Scottish Highlands

NYOS Variations: Ullapool, 2-9 August 2008 Making chamber music in Scotland - visit www.nyosvariations.co.uk to find out more. NYOS Variations is an initiative of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland.

The Hollywood Librarian

• They whisper "shhhh"
• They wear glasses, buns, tweeds and cardigans
• They're terribly, terribly earnest ...
• ... or are they?

Yes - it's true! Librarians now have a film about themselves, examining their image in film and TV over the years.

The Hollywood Librarian is being screened in the USA and the UK, and hits Glasgow's Gilmorehill12 on Tuesday 6th May 2008. It's from 6.30 - 9.30 pm, and booking is essential. Click here for further details. (Info from the Slainte Events Calendar.)

Image from The Hollywood Librarian website, with thanks.

Grove Music Online upgraded

Staff and students of RSAMD can now access the new, improved, relaunched Grove Online website. No need to login from within the building; use your Athens login and password from anywhere else in the world.

Arts & Culture news from the Scottish Government

Follow this link.

Films of the Empire Exhibition

At The Lighthouse (11 Mitchell Street, Glasgow) - 19 April - 22 June 2008. Contact person: Leonie Bell, Programme Director Tel: +44 (0) 141 225 8403 Email: leonie.bell@thelighthouse.co.uk

International Masterclass for Orchestral Conducting

Message from Munich (Musikproduktion Hoflich):- We are happy to announce the next "International Masterclass for Orchestral Conducting" under the direction of Konrad von Abel. The course is not only for conductors, but for anyone seeking a gateway to the intrinsic laws of music. It is based on Sergiu Celibidache's "Phenomenology and Music". Konrad von Abel was the artistic assistant to Sergiu Celibidache at the Munich Philharmonic for over 10 years. ----------------------------------------------- DATE AND PLACE August 23 - September 5, 2008 České Budĕjovice (Budweis, Czech Republic) ----------------------------------------------- ORCHESTRA Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia

----------------------------------------------- THE CLASS

• The class will be held in English.
• Maximum of 12 active participants.
• Unlimited audience numbers
• Next week there will be a video on our website www.musikmph.de to give an idea of last year's course with Konrad von Abel.

Course website - click here.

Burns an a' that Festival

Link to Burns National Heritage Park website: http://www.burnsheritagepark.com/burnsfestival.htm

***

Festival website:

http://burns.visitscotland.com/festival/

'The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil

Looking for live Scottish music! Lindsay Thorburn is an MA Arts in Social Contexts student, and she is planning a cultural event. She is directing a production of John McGrath's play 'The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil' as part of Ayrshire's Burn's an' a' That annual festival. She needs musicians! Read on:- "The play requires live Scottish music and could be played by one or more musicians using a variety of instruments. Many of the songs are prescribed however, rehearsals are in the early stages so I'm open to creative interpretation! Rehearsals will be in Ayr and unfortunately there is no money available for expenses or pay however, you would get the opportunity to showcase your talents in a different format! I am looking for reliable and creative individuals to get involved and will be holding a production meeting shortly to discuss the project further. If you are interested please email me on l.thorburn at ayrcoll.ac.uk or my academy email address. " (To evade spammers, Lindsay's email address has deliberately been altered. You can work this out!)

Ex-library music sale in Edinburgh

RSAMD Whittaker Library is posting details of the following MUSIC SALE. (RSAMD has no connection with the sale stock or administration - we are simply alerting Edinburgh-based musicians to an event which may interest them.) On behalf of Oxfam Music, Stockbridge, and with thanks to Rae MacIntosh Music:-

Sheet Music & music books, scores, instrumental parts etc - Sale Freemasons’ Hall 96 George Street, Edinburgh

• Tuesday April 15th 9.30 am – 3.30pm
• Wednesday April 16th 9.30 am – 12 noon

Including thousands of books, scores and parts donated to Oxfam from an ex-library collection.

Scottish Ensemble with Raphael Wallfisch, cello

The Scottish Ensemble invites you to their latest concert series:-

Essential Ensemble with Raphael Wallfisch, cello

• 15 - 24 April 2008
• Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, London, Perth

This image is from the Scottish Ensemble website, with thanks.