Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin

24/04/2025

We're very sad to bring you the news that unfortunately EYG Big Band at Edinburgh Tradfest (26th April, 3rd, 4th & 5th May) is unable to go ahead. It's a tough time for live events and workshops across the board, particularly with advance sign-ups and ticket sales. We'll be working away behind the scenes to organise another Big Band for later in the year instead 🥰

Please follow us here and on Instagram for updates. We'll get in touch with all previous participants via email, too. Thank you for your support and hope to see you at another EYG event in future. We're committed to bringing high quality, fun musical education experiences to young people in Edinburgh and beyond✨

10/04/2025

A brilliant event this Saturday 12th April at Caird Hall Dundee! Find out more below.

10/04/2025

💥 TUTOR ANNOUNCEMENT 💥

Introducing the final member of our amazing tutor team: Hailey Beavis. She'll providing pastoral support and musical encouragement throughout EYG Big Band.

Hailey is an Edinburgh-based musician and artist known for her focus on intuitive creativity and play. She began her career as a Playworker at The Yard Adventure Centre, before transitioning to lead the hospitals programme for Tinderbox Collective. There, she performed music and engaged children and young people in songwriting and sound exploration at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People.

Hailey’s work often incorporates sensory exploration, using creativity to unlock the potential of individuals with profound and multiple learning disabilities in designing their own environments, objects, and activities. Her approach is rooted in understanding how people interact with spaces, objects, and others, ensuring that the activities provided are both meaningful and empowering.

In 2022, Hailey released her debut solo album and is currently recording new music with her synth-pop band, Both Hands.

🎟 EYG Big Band tickets and full registration info here: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

07/04/2025

💥 TUTOR ANNOUNCEMENT 💥

In addition to our three band tutors, we have an excellent pastoral team at EYG who will be on hand to provide support and encouragement throughout the workshops. Find out all about Jonathan Foster and his musical life below! We'll introduce you to the final member of our team later this week.

🎟 EYG Big Band tickets and full registration info here: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin Big Band. The EYG Big Band is a three-day programme for ages 13–18. It will be led by some of Scotland’s finest musicians, who will support participants to learn tradition…

31/03/2025

💥 TUTOR ANNOUNCEMENT 💥

Another incredible tutor for EYG Big Band 2025 at Edinburgh Tradfest. Introducing Kate Young!

Growing up immersed within a folk music background in Edinburgh, Kate Young has emerged as one of Scotland’s most innovative composers and musicians. She is driven by the exploration of new sounds found in traditional musics around the globe, which feed into her compositional world. As a musician, Kate combines voice with fiddle-playing techniques to conjure intriguing soundscapes as she navigates her way across musical genres.

Her latest album, Umbelliferæ, explores the stories and uses of wildflowers across the UK, creating a deeply immersive experience—both in sound and live performance – akin to a sensorial journey through a botanical garden.

🎟 EYG Big Band tickets and full registration info here: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

28/03/2025

💥 TUTOR ANNOUNCEMENT 💥

Introducing another of our brilliant tutors for this year's EYG Big Band at Edinburgh Tradfest - it's Dave Milligan Music! Dave is a highly versatile musician and a leading figure in the diverse Scottish music scene. His musical imagination flows freely between multiple genres, and he is in great demand all over the world as a performer, composer, arranger, musical director and educator.

Find out more about Dave and his musical life below...

🎟 Tickets and full registration info here: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin Big Band. The EYG Big Band is a three-day programme for ages 13–18. It will be led by some of Scotland’s finest musicians, who will support participants to learn tradition…

26/03/2025

💥 TUTOR ANNOUNCEMENT! 💥

We're excited to introduce the first of our tutors for this year's EYG Big Band at Edinburgh Tradfest: ace multi-instrumentalist Tom Oakes Music. A 2019 Scots Trad Music Awards ‘Musician of the Year’ nominee, Tom has spent the last two decades ploughing many different furrows as a traditional/contemporary musician, composer, producer and sound designer. He is widely known for his work with Shetland fiddler Ross Couper Music, genre-bending pan-Finnish act The Auvo Quartet and new Scottish powerhouse OBTrio.

Tom is an experienced teacher of flute, whistles, guitar and bouzouki. He is a director of Edinburgh's WinterTrad weekend alongside Ross Couper and has tutored for Newcastle University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland among many others.

Sign up here! https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

25/03/2025

We want to say a big THANK YOU to all who attended our March workshops in partnership with the amazing Tinderbox Collective. What a brilliant group! 😍

Thank you also to our excellent tutors (Tom Oakes Music, Kate Young and Graeme Armstrong Music, Amanda Currie and Claire Docherty) and to Scottish Storytelling Centre for making us so welcome 🙏

Our next event is coming up in just over a month! ⏰Sign up now to avoid missing out...

🎟Tickets and registration - https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

22/03/2025

🎤 Singing and songwriting ✨

Following on from our earlier post, we thought we’d let you know about another special feature of EYG Big Band.

We’re encouraging singers to sign up as well as instrumentalists! There’ll be the opportunity to learn traditional songs, and this year participants will be able to try songwriting too. It’s another brilliant way into making music, expressing yourself, telling stories and connecting with others.

🎟Tickets: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

Feel free to email [email protected] with any questions 😀

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Mixed instrument band, singing, songwriting - supported by great tutors and pastoral staff to learn trad music, create & have fun.

21/03/2025

🎼Mixed Instrument Big Band 🎻

For those curious about the different instruments we welcome at EYG 🪕
In previous years we have had fiddle, guitar, ukulele, accordion, pipes, flute, tin whistle, keyboard, clarsach, mandolin and more! We encourage singers to sign up, too – more on that in our next post. We can’t wait to hear the wonderful sounds you’ll be making together at EYG Big Band at Edinburgh Tradfest 2025 🤩

Bagpipers: please bring an A practice chanter if you can.
The sessions will be led at concert pitch - if you play a Bb or Eb instrument, a bit of familiarity with learning by ear or transposing will be useful.

SIGN UP HERE: https://eygbigband2025.eventbrite.co.uk

Feel free to get in touch with any questions: [email protected]

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