Singing for Japan

Singers and instrumentalists from Scottish Opera, the RSAMD and the University of Glasgow will raise funds to help Japanese people affected by the tsunami through a concert this weekend.

It will be held in Glasgow University Chapel at 3pm on Sunday 27 March. A donation of £10 is suggested but all donations large and small will be gratefully accepted.

Scottish Opera emerging artists, Marie Claire Breen; Michel de Souza; Rebecca Afonwy-Jones; Scottish guitarist, Sean Shibe; organist, Michael Bawtree; Armenian violinist, Ani Batikian and Glasgow University Choir with Chorus Master, James Grossmith, will perform. Their programme  will include opera,  songs of Scotland and Japan, extracts from the Faure Requiem and Japanese choir pieces.

Professor Graham Caie, Clerk of Senate and Vice Principal said: “The University has offered its deepest sympathy and practical support to all its Japanese students and staff who have been affected by the devastation and terrible loss of life in the events following the earthquake in Japan. The concert is another way that the University can show its support for Japan during this crisis.”

Sean Shibe, 19, the youngest winner of the Royal Overseas League String Award, said : “As a child growing up in Scotland with an British father and a Japanese mother, I was ever aware of the similarities and differences of the two nations. Both are countries proudly steeped in culture of very difference kinds. I often visit Japan, and even in childhood always ended up remembering those shrines of Kyoto, skyscrapers of Tokyo, and the million other wonders that my then-unappreciative eyes ended up permanently capturing.

“But as soon as nature shrugs, humanity’s achievements can be blown to dust, forgotten in that second it takes for devastation to be realised. We only have to read a newspaper to realise that lives are only ever one step from complete chaos – not only in this past fortnight, but on any day. All of us must understand that, situations aside, we share this commonality, we hold this similarity – and we should act upon this empathy.”

Scottish Opera/RSAMD Repetiteur Fellowship, Ayako Kanazawa said: “I am a survivor of the devastating Hanshin earthquake in 1995. Not only was the rescue operation difficult but also the reconstruction. It is a frustrating time for all Japanese in the UK all we can do is pray. But with this concert, I want to believe that our performance will have power to help suffering people in my beautiful country.”

The concert can be watched online on the Chapel Webcam at:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/chaplaincy/index.html

Concert proceeds will be sent to the British Red Cross who will in turn direct the donation to the Japanese Red Cross at:
http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now

Mitchell Move for Women’s Library

by Lynsay Keough

Glasgow Women’s Library will move to its new home at the city’s prestigious Mitchell Library later this month, launching the next stage of a major fundraising drive to get the premises fit-for-purpose.

To celebrate the move, and to help raise the vital funds needed for their new home’s restoration – the Women’s Library is holding an Auction of Pleasures at St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, on September 17, where guests will have the chance to bid on adventures and treasures that money can’t usually buy.

These include: dinner aboard a yacht owned by Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, having a bespoke garment knitted for you from a selection of vintage patterns from the Women’s Library archive, and artworks by groundbreaking women artists and a behind-the-scene’s visit to Scottish Opera

Restoring the former Anderston Library-part of the Mitchell library- to the necessary standards for today’s users, means a £1.5 million renovation programme and the Auction of Pleasures is just one initiative that Library staff have come up with to raise the cash. Other initiatives include Women on the Shelf,  giving people the chance to sponsor a book, shelf or section in the new Library.

The importance of the Glasgow Women’s Library collection was formally recognised recently with the announcement that it has been awarded full status as an Accredited Museum by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. This means that Scotland has moved closer to getting a new national museum, as the Women’s Library is now working towards further accreditation as Scotland’s national women’s museum, library and archive.

Sue John, the Library’s Strategic Development Manager said: ‘We are asking people across Glasgow and beyond to help us build a truly unique resource by supporting our Auction of Pleasures on September 17 and enjoy what promises to be an amazing evening of luscious food, quality entertainment and a few special surprises.’

The Auction of  Pleasures takes place at St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow on Friday September 17, 6pm to 11pm. Tickets cost £45 per person or £400 per table (10 people). For details on how to book your place please contact Laura Dolan on 0141 248 9969 or email pleasures@womenslibrary.org.uk
www.womenslibrary.org.uk

Very Glasgow, Very Gallus!

Very Glasgow, Very Gallus
by Lynsay Keough, photos Stuart Maxwell

‘Very Glasgow, Very Gallus,’  said Scottish Government Minister Stewart Stevenson, when he saw the plans, a year ago, for the “Phoenix Flowers”.  The Cowcaddens art project was formally opened by him on Monday 28 June 2010 and the fifty, giant, pink, orange and yellow flowers were finally in bloom.

‘The Phoenix Flowers Project creates a vibrant gateway between the Glasgow city centre, the North of the city and the Forth and Clyde Canal and I’m delighted to have been able to open it today,’ he said. ‘This project represents a key milestone in the overall regeneration of the North of the city, and credit must go to the businesses, community groups, residents and schools who have all played an important part in this work.’

The towering aluminium flowers, which range in height from five to eight metres and which have two metre wide petals, are part of the award winning transformation of a run down underpass near Cowcaddens underground on the site of the former Phoenix Park.

They form part of an important and colourful gateway between the city centre and the  developing creative and cultural neighbourhood on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Speirs Wharf. This is just one element of the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership’s  plans to revitalise key hubs on the Glasgow stretch of the waterway which also includes Maryhill.

The £1.5 million project won a Scottish Design Award in the ‘Future Buildings and Spaces’ category. It was commissioned by the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership and was designed by 7N Architects and rankinfraser landscape architecture.

The idea of developing Speirs Wharf into an important cultural centre is already becoming a reality.  Scottish Opera purpose-built their production studios in the area in 1997. And the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama, the National Theatre of Scotland, Glasgow Academy Musical Theatre Arts (GAMTA), and the Tollhouse Studio now all have premises on the banks of the canal.

Steve Dunlop, Director in Scotland for British Waterways said:  ‘The Phoenix Flowers project has already become a major talking point with Glaswegians and creates new interest in an area that has been neglected for many years.  We hope, in time, they will continue along the canalside.’