l GLASGOW Philharmonic Male Voice Choir continue their 20-year tradition of a Christmas concert with two events this year.

On December 17, the choir will perform in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, before relocating the following day to Adelaide's in Bath Street. The programme consists of a mixture of Christmas pieces and opera choruses, show tunes, part songs and other favourites drawn from the Scottish repertoire. Guests for the 2012 shows are mezzo-soprano Lucilla Graham and tenor Iain Milne.

www.glasphilmvc.org.uk

l RECOAT Gallery on North Woodside Road in Glasgow opens its annual affordable art exhibition on Friday, with works positioned on four separate walls priced at £25, £50, £75 and £100 respectively. Titled Art For Advent, the show brings together original and print edition illustration, street art and graphic art by artists from across the UK. It runs until December 23, and is open noon-6pm, Tuesday to Sunday.

www.recoatdesign.com

l THE music of Sir John Blackwood McEwen will be celebrated in an exhibition and concert early next year in his home town of Hawick. The town's Heritage Hub is the venue for an exhibition which opens at noon on Saturday January 5, commencing with a free short lunchtime recital featuring violinist Andrew Sherwood and pianist Jim Letham. Later in the month, on January 27 at 2.30pm, Tower Mill plays host to a more substantial programme of music which also features McEwen authority Dr Alasdair Mitchell of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (tickets £10/£2 from 01450 360688). John Blackwood McEwen was born in a Hawick manse in 1868 and became Professor of pianoforte, harmony and composition at the Athenaeum in Glasgow (the precursor to the RSAMD and RCS). Noted for working traditional Scottish folk music into his orchestral works, he was principal of the Royal Academy in London from 1924-1936, and died in 1948.