IT is a very musical response to the turmoil of Brexit and the convulsive election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the USA.
More than thirty musicians from fifteen European countries are banding together in 2017 to send out a "message of hope in shared humanity" when they perform the premiere of a new work in Scotland next month.
With each of the musicians playing instruments from their home country or locality, La Banda Europa have been organised by lauded composer Jim Sutherland.
Sutherland, known for his work on around 70 film and TV shows, including the Pixar movie Brave, as well as the award-winning show Struileag, said the band are a platform to "make a statement by example" against the "rise of hate" and the "slither to right across Europe."
He said that the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the USA, as well as the Brexit vote, were a major part of his motivation for the group.
The band, which was first formed in 2007, are to perform at the Celtic Connections festival on January 29, will include instruments including nykelharpas, Armenian duduks, the Celtic carnyx and the two meter long Slovakian Fujara flute, as well as bagpipes from seven countries.
The band will be playing We Are An Ocean at the festival, which has been written for the band by Mr Sutherland, as well as The Pillars of Hercules, also composed by Sutherland, and named after the mythical gateway to the Mediterranean sea.
While the band is in Glasgow for Celtic Connections, it also hopes to work with refugee groups in Easterhouse
This work will be called JAM or Just About Managing and take place on January 28, where members of La Banda Europa will bring refugees a together with local people in an "informal night of music and spoken work", which will be free.
There are plans for a UK tour and also, long term, a youth version of the band.
Sutherland, also a notable record producer of bands such as Shooglenifty and Aberfeldy, said: "We Are the Ocean carries a vital message of shared humanity at a time when cultures are perceived to be moving further apart. "We recognise this as a time when art can take the lead in bringing our cultures together.
"La Banda Europa celebrates our differences and our similarities - all the while demonstrating that we can be different together."
Andras Vigh, from Hungary, said: "In our orchestra we speak many languages, but we have already found that we have a language in common: Music."
Slobodan Trkulia, from Serbia, added: "The idea of having all European families together, united in one voice, in one orchestra, will send a strong signal that as Europeans we should use our differences to create a new Europe rather than have them as an excuse to destroy it.
"I believe that La Banda Europa could do miracles, especially in my region.
Funding from Creative Scotland means that La Banda Europea will be able to record their first record when they meet in January.
The Celtic Connections concert will also be filmed.
Mr Sutherland hopes that the band can play in future festivals and touring venues, as well as "site-specific work, collaborations, education and masterclasses, from summer 2017 through to 2021."
Musicians in the band come from France, Sweden, Scotland, Spain, Serbia, Armenia, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Turkey, England and Austria among others.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel