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Public music sessions start this month

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SEALL is helping to spread the joy of music around our communities by organising regular sessions with local musicians in pubs around Skye.

Anyone who wants to play or listen to some live music in a friendly, sociable environment is invited to come along to the sessions.

The first starts at the Hebridean Inn, Broadford on Tuesday, 2 August from 8pm tp 10pm. Liz and John Phillips will be leading the sessions. Anyone with a musical instrument, including your voice, and at any level should be made most welcome.

If you don’t play, then why not come and listen and enjoy the atmosphere.

No booking necessary.

Opportunities at SEALL

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Technical and events management opportunties

Are you interested in helping out at live events?
Do you want to learn or help with sound and lighting at events?

SEALL is committed to building strong relations within its communities and are looking to pass on our skills to anyone interested in the performing arts who would like to learn the basics of events management and technical support.

We are offering paid opportunities to members of the Skye and Raasay communities to help our team during the hosting of live events. Full training will be given. We hope to build a list of occasional helpers who will be part of a rota during our 2022 programme.

Anyone interested should contact us at info@seall.co.uk

Thank you and goodbye to Marie

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Marie Lewis is leaving SEALL on 17 Deember to start a new adventure as a freelance producer.
Marie joined SEALL in October 2016 and took over as Creative Director from Duncan MacInnes three years later.
Over the past two years, Marie has successfully guided the organisation through what has been a most difficult phase, not only for SEALL but for Scotland’s cultural sector and our communities in particular.
Through her leadership and vision, she has turned challenge into opportunity and, during lockdown, pivoted SEALL’s focus towards how best we could serve the people of the local communities.
Marie said: “In November 2019 I was delighted and excited to be leading SEALL into its 4th decade. Little did I know what was around the corner!”
In 2020, during the first lockdown, the SEALL@Home project was rolled-out across the region to safely deliver performing arts events online to some of the most lonely and isolated members of the communities and offered local musicians a chance to continue showcasing their talents with paid performance opportunities. The Small Halls Festival, celebrating St Andrew’s Day, was delivered entirely online, giving access to one of Scotland’s most cherished winter festivals of traditonal music to not only local audiences but to people from across the world. With creative learning at her heart, she ensured all schoolchildren in Skye and Raasay continue to be exposed to expert tuition from some of Scotland’s most prominent musicians.
In 2021, with Marie at the helm, SEALL took a brave step towards putting on in-person events and produced a safe and highly successful outdoor programme over the summer at Armadale Castle. She has grown the SEALL team, providing a raft of new job and performance opportunities to local people.
This year, SEALL also became one of 26 Scottish cultural organisations to be part of the national Culture Collective, a £6million Scotland-wide initiative enabling creative practitioners, organisations and communities to come together and create a positive difference towards recovery from Covid-19.
Although Marie will not see some of these projects come to fruition, it is her dedication that has laid the foundations for a positive future for culture in Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh.
Marie added: “The past 20 months have been challenging and also incredibly rewarding. I am proud of SEALL’s resilience and the programmes we have created and adapted in extraordinary circumstances.
“I am off to pastures new, leaving SEALL in a great place with a fantastic team, and I very much look forward to seeing what SEALL does in the next decade or two. I would also like to thank everyone who supported me, and who continue to support SEALL’s work.”
Marie’s legacy is an assurance that SEALL has not only survived through adversity but has thrived, with the strength to go forward into the future.
We wish Marie all the very best in anything she turns her hand to and we will all miss her very much.

Small changes

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Owing to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, Mary Macmaster can no longer join our Small Halls musicians this year.

The good news is that the wonderful Duncan Chisholm and Amy Geddes have stepped in to fill the gaps and to ensure that 2021 Small Halls is as special as ever.

Also, not everyone will be able to get to this year’s Big Ceilidh so we have decided to livestream the entire event on YouTube for FREE. On 27 November at 8.30pm, everyone will be able to watch the festival’s highlight event live from Seumas’ Bar, Sligachan, directly from the comfort of their own homes. No need for a ticket. Just click on the link below and join us in some great Highland-style entertainment. It’s not exactly in-person, but it’s most certainly the next best thing.

Watch the Big Ceilidh here

Message from the chair

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Next year SEALL celebrates ten decades of bringing quality performing arts events to rural venues across Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh.
Our AGM takes place on Wednesday 10 November (details to come). In the meantime, we are reaching out to our supporters to gather thoughts and opinions on what you think SEALL should be doing over the next 30 years and beyond.
We are asking people to fill out a short survey which will determine what performing arts on Skye and Lochalsh may look like in the future.
Lindsay Dunbar, SEALL’s chair, explains below.

TAKE THE SURVEY

The first time I ever really visited Skye was in 2000 to start a year at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Paying the toll to cross the new bridge and heading over to Sleat after 2 years at Glasgow University felt like a huge leap into the unknown. Although I grew up in Achiltibuie, like many Highlanders, I did wonder how the island’s cultural scene would compare to nights on Sauchiehall Street. I needn’t have worried as the year passed by in a whirl of cèilidh dancing, music sessions and entertainment within the four walls of An t-Sabhal Mhòr.

One memorable event was the Phil Kay comedy night. It was all going well until someone mentioned single-track roads, then it went down-hill, so to speak. However, the reason I remember it so clearly was the unique interaction of a rural community with a touring artist. That is what made it so special.

Over the years I’ve been delighted to return to Skye through my work with the Promoters Arts Network and the Touring Network, where I also connected with Duncan MacInnes. He was a mentor for me and many others in the rural promoting world. Without his leadership I think rural arts would be incredibly different to the scene we know today. Working with Duncan, we brought the Wee Theatre Festival to Skye, producing short site-specific performances across the Island and Raasay, celebrating the diverse and rich history of the Island and its communities. No wonder Skye is now a top cultural destination for visitors to Scotland.

It’s a real honour to support the fantastic team of SEALL, particularly as the organisation heads towards 30 years of events, promoting high-quality work to communities. It’s inspiring, what impact a small rural cultural organisation can achieve.

As a valued supporter of SEALL, your opinion is very important to us. Please would you take the time to fill in a small survey (link below) and feed into our snapshot to understand what the next 30 years might look like, bringing performances to people in the most special of places.Lindsay Dunbar, SEALL, Chair

TAKE THE SURVEY