On the Water – The Galloway Agreement

On Thursday 10^th June, The Galloway Agreement’s string quintet will perform from the shores of Loch Ken at the Galloway Activity Centre. Enjoy this show on the water – bring your own boat or book a kayak, motorboat, paddleboard or canoe. Floating room only!

The ’On the Water’ event, at 6pm on the 10^th of June, is a first for South West Scotland, with the audience taking to the water to appreciate the bankside performance.

The Galloway Agreement is a collaboration featuring four of D&G’s best known traditional musicians; Wendy Stewart (clarsach, vocals), Ruth Morris (alto and tenor nyckelharpa), Gavin Marwick (fiddle) and Stuart Macpherson (double bass). This event will feature a new line up which brings cellist Beth Porter into the group.

These world class musicians are all based in Dumfries and Galloway, and originally came together as invited artists to record on Wendy’s album, ‘Folds in the field’. They enjoyed playing together so much that they decided to form this quartet, with a quite different instrumental line-up and choice of material from a more usual string quartet. Their current repertoire is a mixture of original compositions and favourite tunes and songs from Scotland and other European traditions. They make a sublime sound with this lovely combination of instruments.

Attendees are welcome to bring their own boat or rentals are available from the Galloway Activity Centre. Booking is essential and there are a range of rentals available to accompany your tickets. To book your ticket, visit the Glenkens Community & Arts Trust website here: https://gcat.scot/event/on-the-water/

The event is a result of a collaboration between the Glenkens Community & Arts Trust, the Loch Ken Trust and the Galloway Activity Centre, made possible through support by the Galloway Glens Scheme and Creative Scotland.

The Event is being led by the Glenkens Community & Arts Trust. Aidan Nicol, GCAT’s Arts Culture & Heritage Manager, said:

This will be our first live music event since we closed CatStrand for the first lockdown, we’re so delighted to be showcasing the talented musicians we have here in the region and making a splash with an event we hope will draw attention back to the vibrant arts scene locally as well as connecting people to our beautiful landscape. I’m pleased to be offering this event as a playful return to live programming for GCAT in the Glenkens.

Barney Fryer, the Loch ken Trust Officer, added:

“Loch Ken Trust is delighted to be working with GCAT to help reopen activities around Loch Ken in a really unique way. We are here to provide facilities and activities for everyone in our communities, whether you are looking for thrill-seeking adventures or something a little bit more sedate.

Of course, this event brings together a bit of both, with our audience taking to the Loch to combine the beautiful melodies of The Galloway Agreement with the stunning views of Loch Ken that you only see from on the water!

If you would like to know more about the work of Loch Ken Trust, why not become a member? Membership is totally free and open to anyone who supports our work to make life better for those who live, work or play at Loch Ken. Check our website at www.lochken.org.uk/membership for more details.”

Galloway Glens Project Officer, Nick Chisholm said:

“We all know that the Covid has massively disrupted many lives and activities. The entertainment sector has been particularly badly affected with events either going online or cancelled altogether. We came up with the idea of generating a number of ‘happenings’ around the Galloway Glens area just before Christmas 2020 but we worked away quietly without publicity as we were never sure if we would be able to put them on, or worse still have people booking on only to have them cancelled as the pandemic continued its miserable progress.

The help and expertise of the GCAT has been amazing and we have a programme of events for this summer which are designed to be quirky, stimulating and fun. ‘On the Water, The Galloway Agreement’ is the first we are announcing, and it certainly fulfils the brief of being quirky, stimulating and fun! We don’t think anyone has ever done this before and are really excited to be part of a team including CatStrand and The Loch Ken Trust that are making it happen!

We are so grateful to the National lottery Heritage Fund for their ongoing support.”