Suite Silver Dart Premiered at 2009 Celtic Colours

Nova Scotia Composer/Guitarist Scott Macmillan's Suite Silver Dart was premiered as part of a special 2009 Celtic Colours International Festival tribute to Alexander Graham Bell and the 100th Anniversary of the Flight of the Silver Dart Friday October 16, 2009 at the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, 7:30pm, with an encore presentation Saturday October 17, 2009 at Strathspey Place in Mabou, 2pm.

Scott Macmillan was been commissioned by Celtic Colours International Festival, Centre Bras d’Or Assoc and the Silver Dart Centennial Association to compose a new musical work, Suite Silver Dart for Violin, Harp, Guitar, Piano, String Orchestra, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada by Alexander Graham Bell and the Aerial Experiment Association (A.E.A.). With financial backing by Mabel Bell the A.E.A. flew the Silver Dart into aviation history on February 23, 1909, in Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Macmillan’s composition is a musical exploration of the hard work, anticipation, and celebration that culminated for the A.E.A. and the Baddeck community, on that historic day.

Suite Silver Dart: In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of aviation in Canada and the role played by Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck, Celtic Colours has joined forces with The Silver Dart Centennial Association and Centre Bras d'Or to commission Scott Macmillan to compose a new work, Suite Silver Dart. The music represents Bell, his life, his roots in Scotland, his role in the development of flight and his passion for music. Feature soloists the premiere of Suite Silver Dart include from Scotland; Chris Stout, violin and Catriona McKay Harp, from Nova Scotia, Composer/Guitarist Scott Macmillan and Paula-Jane Francis, Piano, and the String Section of Symphony Nova Scotia.

Suite Silver Dart was premiered as part of a special 2009 Celtic Colours International Festival tribute to Alexander Graham Bell and the 100th Anniversary of the Flight of the Silver Dart Friday October 16, 2009 at the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, 7:30pm, with an Encore presentation Saturday October 17, 2009 at Strathspey Place in Mabou, 2pm.

 

The balance of the concert will be performed with Symphony Nova Scotia and will include Bell's favourite music including songs by vocalists Peter Gillis and Laurel Brown. It is a very rare occasion for Symphony Nova Scotia to perform in Cape Breton and Celtic Colours is excited to be a part of this project

Simultaneously The Silver Dart Centennial Association and Parks Canada engaged Macmillan to undertake a creative youth project called The Sky's the Limit in which 20 student musicians from across Cape Breton have collaborated to create five musical explorations on flight. Scott will arrange their creations, which will be performed by the youth, at the 2009 Celtic Colours Suite Silver Dart concerts accompanied by Symphony Nova Scotia.