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 Welcome to this, our 5th annual Perthshire Amber Festival!
Thanks for visiting the website. We hope you can come and join us in this wonderful part of Scotland (this year or further on..) and share with us the beautiful scenery, our music and our musical friends.
Now 10 days long, the festival has become a major event in the calendar of Perthshire, and indeed Scotland. This area has a rich musical heritage and we hope we are successful in contributing to and continuing it. The Festival is so much more than the music concerts...it's also a celebration of the history and culture of this unique county in the heart of Scotland.
For me it's just great to have this opportunity to perform with all these various combinations of fine musicians and friends that I've made through my travels over the years. I really hope you enjoy this year's website, the anticipation of the festival and then the festival itself!
Dougie
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 In 1998 internationally acclaimed Singer-songwriter and Composer Dougie MacLean was commissioned to write a piece of music for the Perth Festival of the Arts. He combined beautiful slow airs, majestic marches and toe-tapping reels and jigs with exquisite string arrangement by Kevin McCrae. What was born was described as "an irresistible tapestry of tunes, rhythms, instrumental and orchestral colours, harmonies and textures." (Michael Tumelty - The Herald). This composition was called 'Perthshire Amber'.
Perthshire is a beautiful county in he heart of Scotland, abundant with trees, lochs, rivers, mountains and moorland. It is the home of Dougie MacLean and many of his songs and melodies have been inspired by this land and the the people who surrounded him there in his youth and to this day. The Perthshire Amber Festival includes concert performances in an inspiring range of venues...from custom designed theatre to castles to an Iron Age crannog! It gives locals and visitors the opportunity to explore Perthshire with a focus, and for enthusiasts for Dougie MacLean's music to experience the place where he lives and gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of and inspiration for some of his songs and instrumental compositions.
'Amber' as a word is evocative of golden, rich, autumnal colour... something that Perthshire is renowned for. The Perthshire Amber Festival happens annually beginning on the last weekend in October, a perfect time to experience these colours!
The Perthshire Amber Festival brings together many musicians and entertainers from different parts of the world who have been involved with Dougie MacLean over the years. It also provides an opportunity for him to perform little heard songs, as well as well known favourites! From the first festival in 2005 Dougie has delivered, (as far as earthly possible!) his promise of "no song repeated"!!
"I've long dreamt of a 'festival-type' situation where I could really enjoy performing a wide body of my own work. After many years of accumulating quite a lot of songs and tunes it can be frustrating sometimes that concerts can only last a couple of hours!" (Dougie MacLean)
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