It sounds like the setting for a quirky musical, a kind of Sound of Music, Scots-style, or a Brigadoon. Picture it: A small, quiet town nestled in a crevice of the picturesque Highlands. Nothing much happens. Suddenly, children are spontaneously singing opera in the streets, a bunch of teenagers are running around with a video camera to capture the activity, as is a BBC film crew. The townsfolk of Cromarty must be wondering what’s hit them.
In fact, the secluded town of Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands, only has about 800 inhabitants, so in one way or another they are likely to be connected with the event tonight that has been causing all the hype.
To celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Hugh Miller, one of Scotland’s major historical figures, 100 schoolchildren from little Cromarty will tonight perform an opera based on his life.
Cromarty Arts Society commissioned composer David Munro and lyricist Ross Stenhouse to produce the opera. Munro has worked extensively with young people, producing operas for Scottish Opera Go Round and Opera For All. Stenhouse, meanwhile, has worked with Scottish Opera, and written more than 30 scripts for Hopscotch Theatre Company, a schools’ performance group who use Scottish history as their main subject matter.
According to Jenny Gunn, Chair of Cromarty Arts Society, the people of Cromarty rarely get the opportunity to see such performances, let alone participate in them. The nearest mainstream theatre, Eden Court, is more than a 40-minute drive away, in Inverness.
‘Cromarty, though a very beautiful and historic town, has high levels of unemployment and the usual expensive and infrequent public transport that goes with living in a Highland community,’ Gunn explains. ‘What many of our community cannot do is attend full-scale mainstream theatre.’
But the demand to participate in the arts in this vibrant community is high, according to Gunn. The Cromarty Arts Society has existed for 18 years and in that time has focused on attracting opera, theatre and musical performances to the town. Following a recent sell-out performance of Accidental Death of an Accordianist, theatregoers actually had to be turned away at the door, she recalls.
There is also an eagerness to participate in art classes. Following the creation of adult learning courses last year, 150 members of the population attended the life drawing, photography, literature, philosophy, dancing, and language classes.
So, when the idea of the opera was voiced, the reaction was overwhelming.
‘The Cromarty Arts Society approached the local school with the idea to stage a children’s opera,’ Gunn explains. ‘They were delighted with the idea and in fact the whole school is taking part, and nobody is being forced to!’
According to Gunn, the small town of Cromarty is buzzing with activity surrounding the opera, including the excitement created by a BBC television crew filming around town.
‘We have the eight teenagers who are working on a video of the whole project out and about, and a BBC Scotland crew are making an Artworks programme,’ Gunn explains. ‘The town is at fever pitch with rehearsals, creating the artworks to go with the show. The children have been learning the songs for some weeks and are often heard about town singing their heads off!’
‘Children are creating animated film which will be part of the staging of the opera, and primary six and seven children have created all the images used in our marketing,’ she continues.
The performance begins at the East Church, where it will proceed down the main street – while adults perform vignettes from Hugh Miller’s life – before the main show at the village hall.
The society hopes to tour the opera to other venues, but this will require further funding. The Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund has covered 75 per cent of the project costs, with additional financial support form Ross and Cromarty Enterprise, Highland Council, the Community Economic Development Programme and the National Trust for Scotland.
The latter has expressed interest in the children’s opera performing at other National Trust venues, while it has also been suggested the children perform songs in the Highland Council Chamber.
Cromarty receives annual funding from the Scottish Arts Council, and Gunn says the support from Ross and Cromarty Enterprise Development Officer, Wendy Sanders, has also proven invaluable to community arts projects.
However, Gunn expresses concern over the accessibility of arts education to children, especially in isolated towns, where it is hard to find, and keep, quality teachers. Funding in this area, she stresses, is something to be developed and protected.
‘I have a very strong belief in the importance of the arts in the education of our children,’ Gunn emphasises. ‘There is a growing tendency to marginalise music and the visual arts. Peripatetic teachers are gradually disappearing from our primary schools, although Cromarty has two great teachers of music and art at the moment, both of whom have been enthusiastic supporters of this project.’
‘It seems to be the perception, and is probably true, that these are easy budgets to trim. I believe we have to be both vigilant and vocal in our commitment to seeing arts provision continued.’
For further information on tonight’s performance of ‘Hugh Miller: The Cromarty Years’, contact Jenny Gunn on 01381 600 277 or via email
