PUPILS across the country are being encouraged to celebrate their musical heritage to be in with a chance of performing at one of the biggest folk festivals in the world.

ScottishPower and the Celtic Connections festival are offering one lucky secondary school group the opportunity to perform at the internationally renowned music event through a unique competition – The ScottishPower Powerful Performance.

The initiative invites S1 - S6 youngsters across the country to submit a short recording of traditional music using instruments, vocals, or a mixture of both.

The energy giant has been sponsoring Celtic Connections since 2007 and
ScottishPower Group Sponsorships Manager, Heather McDonald, was delighted to unveil the competition. She is looking for as many schools in Scotland as possible to get involved.

She said: “I’m pleased to be launching the ScottishPower Powerful Performance competition and look forward to hearing what our youngsters have to offer musically.

“ScottishPower has a strong commitment to the arts in the UK through its sponsorship of Celtic Connections, as well as others. We encourage all communities, and in particular schools, to experience and enjoy the arts and we hope that schools across the country enjoy taking part in our challenge.”

Secondary schools who are interested in entering ScottishPower’s Powerful Performance are asked to submit one 4-5 minute recording of a traditional melody or song, to a specially selected piece of music.

The winning group will perform at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in January 2010, as part of the final Education Concert of the festival, as well as the highly competitive Danny Kyle Open Stage competition, which the winner will automatically be entered into.

They will be judged as a regular competitor, with the chance of going on to win the Open Stage, following in the footsteps of acts like Karine Polwart – who won with her band Malinky in 1999 – and piping boy band The New Tradition (TNT).

Celtic Connections brings artists from around the globe to perform in Glasgow each January and previous headline acts have included Nanci Griffith and Eddi Reader. ScottishPower is once again sponsoring the festival in 2010, which takes place between 14th and 31st January.

Donald Shaw, Celtic Connections Artistic Director, said: “The Danny Kyle Open Stage has been an integral part of the festival for the past decade so to be given the chance to perform as a regular competitor, alongside new musical talent, is a fantastic opportunity for the winning school.

“ScottishPower has provided huge support to the festival over the past three years and we look forward to teaming up once again to find stars of the future in the world of traditional music.”

To register to take part in the ScottishPower Powerful Performance, please contact Carla McCallan at the BIG Partnership before 2nd October, on 0141 333 9585 / carla.mccallan@bigpartnership.co.uk.

Once registered, schools will be sent an information pack including a selection of traditional music to base their entry around and have until 23rd October to prepare and submit their entry.

Groups entering can be of any size, as long as pupils are aged between S1 – S6 and recordings must be submitted on CD or audio file.

A shortlist of finalists will be decided by 24th November with a winner announced on 10th December. The selected school group will perform at Celtic Connections on Friday 29th January 2010.

Issued by The BIG Partnership on behalf of ScottishPower.

For more information please contact:

Gillian Hamilton on 0141 333 9585 / 07734 656 676 or email gillian.hamilton@bigpartnership.co.uk
OR
Carla McCallan on 0141 333 9585 / 07763 645 867 or email carla.mccallan@bigpartnership.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

• ScottishPower became Principal Sponsor of Celtic Connections in 2007. Through the sponsorship, the company encourages its staff and the communities it works within to experience and enjoy the arts. ScottishPower’s partnerships reflect the company’s belief in the importance of enabling culture to be accessible for all.
• Celtic Connections has been brightening up the Scottish winter for 16 years. Held annually in Glasgow over 18 days in January, the festival features performances by an impressive array of international artists in venues across the city. Thousands of people from all over the UK and beyond flock to Glasgow to enjoy the best in folk and traditional music, alongside pop, rock, jazz, world and classical. Celtic Connections also has an extensive education programme which sees more than 15,000 schoolchildren enjoy dedicated concerts during the festival.

For background on ScottishPower log onto www.scottishpower.com and more details about Celtic Connections, log on to www.celticconnections.com.