The weather was fantastic when we took the train from Glasgow to Inverness through Scotland’s wild and beautiful countryside for the third concert in our seven-stop Jewish Musical Odyssey tour where we were me by SCoJeC's Highlands and Islands Volunteer Ambassador, Linda Martin.
At the pre-concert buffet, we were joined by people who had come to meet the band and find out more about the music, as well as some who wanted to hear about the local Jewish community. Adrianne talked about the musical journey that had led her to become a klezmer flautist, and played a few examples on her selection of flutes before leading the group across to the main hall like the Pied Piper!
In the hall we were met by more than fifty members of Merkinch Community Choir who were out in force to enjoy the evening. They performed a selection of Scottish traditional songs and other favourites as part of the evening’s programme, and joined in the dancing and klezmer-accompanied musical chairs, with gusto; it was a joyous evening with so many singers, dancers, and friends taking part.
"The event far exceeded my expectations” one participant told us, adding, “I feel a great affinity with Judaism, but am not Jewish”, and another commented that the evening was “lots of fun”.
We are grateful to BEMIS for their financial support for the Inverness concert through Homecoming Scotland 2014.
