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2012

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Stirling News in 2012

Current Stirling news and up to the minute happenings in the city of Stirling.
January February

February

PIAF: The Songs and the Eduardo Niebla Experience

Two concerts not be missed at Stirling Tolbooth this weekend.

PIAF: The Songs
The late Edith Piaf has become symbolic of French cabaret of the 1940s and 50s and remains treasured by thousands of fans worldwide.

As the 50th anniversary of Piaf’s death approaches, this beautiful and charismatic production pays a powerful tribute to the legendary French chanteuse. Joined by Fiona Barrow on violin and Edward Jay on accordion, singer Eve Loiseau's lustrous tone and exquisite French accent perfectly captures the essence of the ‘Little Sparrow’. This show promises to be a passionate celebration of Piaf’s best-loved songs interjected by moving insights into the tragic singer’s life. The repertoire for the evening features La Vie En Rose, Bal dans ma rue, Non je ne regrette rien, Padam Padam, and many more.

Friday 24th February at 8:00pm
Tickets £12/£10

The Eduardo Niebla Experience
Hailed as one of the world's greatest guitarists, Spanish composer Eduardo Niebla returns to the Tolbooth with his internationally acclaimed guitar duo to present an amazing repertoire of stunning flamenco jazz from his latest albums. In a career spanning four decades, Niebla has traversed the worlds of pop, jazz and world music, continually seeking out new musical terrain. He has collaborated with such diverse partners as sitar maestro Nishat Khan, George Michael, Lol Coxhill and Craig David. A spellbinding evening of passion, verve and fleet-fingered virtuosity from one of the most potent forces in flamenco jazz fusion.

Saturday 25th February 2012 at 8:00pm
Tickets £14/£12

Visit the Tolbooth page on the website to see what's On over the next few months.

Puppet Shows this Thursday and Friday in the Great Hall at Stirling Castle

Come along to the magnificent setting of the Great Hall at Stirling Castle on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th February and find out all about Scottish History with Hamish the Highlander and his puppet friends. Performances will take place between 12:00 and 4:00 pm.

Hamish will entertain young and old with his tales of the Jacobites. Janette the Witch will put a spell on you with her magical powers and you can also have the opportunity to meet Pickles, the last bear in Scotland.

Gillian Macdonald, Executive Manager of Edinburgh Castle said: "This is great fun for all the family. It is a brilliant way for children to learn about Scottish history and culture and is also very enjoyable for adults too! The puppet show is included in the admission price to Stirling Castle."

Stirling Tolbooth celebrates it's tenth birthday

This year the Tolbooth celebrates it's tenth birthday and a decade of fantastic music and arts events. For ten years, the Tolbooth has nurtured and developed creative talent in Stirling and beyond, and brought artists from across the globe to the city.

Visit the Tolbooth page on the website to see what's On over the next few months.

Highlights include alternative rock legends The Vaselines, a wonderful production of Piaf – the Songs, Andy Kershaw discussing his fascinating life experiences, composer/ guitarist Graeme Stephen’s captivating audiovisual project, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and the legendary Gallagher and Lyle.

The Changing Room gallery is celebrating 15 years as a unique space for leading contemporary arts in Stirling. It seems fitting that to mark the occasion, from 10 February, the Changing Room presents 'Criminal", an installation by Hanging Together, a group of artists based in the Stirling area. Find full details on the What's On guide.

Take One Action Film Festival

Scotland’s global cinema project, Take One Action Film Festival, supported by The Co-operative, will hit the road, taking the best of their annual festival on tour with screening events taking place at a variety of venues across Scotland. The featival comes to Stirling thjis month and on offer is a fantastic selection of international cinema that celebrates “the people and movies that are changing the world”.

Take One Action links audiences, movies, campaigners and communities to inspire shared responses to issues of global concern. All film screenings are followed by discussions with experts on subjects ranging from climate change to poverty, providing insight into the actions ordinary people can take to make a difference.

Palm D’or winning British filmmaker and Festival patron, Ken Loach said "These are fantastic films, and Take One Action's focus on empowering local audiences to engage with global and environmental issues through them is unique in the UK."

Programme and Events Manager, Abbe Robinson, said "The Take One Action Film Festival tour is a fantastic opportunity for these critically acclaimed films to be seen outside Edinburgh and Glasgow, and we are really excited to be presenting them to new audiences across Scotland."

Tour dates and venues

Fri 17th Feb Macrobert Centre, Stirling Even The Rain
Sat 18th Feb Ashfield Village Hall, Dunblane There Once was an Island
Sat 18th Feb Ashfield Village Hall, Dunblane Even The Rain
Mon 20th Feb Macrobert Centre, Stirling Homegrown
Tues 21st Feb Rob Roy Visiter Centre, Callander You’ve Been Trumped
Wed 22nd Feb Comrie Village Hall, Comrie You’ve Been Trumped

The Take One Action Film Festival tour is supported by The Co-operative, Creative Scotland, and ethical film distributor Dogwoof.

There are 3 pairs of FREE TICKETS available for each event for Co-operative members – members can email tickets@takeoneaction.org.uk quoting their co-op membership number and the film/venue they would like to attend.

Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans

An exciting audio-visual delight at the Tolbooth on Saturday night with a screening of Sunrise. Graeme Stephen brings together timeless cinema with stunning musical arrangements with a powerful new score that he has written for F. W. Murnau’s Oscar-winning silent film, which tells the story of a married man who falls for a slatternly woman from the city. Once under her spell, the woman attempts to persuade him to drown his wife.

An spellbinding live performance by Graeme’s Quintet will accompany this screening of Murnau’s visual masterpiece, responding to the full range of emotional moods and atmospheres featured in the film. Experience the scintillating instrumental talents of Chris Stout (violin), Ben Davies (cello), Phil Bancroft (saxophone) and Chris Wallace (drums/percussion) as you enjoy what is widely considered to be the finest silent film ever made by a Hollywood studio.

Stephen’s Music speaks loudly of ambition, imagination, nous and harmonic adventure yet teemed with the sort of tuneful realization that swells the heart The Herald

Saturday 4th February, 8pm
£12/£10

January

Burns Tours at Stirling Castle this weekend

Stirling Castle will be marking Burns Day with special castle tours this weekend to explore Rabbie’s connections with its history in celebration of one of Scotland’s most beloved writers.

The tours will be held on Saturday 21st January and Sunday 22nd January at 12:00 and 2:00 pm each day and are included in the price of admission. Places are limited and are on a first come, first served basis.

Gillian Macdonald, Executive Manager at Stirling Castle said: "The Burns Tours are a must for Burns’ fans and offer a unique insight into another aspect of Stirling Castle, one of Scotland’s most iconic and political sites. Burns was greatly influenced by the personalities, events and issues at Stirling Castle - the infamous Stirling Lines were conceived following his visit to the castle in 1787 and decry the neglected state of the buildings and the loss of the Stewart Monarchy.

It makes you wonder what he would think now if he could see our magnificent Renaissance palace restored to its former glory, the awe-inspiring Great Hall with its triumphant oak hammer beam roof and our costumed characters who bring to life so vividly the great Stewart Dynasty that once ruled this noble land".

These tours mark the end of our Winter Festivals Programme and we are now looking forward to a range of exciting events at Stirling Castle to be launched in the Spring to coincide with the Year of Creative Scotland 2012."

Ross Blevins and Alan Clater, the guides who devised the tour, will be featuring many of Burns’ works including Scots Wha Hae, Ye Jacobites and Tam O’Shanter . Some of the themes that will be explored will include Wallace and Bruce, the Jacobite Rebellion and darker elements of the castle’s past including demonology and witchcraft which feature in some of Burns’ best known works.

New Bannockburn Visitor Centre Needs You

The team working on the new visitor centre to commemorate the Battle of Bannockburn are asking people to share their memories and photos of visiting the site.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said:
"There has been so much support for the new centre throughout all of the design and planning work and we want to be able to reflect that. The site marks a momentous historical event, but there has been a visitor centre here since the 1960s and many families will have happy memories of their visit there. In many ways the new centre is just the latest of many chapters in the way that people have come here to learn about the battle and commemorate the lives lost. We would like to share people’s memories and I would encourage people to get involved and share their photos and any home movies with the team."

A new visitor centre will be opened in time for the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014. It is the largest joint project between the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland.

National Trust for Scotland Project Director David McAllister said:
"We very much want to hear from people about their visits to Bannockburn, possibly with their family, friends or even a school group. When we started this project everyone around the table had their own clear memories of visiting the site and what originally struck them about it. Our plans for the new centre are very ambitious but we are determined that it will retain its place in the community and will inspire people to want to understand the lead up to the battle, the battle itself and the far-reaching consequences of the outcome."

"Earlier in the year we invited the community to come and see the plans and meet the team and it was hugely helpful to us in adapting our designs to address issues that only local expertise could identify. Now we would like people of all ages from all around the globe to send us their pictures and home movies to learn what made their visit memorable."

You can send in your memories or photographs to hs.communications@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or by post to:

Historic Scotland Communications Team
G50 Longmore House
Salisbury Place
Edinburgh
EH7 5ST

From the Historic Scotland website

Stirling Hogmanay 2011

Stirling is ready to welcome in the new year with a great line-up of Scotland’s most talented performers and musicians. Set against the stunning backdrop of Stirling Castle we have all the ingredients in place for a fantastic night with an exciting mix of traditional and contemporary Scottish music.

Making a welcome return to Stirling’s Hogmanay Party at the Castle this year is Scotland’s own Eddi Reader. Eddi, who wowed Stirling Hogmanay audiences in 2005, will join the great line-up of acts this year including The Red Hot Chilli Pipers and the Heart of Scotland Choir.

Eddi began her musical career as a session singer working with the Eurythmics and Alison Moyet. She came to prominence in the 1980s with the band Fairground Attraction who were awarded Best Single for their number one hit Perfect and Best Album at the 1989 Brit Awards. In the years since then Eddi has established herself as one of Scotland’s finest singers and performers with 9 critically acclaimed solo albums and 3 collections of Robert Burns’ songs.

Also headlining this year are the Red Hot Chilli Pipers - formed in 2002, the Chilli’s have gone from strength to strength, culminating in their winning of TV talent show ‘When will I be famous’ in 2007. Since then they have been jetting around the world, playing in numerous countries for huge crowds.

Tickets can be bought from the Tolbooth or Albert Halls, or online at www.stirlinghogmanay.com

From the Stirling Council website

Future development for Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead

Stirling Councillors from all political parties will be discussing future development proposals for Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead on Tuesday 13 December at Wallace High School.

Local residents are being given the opportunity to comment on the Draft Proposed Local Development Plan, at a ‘Community Discussion Session,’ which will be held from 7pm to 9pm in the local high school.

Before this, on Saturday 10 December between 10am and 4pm in Wallace High School, there is a drop-in session at which local people will be able to find out more about what the Draft Plan proposes for their community. Planning Officers will be on hand to explain the development proposals and answer any queries.

The Local Development Plan will be a blueprint for the development of the Stirling Council area over the next twenty-five years and Bridge of Allan and Causewayhead have been identified as areas for potential development. Stirling Council is currently consulting with communities across the area to give local people a further opportunity to comment on the Draft Local Development Plan.

Stirling Council’s Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Environment and Sustainability Councillor Jim Thomson said: “The Council are keen to find out what local people think of proposed development, and to take account of their views in the preparation of the new Local Development Plan. This Plan will shape our communities over the next two decades, and it is important that all in the local community are able to have their say on the development proposals”.

Comments on the Draft Local Development Plan should be made in writing, or by email to ldp@stirling.gov.uk. For more information please visit www.stirling.gov.uk/localdevplan.

Comments received on the Draft Local Development Plan will be reported to the Council in the early new year, and a Proposed Plan will then be prepared and published. There will be further opportunity at that point to comment on the Proposed Plan, which will go forward to the Scot

From the Stirling Council website