Our Lady and St Patrick’s High youngsters are finalists in Celtic Connections competition

Dec 11 2009 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

PUPILS at a Dumbarton school are one step closer to performing at one of the biggest traditional music festivals in the world.

Our Lady and St Patrick’s High has beaten off competition from schools across the country to become one of 10 finalists in the ScottishPower Powerful Performance initiative at next year’s Celtic Connections.

If successful, the group known as Awthegither will perform at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in January as part of the final Education Concert of the festival, as well as in the highly competitive Danny Kyle Open Stage competition.

The competition invited youngsters to submit a short recording of traditional music using instruments, vocals, or a mixture of both.

Awthegither, made up of S6 students Brian Hutchison, Nicola McGrouther, Steven Morrison and Sian O’Hare, submitted a version of Auld Lang Syne which impressed their judges.

Principal teachers of music at the school, Rosanna Elliott and Maureen Rodger, are delighted: “We are over the moon. It’s a great achievement for the school. The pupils spent a lot of time working on their entry and had a lot of fun doing so.

“Fingers crossed we can beat off the competition to perform in January. Everyone at the school would be very proud to be part of something as big as Celtic Connections.”