Music centres join forces to offer 5 star tuition

The town’s Music Room and the Gretna-based Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (SAMD) are joining forces to ensure talented boys and girls have the top standard of tuition, which is normally only available in cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow.
And the first fruits of the collaboration can be experienced next weekend when around 30 SAMD students and tutors perform in the Theatre Royal as part of the Maidens of Music festival.
Carol Brotherston, who founded The Music Room and is one of the festival organisers, said: “We are really looking forward to this event. This will be a great showcase of musical talent from the south of Scotland.”
The festival is dedicated to developing and promoting female talent, and around 150 women and girls are taking part in events every Saturday this month.
On May 27, the SAMD performance will be a mix of classical and opera, plus tunes from musical theatre too, as well as Celtic singing and harp music.
Carol said: “It’s a taste of the kind of opportunities that our new collaboration will bring to children and young people in Dumfries and across the region.”
Many of SAMD’s top pupils will be performing, including the youngest musical theatre diploma pupil in the whole of Scotland, Catriona Arthur, 15 ,as well as the top cellist Will Archibald who is only eight and about to take his Grade 6 cello exam.
This Saturday, Maidens of Music will be presenting a series of exciting acts at The Globe Close and the Coach and Horses.