The award-winning Scottish Chamber Orchestra are perennial favourites, both with the Universal Hall staff and their loyal audience, and their visits usually result in a sell-out concert. They return to the Universal Hall with a concert of popular classics and this year the programme includes:
SCHUBERT 5 German Dances with Coda and 7 Trios
MOZART Sinfonia Concertante for Winds K297b
BEETHOVEN Romance in F for Violin & Orchestra
SCHUBERT Symphony No 3
The show features Alexander Janiczek, director/violin; Robin Williams, oboe; Maximiliano Martin, clarinet; Peter Whelan, bassoon; Alec Frank-Gemmill, horn. Perfect entertainment for an early summer evening for all those who love having the best in classical music brought locally by some of the finest musicians in Scotland. “What poured out from the SCO all evening was some of the most utterly exhilarating orchestral playing you will hear anywhere from anyone.” The Herald
To buy tickets online for this event click here.
Following the award winning success of their last co-production, The Seven Deadly Sins, Company Chordelia and Scottish Opera team up again to deliver Dance Derby. Set in the 1930's to a backdrop of toe-tapping popular songs, Dance Derby explores the phenomenon of the American Dance Marathon using large ensemble of dancers and actors, MC, singer and a live jazz band. The show follows the contestants through the grueling week of a marathon in a town in America.
Kakatsitsi are a group of traditional drummers, dancers and singers from the Ga tribe of Southern Ghana. Their music takes traditional rhythms and chants from their own Ga tradition and gives them a modern twist. Traditional drumming grooves played on a wide variety of West African drums are mixed with melodies from bamboo flutes, xylophone plus traditional chants sung in six part harmony. This is a welcome return to the Universal Hall for the group who were last here in 2012.
One of Scotland's finest voices, Dick was voted Traditional Singer of the Year in the 2004 Scots Trad Music Awards. He was an early member of the band Boys of the Lough and the now-legendary, Five Hand Reel, and his own album 
In 1948, at the age of 62, Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), writer of Out of Africa, met the 29 year old young poet, Thorkild Bjørnvig. The two shared a powerful, dangerous and intimate friendship, which lasted six years before falling apart. The Baroness is a provocative, free interpretation of the relationship between Blixen and Bjørnvig, a relationship which is both platonic and sexually charged, and which questions and challenges the role and nature of the artist. Full of tension and poetry, with three tremendous acting roles, this play presented by Dogstar, is inspired by anecdotes, letters and books by and about both Blixen and Bjørnvig.
Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham have become a national institution with their incomparable mastery of fiddle and accordion, bringing tradional music excellence to their welcome return to the Universal Hall. Individually they pursue other ventures in performance, television and education. It is when they tour together that they truly shine, delighting audiences with over quarter of a century of finely honed skills combined with hilarious banter.
Originally from Nairn, fiddler Rua Macmillan has quickly made a name for himself as one of the rising stars in Scottish traditional music. Having graduated in Scottish Music from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2008, he has already toured extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. and in February 2009, Rua was awarded the prestigious title of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year. His Big Band is a sextet of award-winning Scottish players: Together they combine traditional and contemporary tunes with powerful harmonies, driving guitar and bodhrán, and enough energy to power a small country.
The Universal Hall is delighted to welcome Zimbabwe's greatest ambassadors, who perform music inspired by the traditional song and dance of their native southern Africa. Their trademark harmonies mixed with intricate rhythms, clicking and clapping are highlighted during their brilliantly choreographed shows with a movements ranging from subtle to vigorous stomping and leaping! Their famous Gumboot Dances showcase the traditional styles and rituals of the South African mining regions and are a particular crowd pleaser.
Widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic and slide guitar players in the world, Martin's interpretations of traditional songs are masterpieces of storytelling. His solo shows are intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving. Nominated an astounding 29 times in the eleven years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards – more than any other performer — he has won twice. Whether playing American old-time music, blues, a Dylan song or his own material, Martin Simpson is unpredictable, individual and a guitarist of immense subtlety.
The band Son al Son was formed in 2008 with a line-up of musicians from Cuba and Scotland and including members of the wonderful Salsa Celtica. Son is a style of music made popular in 1920's Havana (and in the film "Buena Vista Social Club, and is still played in cafes and bars across Cuba. Son al Son have added original songs to bring a more 'salsa dura' (hard salsa!) feel to their set. By seamlessly merging traditional songs with a more modern salsa twist, Son al Son will get your feet tapping and you out of your seat in no time, Gozar! Enjoy!