Caledon Announce Return To Berlin

Caledon wil return to their residency in Berlin's most famous cabaret venue, Tipi Das Zelt, in May 2011. The show will include highlights of Caledon's previous shows plus some numbers which will be new to the Berlin audience.

Caledon Announce Hogmanay Show in Greenock

Once again Caledon will return to Greenock for a Hogmanay show to welcome in The Bells.

A Look Back at 2009 - part 1

Television! Yes, at the stroke of midnight on January 1st 2009 Caledon's year began live on TV, the holy grail of all performers! For years we had been standing on various stages, campaigning shamelessly to you, our loyal fans and audiences, to contact the BBC, STV,... whoever, (MTV would have been fine!) in a bid to get Caledon on the TV and finally it paid off. So a big “thank you” to all of you.

The glossy start to our year continued a couple of weeks later with a corporate night on the Royal Yacht, Britannia at her permanent mooring on Atlantic Wharf in Leith. Slightly alarmingly, the stage floor area on Britannia has been built in glass directly over Her Majesty's bed chamber so, fortunately for us kilted fellows, the Queen was not trying to take a nap during our set or all hopes of Caledon's knighthood would have been dashed right there!

Next stop was Brussels and an evening for the Scottish department of the E.U. One of the guests that night was a lady who introduced herself after our concert. She told us that she was responsible for booking acts at various other E.U functions and that she had a grading system to fit the act to the various clients: Grade 1 would be high-brow... perhaps a Classical Recital of German Lieder... all the way down to grade 7, bawdy songs for, let's say, a Hen night. Before we started singing she looked around the room at the audience, most of whom she knew, and decided it was impossible as people from every ‘grade' taste were there and she wondered which level we would appeal to most. We struck up with A Man's A Man and she decided we were grade 1 or 2 and so would only be enjoyed by 15% of the room. 45 minutes later she had watched us move through the Tartan Medley to Besame Mucho and finally, the Pop Medley and delighted in the fact that we were the only act she knew who could truly appeal to all seven grades! Hurray!

The most significant addition to our repertoire this year has been the (Mac)Elvis Medley. Complete with glitzy-white, bedazzled Jacobite shirts, white kilts and silvery, tartan-lined capes, we shimmy and thrust our way around the stage to a handful of Elvis hits, secure in the knowledge that Elvis' ancestry of a Great Grandfather from Aberdeen makes the King as Scottish as we are, and don't let anyone tell you differently. (Mac)Elvis provided the finale for our new Berlin show “Whirlin' ‘n Berlin” in March and April. The show was built around a ‘Homecoming' theme to tie in with this year's Scottish Government initiative.

A Look Back at 2009 - part 2

Our Scottish Tour this year was concentrated, with most of the dates tightly grouped in late August and September. We were delighted with the turnout after theatre managers had warned us that the recession was affecting ticket sales across the board. Our audience numbers held steady even if they didn't increase and we hope 2010 brings a happier financial climate and fuller theatres for all.

Later in September we were back for our second visit to the Dominican Republic, courtesy of the British Ambassador, Ian Worthington, who fulfilled his promise of getting us out there once more before his term of office was up. This was a tough trip: Three gigs spread over eleven days leaving, oh I don't know, eight days?!.. to bask on white sandy beaches, play a few rounds of golf, or sip rum and smoke cigars in His Excellency's pool. Empire!

Then it was back to Berlin and another stint in our 'home-from-home', Tipi, Zelt am Kanzleramt. We never tire of performing there and are always delighted to see any of you who use us as an excuse to spend a weekend in this great city. We have been contracted to do a new Christmas show there next year, from late November to New Year's Eve and we are already dreaming up repertoire ideas to fill that programme.

November saw our first visit to Vienna, a one-nighter, which meant we saw almost nothing of this beautiful city... ah well, next time.

But our most exciting first visit this year has to have been Mexico! What an amazing country, and of course we only saw a tiny percentage of its vast landmass in our five-day trip. Our first concert was in the stunningly picturesque city of Morelia for its annual international music festival, which is themed and this year's theme was Britain. The 4,000-strong throng in the Town Square for our open-air gig was excitable and vocal and when we encored with a Mexican favourite hit, "Volver Volver" suggested to us by Jamie's Mexican wife, Susy, the place went wild! We always enjoy meeting the audience after the show and, as married men in our forties we were all set to be embraced by the heaving mass of gorgeous young Mexican girls screaming in the piazza. Unfortunately (especially for the unmarried Michael!) the security cordon told us it was too dangerous!!!..and we were whisked out the back into a darkened SUV, flanked by armed guards. Damn! Still, we will never forget that one moment of feeling like the Beatles!

A Look Back at 2009 - part 3

In Mexico City we saw the largest man-made Christmas Tree on earth being built; at 377 feet high it's not much shorter than Salisbury Cathedral Spire, to give you some perspective. We also bought three beautiful pairs of Mexican cowboy boots which we wore with our kilts for that night's encore of "Volver Volver"... not a great look as a combination but they, and we, enjoyed it!

One of the year's final highlights was singing at the 350th Anniversary concert for George Heriot's School to a packed Usher Hall in Edinburgh. We had spent a day in October working with the students on some of their songs and on the grand finale: our version of Highland Cathedral, performed by the school's orchestra, pipes and drums, organist, all the school's choirs, with Graeme Brownlee, the school's Music Director conducting... and us, a mere blip on the radar of that stage! All in all about 600 performers raised the roof of the Usher Hall in a blaze of glory that must be some kind of record... we shall have to investigate. And, because you can't get too much of a good thing, we all sang it twice. Hurray!

Caledon's Latest CD & DVD

Get your copy of 'Whirlin'!... in Berlin' now from our shop.

Caledon is back in Berlin

Caledon is back at the TIPI for the next month until April 12th 2009.

Caledon Appears on STV's Hogmanay Special

Caledon will appear on Scottish Television's Hogmanay Special at 11.30pm on Dec 31st 2008. Caledon will "first foot" the presenters and then sing Caledonia to close the show.

2008 Retrospective pt 1

Well, amazingly another year has passed... it seems only yesterday that we stumbled drunkenly across the Tiergarten in Berlin at 2am on Hogmanay, relying on some of our very good Berliner friends to navigate us safely home (thank you Gundi and Beatrix!)... and now another Caledon Hogmanay is looming large on the horizon at Greenock's impressive Town Hall...we'd love to see you there.

This year has seen another handful of Caledon “1sts”: Our first concert in England was on a cold Monday night in Clacton at the beginning of January. “Who would be there?!” we thought. I mean come on... if we could only muster a couple of hundred in Dunoon in July what hope for Clacton in January? We were stunned by a 1000-strong sell-out by a clearly very healthy society (with impeccable musical taste!) and on the strength of that evening we were taken on by All-Electric Productions with the intent of building a tour for us in England and Wales...a concert in Caernarfon this August, attended by the great Bryn Terfel, also marked our Welsh debut.

Santo Domingo in The Dominican Republic (utterly unlike Clacton in all aspects other than proximity to the sea) was next on our 1sts list. His Excellency, The British Ambassador to the Island hosted two marvellous whiskey-sponsored evenings and put us up at his official residency. Signor Ambassador Worthington, Caledon salutes you...on the condition that this becomes an annual event!

The shelves of our online shop have been swelled by scarves, ties and material from this year's production of our first official “Caledon Tartan” of which we are immensely proud. Courtesy of our sponsors, Kilt makers Lochcarron of Scotland, we now wear a kilt (actually one each!) that lights brightly and beautifully on stage whilst remaining handsome and distinguished off it.

2008 saw us return to Berlin for the first time in the summer. How different it seemed with leaves on the trees but the heat on the Tipi stage was oppressive and for those “lucky” punters in the front row there were three little puddles of sweat at our feet to add to the ambience...nice! We are starting a brand new show in Berlin's Tipi on March 4th 2009. This sort of performance environment is unique to Berlin and it suits Caledon down to the ground, so if you fancy taking in a show on a weekend in one of the world's great cities, plan your trip now... we'd love to see you there too!

2008 Retrospective pt 2

The dreaded “credit crunch” is the first recession to hit during our time as Caledon and has affected us as it has everyone, most notably in the arena of corporate entertainment where many annual dinner bashes have been axed and with them, our tunes. Also our plans to film a second DVD special for PBS in the U.S have been put on the back-burner until such time as the sponsors feel ready to go again... so fingers crossed.

And we sang at our first gay wedding... vive la pink pound! Come on boys (or girls for that matter)... more bookings please!

The 2008 Scottish tour was better scheduled in two concentrated groups this year as opposed to our previous years of rather more scattered dates. We finally (5 years late!) employed the services of a lawyer to put our house in order so that, in the event of a divorce, we know who gets which sporran! Three more visits to North America were as rewarding as ever thanks to efforts of the wonderful Peg Dunlop. We sang for a Scottish Government business forum at the top of Toronto's mighty CN Tower... acoustics were a bit dodgy but no problem with the high notes. We performed 500 Miles to start off hundreds of school kids on a sponsored walk in aid of Greenock's new Community Arts Centre which Alan is heavily involved with... an exciting project on a stunning plot of land right on the waters of the Clyde.

And so to 2009, a Robert Burns Anniversary year and the year of the International “Homecoming” where Scots, Ex-pats and Scotophiles the world o'er are encouraged to make an emotive return to the motherland. Caledon will be playing its part in both of these with the appropriate passion and vigour (keep an eye on the website) and, where're we be, we'd love to see you there!

Caledon Announce Hogmanay Gala Concert

It's back !!!!! The most talked about concert in the West of Scotland returns to Greenock Town Hall this Hogmanay. Caledon and the Scottish Festival Orchestra, complete with pipes and a full choir will be bringing in the New Year of the Homecoming in traditional Scottish style.

The concert is kindly sponsored by:
Inverclyde Arts, IBM UK, Northern Marine Management Ltd and The Greenock Telegraph.

Scotland The Brave

Do you like Scotland The Brave? Us too! Do you know the words? Us neither! Having looked at the words, we felt they weren't for us and that we could write words more suited to our performance. Here they are and we hope you like them.

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE Barnett/Beck/MacDougall/Sharpe

Introducing... the Caledon Tartan

Caledon is very proud to unveil the brand new Caledon Tartan.

Based on the traditional Caledon Earl of St Andrews blue and white kilt and the more modern Caledon Lion Rampant red and orange kilt, this beautiful tartan has been designed by the world's foremost tartan specialists, Lochcarron of Scotland exclusively for the world's foremost Scottish Tenors, Caledon !

The new tartan is available to buy directly from the Caledon website shop in the form of scarves, skirts and even kilts and features on the cover of Caledon's new album, Always To Be Here.

Details of New Caledon Album 'Always To Be Here' - part 1

Mull of Kintyre - The title of this album is taken from a line in this song which expresses Sir Paul’s love of his farm in Argyll. Its location and McCartney’s use of the bagpipes have given this wonderful song to Scotland forever.

Land of Light - Winner of “A Song for Scotland” in 1999, this song has been adopted by American-Scots. Seldom heard in Scotland, we feel its hymnic beauty deserves a wider audience at home.

An Eriskay Love Lilt - One of the most well-known songs to come out of the Hebrides, this haunting love song seems to encapsulate the blue-grey skies and unique beauty of these isolated islands.

Scotland the Brave - Despite being one of Scotland’s most famous tunes, the lyrics of “Scotland the Brave” have always presented problems, most notably to football supporters who prefer to sing it to the words “Na na n’ Na na na na Na…”! We have written our own words which we hope are worthy of this great tune.

Amazing Grace - This timeless spiritual never ceases to inspire with its profound words and is forever linked to Scotland by the blazing entry of the pipes. Singing the final verse on the back of their mighty solo rendition is the thrilling sonic equivalent of surfing a thirty-foot wave!

Bonnie Dundee - One of Scottish history’s most infamous rogues, John Graham of Claverhouse, Marquis of Dundee had two nicknames: “Bloody Clavers” if he fought against you or “Bonnie Dundee” if he fought for you. His canny knack of fighting for the winning side deserted him at the battle of Killiekrankie where he died from his wounds.

Ye Banks and Braes - Burns’ exquisite song of unrequited love. It is too perfect a song to be monopolised by the fairer sex so we hope you will forgive the gender adjustment in the text which allows tenors to sing it!

Details of New Caledon Album 'Always To Be Here' - part 2

Tàladh Chriosda (Christchild’s Lullaby) - We created an arrangement of this ancient Gaelic carol specifically for our Christmas show in Berlin. Like many other songs of its type, the warm heart of the text makes itself felt through the wintry chill of the music.

A Jacobite Medley: Ye Jacobites by Name/Wha wadna fecht for Charlie?/Killiekrankie - This triptych belongs to the period in Scottish history responsible for a greater outpouring of poetry and song than any other. Those of us who grew up with the Corries can’t forget the grit and rhythmic drive they brought to these songs. As with “Bonnie Dundee” we have tried to recreate some of their energy here.

Scots wha Ha’e - The stark hush and terror of imminent battle lie behind this, Burns’ interpretation of Bruce’s great rallying cry to his army at Bannockburn. The voice-over is the famous excerpt from the Declaration of Arbroath, the world’s first great declaration of independence in 1320. Is there another song that stirs a Scot’s blood quite like this one? We think not.

The First time ever I saw your Face - Written by the Scot, Ewan McColl, this song has been recorded by an intimidatingly illustrious list of stars, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Celine Dion and, most famously, Roberta Flack. Like them, we couldn’t resist the achingly romantic pull of the lyrics and the sublime melody.

Medley: No Man’s Land/The Floo'rs o' the Forest - The Peebles-born songwriter, Eric Bogle, wrote this anti-war song in 1976 and it has become one of his most recorded songs. The sweetness of the melody belies the sting in the words, behind which lurk the horror and terrible waste of human life in the trench warfare of the Great War. The Floo'rs o' the Forest mentioned in the last line of the chorus is the pipe-tune most commonly played at the funerals of Scottish soldiers and is heard here in the play-out of Caledon’s version.

Caledon to Record New Album

CAN YOU HELP CALEDON RECORD ITS NEXT ALBUM?

As we are sure you are aware many of the large record companies are currently spending a lot of money churning out albums on the back of reality TV shows and this makes it very difficult for groups like Caledon to get a recording contract with one of the major labels. Therefore in order to record our next album we need to raise the capital ourselves and this is where we hope our fans can help. If you are prepared to pledge £13.99 (plus p&p) Caledon will be able to record a new album next spring and you will be one of the first to receive a copy, before it goes on sale to the general public.

Review of Caledon - Perth Theatre 31/08/07

In terms of a rip-roaring, kilted thigh-slapping, sporran-swinging night, Caledon fitted the bill. Striding on stage they didn’t look like three tenors. They looked like a farmer, rugby fly-half and a pint-pulling landlord all dressed up for a hogmanay party.

But then they opened the night with a heart-swelling version of Highland Cathedral which blew the packed Perth Theatre away.

Hailed as Scotland’s Three Tenors, the first half was like a beefed up White Heather Club with the charisma of the late great Big Man himself — Pavarotti.

Scots favourites, such as Bonnie Dundee, Caledonia and Roaming in the Gloaming, were given a makeover by madcap musical director Michael Barnett - the man manning the piano.

But it was the voices of Caledon which stole the show.

In the second half, the trio changed into their technicolour lion rampant kilts, donned sporrans that looked like extras from Sesame Street and belted out a high energy musical montage to Scotland’s modern day stars which included tributes to Wet Wet Wet and Franz Ferdinand.

The night came to a roaring, staggering crescendo with Caledon’s version of the Proclaimers’ anthem ‘500 Miles’ to wrap things up.

For me, the first song of the night — Highland Cathedral — was the real winner and one which I would part with my hard earned cash to hear again.

Jenny Wood
Perthshire Advertiser 14/09/07

Caledon Sweeps in Carnegie Hall's Centenary Year

LORNA Sawyer welcomed Caledon to the Carnegie Hall, Clashmore, not only as world-class singers but as the best possible way to open the 2007 season of events and the hall's centenary year.

Scotland's Three Tenors — Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall, Ivan Sharpe and their musical director Michael Burnett — formed the team that is Caledon 10 years ago and have achieved an international reputation. Trained as classical operatic tenors, their story tells how they formed the group to celebrate Scots songs and rescue them from neglect. They now tour the world giving stirring performances and last Friday night was fully up to expectation, in front of an appreciative and enthusiastic audience.

What better start than Michael on keyboard with Highland Cathedral, then on to the Skye Boat Song, Scots Wha Hae and Loch Lomond, amongst others. They completed the first half with a medley of much loved favourites, Donald whar's yer troosers? and A Gordon For Me included. The second half brought us James Bond themes with From Russia With Love and Diamonds are Forever, then a keyboard solo spot from the very talented Michael was deservedly and loudly applauded – the boys gave him a chance to sing himself under strict supervision!

Their programme concluded with a selection from Saturday Night Fever and McCartney's Mull of Kintyre. Their encore of Robbie Burns's The Deil's awa with the Exciseman closed a memorable evening, and stayed afterwards to chat, sign autographs, and have photographs taken with their fans.

They well deserve their great reputation as worthy ambassadors for our country with their great talent and friendliness, and would be welcomed back with open arms.

I wonder if they could be persuaded to sing some opera. That would be something and give "The" Three Tenors a run for their money! And I was not alone in that thought.

Fergus Robertson
Northern Times 30/03/07

Prague in the Spring - part 1

Hello music lovers! Most of the time you will hear me at Caledon concerts, 'manning the keys', but there are often times when I have to 'go it alone' without the other guys? Can you imagine it? Peace and quiet, all the Company rider (Tunnocks, usually) to myself, clean air...

One such trip was May 2006, when a production team from REL Records (Gawd bless 'em) set sail, sorry, flew off to Prague, to record the orchestral tracks for 'The Power And The Passion' with the mighty City of Prague Symphony Orchestra. We gathered in Edinburgh airport. First to arrive was Neil Ross (producer, and bearer of the hard drives). I met him at check-in, and he ushered me round the corner. "Quick, Michael - they're weighing the carry-ons!". My carry on was my redobtable 'grey lassie', stuffed to the seams with an hour's worth of orchestral scores and parts, and weighing in at - well, the weight of a touring suitcase itself. We stuffed half the scores and parts into Neil's already checked bag, and casually got myself checked in.

John Moore (conductor and general affability) sauntered in, as did Gavin Welsh (SFO stickmeister and Caledon kit player of choice). Arriving at the gate, we were disappointed that the flight to Prague was not on a stand, and so we waited on the tarmac for an airport bus. It was pouring down but, fortunately, I had my trusty kangaroo beanie, a trophy of the Australia tour, on my person. It was an entertaining flight. I sat with John, singing through some of the scores, suggesting articulation and bowing, to the disgust of the old dear in the seats in front, who grumbled the whole way about hearing "Tum TEE-ya", etc. from the row behind.

We reached Prague, and Gavin's attention was diverted immediately by the young Czech girls, all of whom had a Mittel-European loveliness about them. His eyes popped out even further when the airport bus dropped us off at our hotel. Right in the middle of the red light district, off Wenceslas Square. Right beside the Buggy Buggy Club.

Without further ado, we dropped our bags and sallied forth. It would've been fifth, but it was a nice evening and we wanted to have a look around and take on some... refreshments. We hit the Old Square, when Gavin received a text message. Rangers had taken the league title in the dying seconds of season! Shurely, shome mishtake...

Prague in the Spring - part 2

But no, in an outdoor bar were several football supporters in 'hoops' shirts, crying into their Staropramen. Alan 'The Beckster' Beck called my mobile, confirming the unbelievable news.

This first evening was a free night, so we enjoyed a beer on the square, then wandered around for several hours, while John tried to find a restaurant he'd been in seventeen years earlier when conducting a film score. In the end we did find it, and I had the local delicacy - stewed duck with dumplings. We retired back to our hotel for the night, resisiting the invitations of the local ladies of some entertainment. Even Gavin, drum-muffin extraordinaire !

This first evening was a free night, so we enjoyed a beer on the square, then wandered around for several hours, while John tried to find a restaurant he'd been in seventeen years earlier when conducting a film score. In the end we did find it, and I had the local delicacy - stewed duck with dumplings. We retired back to our hotel for the night, resisiting the invitations of the local ladies of some entertainment. Even Gavin, drum-muffin extraordinaire.

Did I mention that we were here to do some work? We convened the next morning for breakfast - assorted Czech sausages and dumplings amongst the buffet selection. You'll know from previous newsletters that food plays a very important part in Caledon business. We headed out to the famed Smecky recording studio, barely a minute's walk from the hotel, past the now empty strip-club windows. Can't have any distractions now.

The first morning was spent putting parts on stands and meeting the engineer, Jan, and the fixer, James Fitzpatrick, resident Irishman about town. Setting up takes a whole session for such a date. After midday the orchestra started strolling in. The way the sessions worked was that we would begin with the full orchestra on the first day and then thin out, keeping costs down.

Neil had envisaged such a problem. Orchestras play at their own internal pace, and it's a very musical way of doing it for them. Getting sixty players to play in time to a recording which doesn't keep metronomically steady was difficult so, within each hour we recorded several takes, some as close to the 'track' as possible, and some 'wild', without the vocal tracks running. There were other issues too...

Prague in the Spring - part 3

I was playing the studio's Petrof concert grand, but screened off behind the conductor's back, so I couldn't see him properly. Gavin was further away, in another room, working entirely on 'cans' [headphones] and watching live images of John on a black and white television so old that it could have been the moon landings on the screen. In fact, the drum set that the studio provided looked as if it dated from around the same era.

But we overcame these issues, and started enjoying the sound of the orchestra. The brass in particular were terrific, blazing away at our big, anthemic numbers. In fact, the first trumpeter was a bit of a showoff, as you can hear to great effect on Will Ye No' Come Back Again and Dumbarton's Drums. In the evening session Neil gave the brass a bit of a ticking off for using their mobile 'phones on the session.

It was a real personal thrill to hear all the orchestrations coming to life, and to play in all the keyboard parts, live with the orchestra. I was also on hand to oversee the sessions, correcting any errors in the parts (hardly any at al, happilyl), setting tempi, particularly in the 'wild' takes, and offering general balancing advice. On some number I didn't use the piano, so Gavin and I sat together and listened to Caledon's babies make their first sounds. The real thundering moments were very exciting.

In retrospect, there were two aspects of the playing that we would like to have done differently. The orchestra played with quite a classical 'European' sound, and I think we should have asked the timpanist to play more boldly and with harder sticks, and the horns to 'razz' more - a more 'American' way of playing. But the priority on the sessions was to get something usable down on disc, and it was only on hearing the mixes back at REL that it seemed we could have used more from those two sections.

By the end of the evening we had multiple takes of all the 'big' tracks in the can. Or hard drive, nowadays. We retired to the hotel for drinks and, by that time of night, the local go-go bars were in full swing. We had to run quite a gauntlet of pimps, ladies of the night and other music lovers to make it back. After a swift Becherovka or two, we decided to pop out for a bit of a sausage; whilst waiting at a stall I almost got accosted by a wee lassie, and it was clear she was after my wallet! We beat a hasty retreat to the hotel.

Prague in the Spring - part 4

Next morning we said goodbye to Gavin, whose tracks were completed, and headed back into Smecky where we started with an overdub session - bass clarinet and contrabassoon on Dumbarton's Drums. Bassoon parts are very imortant to me, and being able to record these parts in isolation was a treat; they've come out very well in the mix. The strings plus a select few others (two horns, two percussion) arrived, and we were able to get going on the more lightly scored numbers - Loch Lomond and the Hebridean songs, for instance. I think these numbers are my more successful efforts, musically. Hghland Cathedral's great, and a bit of a mighty old 'rammy', but I feel that numbers like Land Of Heart's Desire, with it's keening, Bollywood-esque violins have come out really well, and leave a bit more space in the mix for the voices.

After lunch there was a disaster at the beginning of the final session. I plugged my mobile 'phone into the wall for a bit of a charge - and all the lights went out. Neil was with me at the time. "Quick, take it out and don't say anything!" And so the old eastern bloc wiring was duly blamed, and an electrician sought. The orchestra drifted away after the session, save for a rather bemused bassist, whom we had try to play some jazz bass lines on Mingulay Boat Song and The Mist-covered Mountains Of Home. It didn't really work, and the guy couldn't really swing, so they were subsequently re-recorded in Scotland.

And that was that! We wandered back to the hotel for some celebratory drinks and traditional shouts of 'well done!' and went out for dinner in a local traditional eatery. I was intrigued by the inclusion on the menu of the 'Prague Rabbi's fried entrecote', but the waitress said it was a bit tough. I think I had sausage and dumplings instead. Or, maybe that's just what everything comes out as.

And that, as they say, was that. Next morning we wandered by train to Prague Castle. Well, I say train - John took us a couple of stops on the underground then we climbed up a hill for about an hour. I was on a mission - to find for an accordion playing colleague a CD by the Prague Castle Orchestra. We met them (all three) at the castle gates, where they were playing Elizabethan Serenade on double bass, accordion and flute, in the folk style. We managed a beer at an outdoor cafè, and headed to the airport where there was time for suasage and dumplings before catching the flight back to Edinburgh.

But that's only half the story. Next week, we start the serialisation of Neil Ross's 'Sleepless Nights at the Mixing Desk'

The Scots Magazine Reviews 'The Power And The Passion' pt 1

SCOTS are dour and mean? Scotland’s all tartan and shortbread? If you’re looking to rebuff such stereotypes, meet the three Scots tenors, Alan Beck, Ivan Sharpe and Jamie MacDougall — otherwise known as Caledon. Yes, they do wear kilts and, yes, they do sing traditional songs — but neither in quite the way you’d expect.

The performances on their first solo CD, “The Power And The Passion”, deliver exactly what the title promises. Recorded with the City of Prague Philarmonic Orchestra, the Caradoc Chorus, Pipes and Drums and various Celtic instrumentalists, this isn’t just a big sound, it’s also a very lyrical sound, quietly tender one moment, joyful the next, with arrangements by the group’s musical director, Michael Barrett, that make you feel you’re hearing weel-kent songs for the very first time. In the “Mingulay Boat Song”, for example, Caledon’s seamen fairly scud over the choppy waters of the Minch while Bonnie Prince Charlie’s flight from Scotland in “Over The Sea To Skye” is a melancholy affair with only the occasional memory of battle to stir a broken spirit. More modern Scottish classics, such as Gavin Sutherland’s “Sailing” (made famous by Rod Stewart), also feature on this CD.

I met up with two of the group, Jamie and Alan, to share a pot of tea and find out why three classically trained opera singers had decided to perform together and why they had chosen to develop a predominantly Scottish repertoire. “We got together initially as a spoof of The Three Tenors,” Alan explains. “Fiona Kennedy (Callum Kennedy’s daughter) was putting on an all-day performance for Tartan TV at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival and was looking for acts. We went on at the end of the show and went down a storm. The President of the St Andrew’s Society of Detroit just happened to be there and invited us to perform for them. From that we received lots of bookings in North America so we knew we were on to something.”

This sounds all the more haphazard when you realise that the group had already known one another for almost 20 years. Alan and Jamie met while both were studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the pair met Ivan when they were studying for a postgraduate degree in London.

“Ivan’s actually from Helensburgh,” Alan explains, “but he became Head Chorister of Winchester Cathedral after winning a scholarship to study there and then he went on to London University.”

The Scots Magazine Reviews 'The Power And The Passion' pt 2

The depth of their friendship is illustrated by the close family as well as professional connections. Alan is married to Polly who is godmother to Jamie’s daughter, Ivan was Alan’s best man, Alan is godfather to Ivan’s son and Ivan is godfather to Alan’s!

Like all families, they enjoy a bit of banter at each other’s expense. The pair are keen to tell me, for example, that Ivan is the “aristocrat” of the group. “He’s a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce,” Jamie points out. “Twenty-three generations and, like any member of the Scottish Royal family, he has an English accent and lives outside Scotland!” Maybe they should have called themselves “Two Paupers and a King ...”

Ivan’s home in London means that he does a lot of flying from Stansted for rehearsals since Alan now lives in Greenock, Jamie has a home in Port of Menteith and Michael is from Glasgow. But for performers used to the International Opera Circuit, this is but a hop, skip and a jump. Alan was principal tenor with the State Opera, Stuttgart from 1996 to 2002, and has also sung principal tenor roles for Lyric Opera Dublin, the Carl Rosa Opera and English National Opera. Ivan has worked freelance for a number of opera companies including the Welsh National, English National and Carl Rosa. Jamie has become Scotland’s voice of classical music presenting “Grace Notes” for BBC Radio Scotland while his singing career has seen him perform at festivals such as the Edinburgh International, Salzburg, Perth, Australia and Aldeburgh.

With Caledon becoming more and more established, they are now ready to step down from some of these commitments, as Alan explains: “We’ve not abandoned our solo careers entirely but opera requires six weeks of rehearsals, it takes four weeks to get to know others in the cast and by that time it’s only a few days before the stage and orchestra week comes along and then you can’t go out because you need to preserve your voice. The next thing you know everyone’s moving on to the next job. It’s a fairly lonely life.”

“Financially, it doesn’t pay all that well either,” Jamie adds, “and it can be hard on family life.”

By contrast, on a Caledon tour, the four can socialise together and have even taken their families with them on a recent German tour. Although singing together is good for them socially, they rebut the idea that there’s any inherent musical advantage in three tenors joining forces.

The Scots Magazine Reviews 'The Power And The Passion' pt 3

“The three tenors thing is more of a marketing ploy,” Alan says. “There are now the Three Irish Tenors, the Three Canadian Tenors . . . but more important than having three tenors is to have three musicians singing together. A lot of tenors only discover they can sing at the age of 16 or 17 and so they haven’t necessarily had any musical training beyond that. In our case Ivan plays the French horn, Jamie plays violin and I play piano.”

For this reason, choosing and arranging the music in their own distinctive style is a collaborative effort. All four get together to arrange how a song is going to be structured — how many verses will be sung and in which keys; which verses will have harmonies and which solo lines. As Jamie remarks, “We’re not three solo singers who just happen to sing side by side. One of the most exciting things about singing with other people is the ability to produce beautiful harmonic lines.”

For some concert tours, Michael will accompany the trio on the piano. However, for albums and concerts with orchestras like the SNO or Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, he’s the one who scores the pieces for instruments. A double graduate in music from Glasgow University, he is an experienced concert performer and MD, equally at home in the “pit” orchestra as the stage.

All that experience is necessary, given the range of venues Caledon has played in the few short years since they were first formed. How many other opera singers have sung to 55,000 people at Hampden Park? The occasion was Scotland’s European Cup Qualifier against Germany in 2003 and the trio sang what may well be the definitive version of “Flower Of Scotland”. The memory still makes the hair on the back of Jamie’s neck stand up — which is nothing to what it did for the audience!

Hampden also saw the launch of Caledon’s famous Lion Rampant kilts — “a nod in the direction of Ivan’s Royal lineage!” Jamie jokes. The kilts proved to be a marker for the 65,000 fans at the prestigious “T in the Park” pop festival which the trio played the very next week (another first). When they entered by the wrong gate and had to walk through the crowd in their distinctive attire, it was to murmurs all round of, “There’s the Flower O’ Scotland guys!” When you add to the list of their performance venues the Sydney Opera House, the United Nations Building, where they sang “A Man’s A Man For A’ That” in front of Kofi Annan at the first Robert Burns Memorial Lecture, and even a performance for Donald Trump, you’d think nothing would faze them but you’d be wrong.

The Scots Magazine Reviews 'The Power And The Passion' pt 4

Hot on the heels of their triumphs at Hampden and “T in the Park”, they were scheduled to appear before 350 WRI members in a village hall in the north of Scotland. It wasn’t that the audience weren’t enthusiastic — quite the reverse.

“I don’t know if they’d seen the posters and thought we were the Scottish Chippendales . . .” Alan begins. “But put it this way,” Jamie adds, finishing the sentence as only those who are close to one another can do, “My sporran developed alopecia!”

Overly-enthusiastic fans aside, their biggest problem on tours is the varying sound systems they encounter. “A lot of sound engineers these days are used to the kind of music where dynamic variety is not an issue,” Jamie comments. “As soon as we go quiet, they turn up the volume then when we sing loudly again, the walls are shaking! Now we’re learning how to explain our requirements to them.”

Certainly there shouldn’t be any problems when they return to Tipi das Zelt, Berlin’s renowned cabaret venue where, on a previous visit, they put together a medley of songs, all with a Scottish connection, that had been popular in Germany over the last 30 years. These included songs by Wet Wet Wet, Gerry Rafferty, the Eurythmics, Paul McCartney’s “Mull of Kintyre” and even a James Bond medley. Well, the laddie was the son of Andrew Bond of Skye and it was an excuse to don black kilts and black bow ties.

“Part of the joy of being independent performers,” Jamie comments, “is the ability to experiment in this way.” But Germany was particularly gratifying for another reason. “We took a couple of Scottish songs which had particular emotions — patriotism, lost love — and searched for German equivalents,” Alan goes on. “People were crying at the end of the show because Germans have had a problem with showing love for their country since the Second World War. They’ve always loved folk music but have been too embarrassed to have German folk songs sung. That’s begun to change since the World Cup but we like to think we helped start that process of acceptance.”

As trained opera singers singing in German was no problem. They even hosted the show in the language. And the training paid off in another way. Despite giving 51 performances in 58 days, their voices were still good enough to record live on day 41.

The Scots Magazine Reviews 'The Power And The Passion' pt 5

However, the story also neatly highlights why Caledon have chosen to focus on Scottish material. Perhaps the Germans aren’t the only ones in need of having their culture refreshed. “People will hear great Scottish songs on the programme but not exclusively,” Jamie points. “In Houston, Texas, we sang, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Moon River” We don’t do the kind of stuff that tenors routinely do. After all, all that has already been recorded by the best singers.” “We just want to perform great songs but in a way that breathes fresh life into them,” Alan adds. “So when we sing traditional songs it’s in arrangements that are up to date. ‘Will Ye No Come Back Again?’, for example, you might not even recognise as a Scottish song. Our intention is that people will say to their friends, ‘This is a great album and, by the way, these are Scottish songs’.”

So what of the future? “Well, we’re hoping to produce another DVD to be aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in America,” Alan says. “The last one was shown on 150 channels and we had e-mails from Albuquerque to Nova Scotia from people telling us how much they enjoyed it.”

The enthusiastic response is all the more reason for Caledon to be baffled by the lack of interest from television companies in their native Scotland. “People ask us after every show, ‘Why are you not on television here?’ Or ‘will you be on the Hogmanay show?’” Jamie says. “The audience is clearly there — it doubles and sometimes triples every time we do a concert, yet young producers only seem to put on what they want to hear.”

The words “prophet” and “own country” spring to mind but perhaps it’s the Germans rather than the Americans who will point the way as the group are also about to make an album of German folksongs. Of course, there will be more tours in the States and a UK tour starting in Dumfries on 31st May — see the website below for details.

So, no stereotypes, please, they’re Caledon, far from dour and the tartan has a definite twist. As for mean? Havers! They paid for my tea.

Esther Read
© 2006 The Scots Magazine

Caledon To Open Inaugural Tartan Day in Toronto

Caledon has been invited on behalf of Concert Showcase International and The Scottish Studies Foundation to open the inaugral Tartan Day at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. The tenors will join Mayor David Miller in the celebrations as he makes a Proclamation on behalf of The City of Toronto to declare April 13 2007 officially Tartan Day T.O. Joining Caledon will be The 48th Highlanders of Canada Pipes and Drums; one of her oldest and most decorated bands.

This will be the final arm of a mini tour for The Kirkin of the Tartan - commencing in Regina - travelling to Medicine Hat and returning to Toronto for this historic event that will also see concerts in the Toronto area.

Caledon Announces New Tour Dates & Berlin Return

Caledon are going back on tour in Scotland !

Caledon has announced a return to Berlin's Tipi-Das-Zelt. From February 22nd until March 21st, 2007, Caledon will give 26 performance of the Live !... N' Kickin' show which wowed the German audience at the start of last year.

Caledon Announces Hogmanay Gala Concert

The Arts Guild Theatre presents

Hogmanay Gala Concert with Scotland's Tenors, Caledon

at Greenock Town Hall

The Arts Guild Theatre is delighted to bring Scotland’s Three Tenors, Caledon to Greenock's stunning Victorian Town Hall in what promises to be the perfect start to Inverclyde’s Hogmanay celebrations.

Accompanied by the Scottish Festival Orchestra and a 30 strong choir and conducted by top international maestro, John Moore, let Caledon lead you though a musical feast of popular classics to herald the New Year.

Featuring wonderful arrangements of great Scottish classics like Loch Lomond; My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose; Will Ye Go Lassie, Go; Highland Cathedral, Auld Lang Syne, and one or two surprises!

(This concert is made possible by the very generous sponsorship of Gallagher Developments and IBM UK Ltd.)

Caledon Announces Hotel Sponsorship

Caledon is delighted to announce the very generous sponsorship of two of Canada's finest hotels for its forthcoming tour of Canada. The Rennaisance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside is sponsoring Caledon's concert at the Scottish Cultural Centre and The Victoria Inn and Conference Centre is sponsoring the concert at The Central United Church. Caledon would like to express its gratitude to both of these hotels.

Three Draw a Crowd at City Concert

"You had one with Peter Morrison. Two with the Alexander Brothers. And now there are three with Caledon, Scotland's Three Tenors. Kilts, that is. But that's about as close as the similarity gets. And while The Tenors may have brought the polished brogues and outrageously furry collie-sized sporrans and finery of highland dress with them, they have taken the whole thing into a new dimension." Fizz "For the most part, they take themselves seriously - though thankfully not too seriously - and the only flaw is that they haven't quite shaken off the musty plaid of tartan tourist tat. There was a slow start, with Celine Donoghue on fiddle and Keith Eskdale on uillian pipes. Skilled as they are, it took pianist and musical director Michael Barnett to add a bit of fizz and colour trills into the piece. But things picked up pace with the arrival of The Tenors. Launching into Scots Wha Hae! Alan Beck, Ivan Sharpe and Jamie MacDougall demonstrated some of what was to come. Taking turns at singing the lines they revealed three very different voices that soared to the rafters and melded together to produce rich harmonies as they worked their way through Burns and beyond. There was also a great deal of coming and going as a variety of instruments were brought into play. Everything from the banjo to pipes and bouzouki were used to accompany a packed set of Burns' songs and traditional tunes. One highlight was Sharpe's rendition of Aye Fond Kiss, a song that "contains the essence of a thousand love songs". And Sharpe captured that spirit, holding the audience spellbound with his passionate delivery. The pièce de resistance of the first half was the song Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa', during which Barnett broke into Michael Nyman's theme from The Piano: it was hard to miss the uncanny similarity between the two pieces. The second half of the programme took the form of a short history of Scotland in song. This involved some outstanding songs of Jacobite rebellion, delivered by three divine voices and a creative arrangement that included a pounding beat on a bhodran echoed by some enthusiastic piano slapping. A temporary departure by Caledon left the stage to Donoghue on banjo and Easdale on bouzouki to play a selection of reels and jigs. Talented though they are, it may have been their position at the back of the stage, that meant they had difficulty in persuading the audience to clap along. Again Caledon brought things back on track with a superb rendition of Dougie Maclean's Caledonia. And when the tom-tom piano chords of The Proclaimers' 500 Miles rang out and the trio launched into the opening line "When I wake up ..." it was enough to bring a chuckle from sections of the audience. The rich voices and intricate harmonies turned what is, in essence, a pop song into a real classic before your very ears. The programme was well constructed and stylishly delivered and the closing number, Highland Cathedral, once again allowed the three exquisite voices to produce a powerful spectrum of rich harmonies, delivered at volume, yet tempered with honey sweetness." — Edinburgh Evening News - 03/02/03

German Folk Music gets Schotte in Arm - part 1

ROLL OVER Beethoven. The tunes may be German but the voices are distinctly Scottish. Caledon - the Scottish equivalent of the Three Tenors - may have sung before monarchs and international statesmen but they have never before been described as saviours of a nation's music. The three kilted Scotsmen are performing German folk songs not given a mass public airing since the Second World War to sell-out crowds at a world-famous Berlin night-club. The eight-week, 50-performance run is being advertised on 60ft billboards with the singers' kilts discreetly hidden from view to surprise their unsuspecting audiences.

But it's not the traditional costumes of Die Schottischen Tenore that has been impressing the 550-strong nightly crowds - it's their versions of German folk songs. Leading German music critics have led the praise with newspaper Märkische Oderzeitung saying: "One can never hear these German folk songs sung so beautifully and honestly. These Scots have their own unique style... with charm and ability." Berliner Zeitung commented: "A full crowd stamped their feet and shouted for more."

Caledon were taken to Germany by Lutz Deisinger, artistic director of Tipi Das Zelt Am Kanzleramt, after an impromptu visit to Scotland to see the trio perform in Helensburgh. Caledon tenor Alan Beck told Scotland on Sunday: "Our success here has been a total surprise. Since the Second World War, Germans have been afraid of nationalism in any guise, so there is a real appreciation for what we are offering. "This is a cultured country, which has been unable to express its own love for any sort of folk tradition. They have been unable to sing their own tunes. We are just three men in kilts responding to that." Fellow tenor Jamie MacDougall, who along with third member Ivan Sharpe makes up the trio, said: "We recorded over four and a half hours of repertoire for Lutz to listen to. He broke that down into what he thought would work for a German audience. It has ended up being a real mix of Scottish classics with three German folk songs mixed in there. It has gone down a storm."

As well as the German songs, Caledon's repertoire includes Amazing Grace, Highland Cathedral, James Bond medleys, Robert Burns, Franz Ferdinand and The Proclaimers. MacDougall said: "We didn't know too much about the venue before we arrived. When we did our business plan we factored in North America, Australia and New Zealand but never Germany, so the success has been a bolt out of the blue.

German Folk Music gets Schotte in Arm - part 2

"The response has been more positive than we ever could have hoped. The Proclaimers' 500 Miles brings the house down every night, and so far we have shifted over 1000 CDs. We have had to have more sent over to keep up with the demand."

Prior to Berlin, Caledon have enjoyed a variety of high-profile gigs, including a performance of Flower of Scotland to a 55,000-strong crowd at Hampden Park and a stint in front of the Queen at the opening of the Scottish Parliament. Leading Scottish writer Roddy Martine, who witnessed the trio live in Berlin last week, said the folklore tradition in Germany had been largely hijacked by the Nazis. "Germans have been turning to Russia and Poland for their musical inspiration," he said. "Caledon have changed that by becoming saviours of the folk tradition. When I saw them perform [last week], the Berliners in the audience were profoundly moved."

The trio have also performed for UN Secretary-General General Kofi Annan, at the inaugural Robert Burns Memorial Lecture at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and have recently completed sell-out tours of North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Scotland on Sunday 19/03/06

Entertainment of a higher kind from kilted combo

CALEDON have spent the past three years taking Scottish music around the world, finding fans in places as diverse as New York, Japan, Australia and Berlin. They have entertained crowds at Hampden Park, T in the Park and Grand Central Station and sung for the Queen and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe are three tenors who, with music director Michael Barnett, make up Caledon. On stage, Barnett is the accompanist, and apart from him, his piano, the tenors and their microphones, the stage is empty. As soon as they begin to sing, however, it is clear that nothing more is required: their voices create a beautiful sound which is by turns haunting, thrilling, amusing and uplifting. Immaculate in kilts with extravagantly fluffy sporrans, Beck, MacDougall and Sharpe also take care of the between-song entertainment, with stories about their short but illustrious career, some background details to introduce the songs and plenty of banter. Barnett, as the group's music director as well as pianist, has created some memorable arrangements. The show's opener, Highland Cathedral, is an impressive start, but it is topped by the Skye Boat Song, in which Barnett's harmonies allow the singers to shine individually and together. Barnett's version of Loch Lomond is still more powerful, and even the singers seem to need a moment to compose themselves before moving on. The intensity is moderated by lighter songs, however, giving a well-rounded feel to the evening. The show divides into two. The first half is made up of traditional Scottish music, including everything from The Dark Island to a crowd-pleasing medley from the variety era. The second, while it begins with A Man's A Man For A' That, soon alters the mood dramatically. An eye-hurtingly vivid new costume introduces a high-energy sequence taking in some of our nation's gifts to the world of pop. Songs by artists including the Bay City Rollers, Marmalade, Eurythmics, Wet Wet Wet, Jimmy Somerville and Franz Ferdinand contribute to a medley which culminates in an anarchic combination of several, or possibly all of them, together. If the singers' first-half performances of the traditional ballads sometimes verge on the melodramatic, the second sees the three send themselves up with self-conscious dance routines. Humour is an important part of the show, and Barnett gets in on the act as well when he "persuades" the singers to let him have a go at the mic. His playing is not necessarily perfect, but it has passion and spirit, and he is an integral part of the group on stage as well as off it. The sound quality at the start of the show was slightly poor, and it is debatable whether amplification is required at all in a venue the size of the Brunton. However, the first song on the first date of a new tour can be excused the odd hitch, and it is long forgotten by the time the Proclaimers' 500 Miles wraps up the evening.

Evening News 30/05/06 - Caledon - The Power and the Passion *** Brunton Theatre (Stephen Gray)

New mini-tour of North America

Caledon has just announced a mini-tour of North America. Starting November 15th in Long Island and taking in New York, New Hampshire, Detroit, Brandon, Vancouver, Port Huron and Houston the mini-tour will be a pre-curser to a bigger tour next year.

Caledon Announce US and Canada tour dates

Caledon – Scotland’s Tenors, jet-off next week on a 60-concert world tour which sees Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe, along with Music Director Michael Barnett, perform in the USA, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Europe. The tour kicked-off last weekend with the guys dashing to London to make their début on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night, before flying out to New York where the group has been invited by the Scottish Executive to sing at their Burns Supper on Wednesday 25 January in Trump Tower for 80 members of the US media, introducing the 2006 Tartan Day celebrations. This will be followed by performances in New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and Texas. Caledon is already well known to North American audiences as the DVD, On A Beautiful Scottish Evening is currently broadcasting on over 150 Public Television stations throughout the continent.

Caledon will then travel to Japan to open the ‘Whisky Live’ Festival in Tokyo on 13 February, followed by a concert with the Malaysian National Symphony Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur. The Tenors fly home for two days to undertake a longstanding charity engagement in Scotland, before commencing their 50-performance residency in Berlin’s top cabaret venue – Tipi Das Zelt. Caledon then take a well-deserved two-week holiday before jetting off to Canada for a series of concerts in Ontario, returning just in time to begin the 2006 Scottish Tour at the end of May. This tour, stretching from Tain to Stranraer and Skye to Aberdeen will be the group’s second major Scottish Tour. Caledon’s Alan Beck said Caledon is thrilled and excited at the prospect of this tour. We really hope that this tour promotes all things Scottish around the world, and the very best in Scots song too.

FULL TOUR ITINERARY: 25 January - Scottish Executive's Burns Supper in Trump Tower, New York
27 January - American Scottish Foundation Burns Supper in University Club, New York
28 January - Clan Currie Association Burns Supper in Grand Hotel, New Jersey
29 January - Concert in Ridgefield, Connecticut
2 February - Concert in The Venice Centre, Florida
4 February - Concert St Andrew's Society Highland Games, Sarasota, Florida
7 February - Concert in The County Centre, Manatee, Florida
9 February - Royal Bank of Scotland Burns Supper, Houston, Texas
13 February - Opening the Whisky Live Festival, Tokyo, Japan
15 February - Concert with members of the Malaysian NSO, Hilton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
19 February – Start a 50 performance residency at Tipi Das Zelt, one of Berlin's top cabaret venues.

Tenors Winning Form

Press and Journal article on 12/06/06

They may not have much in the way of football skills, but Caledon have certainly been putting Scotland on the map in Germany recently.

Just returned from a 51-concert trip to Berlin, the Scottish tenors gave those of us lucky enough to escape the World Cup an evening of pure unadulterated patriotism.

Jamie MacDougall, Ivan Sharpe and Alan Beck, who make up Caledon along with their talented musical director Michael Barnett, breathed new life into some of Scotland's most powerful songs, with imaginative new arrangements harnessing the group's rich and diverse vocal skills.

Beginning with the stirring Highland Cathedral, an hour of "unashamedly passionate" music told of those who lived in and shaped Scotland, every performance delivered with style by the singers who first met while performing with Scottish Opera.

The scenes of Scotland were recreated in the haunting sounds of Dark Island and Loch Lomond, while its heroes were remembered in the rousing Scots Wha Hae and Over The Sea To Skye.

Act Two brought today's local heroes to the fore, with a sung tribute to Ian Fleming's James Bond, and the songs of Annie Lennox, The Proclaimers, Rod Stewart, Wet Wet Wet, Lulu, Bay City Rollers and Franz Ferdinand - yes, indeed - performed in Caledon's own inimitable style.

Introducing. Caledon: Scotland's tenors

The Scotsman article from 09/01/05

THE first time Ivan Sharpe, Alan Beck and Jamie MacDougall sang ‘Flower of Scotland' at Hampden Park, the might of their combined voices blew the sound system. Happily, the tenors have since performed without incident at other prestigious events: T in the Park, the opening of the Scottish Parliament, Sydney Opera House and Edinburgh Castle. They have even sung before the UN secretary general in New York. Most memorable, though, was a 350-strong gathering of the Women's Institute in Buckie, which they admit left them "in fear of our sporrans".

Kilts (not necessarily the luminous orange variety) have become the trademark of the tenors, worn not just "to get upgrades at airports", but to establish their all-important Scottish identity. The trio, together with their musical director Michael Barnett, have been friends since music college, putting aside solo careers in opera to form Caledon in 2003.

Their non-stop camaraderie, together with renditions of such classics as ‘500 Miles', and ‘My Love Is like a Red, Red Rose', has won them the approval of everyone from the Simple Minds bassist to Jack McConnell. But can they compete with groups such as G4 or Il Diva?

They say their agenda is different. "It's about bringing fresh and contemporary arrangements of 300-year-old songs to a new audience," says MacDougall. And with 90 million people worldwide who can claim Scottish heritage, it's a big market.

Caledon: Scotland's Tenors sing at His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, on January 25 and at Glasgow's Theatre Royal on February 5. Their DVD and video, On A Beautiful Scottish Evening, is out now.

Sally Raikes

Tenors Bring Back The Hampden Roar?

"Standing on that hallowed turf of Hampden was the proudest and biggest moment of our career so far. The sound of 50,000 Scots singing at the top of their voices made the hair on the back of our necks stand up, and it was amazing we could actually make a sound with our hearts in our mouths."

"When we turned round and saw the look on the faces of the players we knew we'd done our job. They were up for the game they were applauding and cheering us it was amazing"
Caledon - Scotlands Tenors

"Next to the birth of my three children it's the proudest moment of my life"
Jamie - Caledon Tenor

"Song for Europe? - The nation's new favourites Caledon belt out Flower of Scotland - and the stadium is rocking before a ball has even been kicked."
The Sun - 09/06/03

"...in the flesh those guys performed the Hendrixed-up, digeridoodled version with such passion and enthusiasm that it didn't matter if the Tartan Army weren't sure what verse they were on or when it was finally finished. It was simply a brilliant start to the afternoon. It injected fun right into our veins and from then on it pumped round every one of us. The team burst into spontaneous applause at the 12-inch version."
The Sun - 09/06/03

Very Big on Talent

Edinburgh Evening News article from 01/02/03
"It might have been Pavarotti's idea to team three tenors together but it's one which has been successfully adopted in Scotland, finds Gina Davidson. For a male operatic singer to claim not to be a stuffed shirt might, for some people, be pushing it a bit too far. After all, what are the legends Pavarotti and Caruso, if not great men who could more than fill their stage clothes? But the three Scots tenors of Caledon are adamant that they are not in the least bit puffed up. "We're not three penguins" says Alan Beck. "We all wear the tartan and in a real modern presentation of it." It's true enough that, in their svelte trews, none of them look like they have a passion for pasta, nevertheless they can really sing, which is something they intend to prove tonight when they take to the Queen's Hall stage to perform traditional Scottish music - with a modern slant. Fresh from concerts in Ireland, Detroit and a BBC appearance where they gave a startling version of The Proclaimers' hit 500 Miles, Alan, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe are ready to woo the Edinburgh audience this evening. Alan, who studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and won the British Wagner Society Singing Competition at Covent Garden in 1995 - the same year he made his operatic debut for Opera Ireland - says: "We love traditional Scottish music and have a passion for Scots song, but we sing everything from Burns to Braveheart to The Proclaimers." Ivan, meanwhile, began as a boy soprano in Dumbarton and, after winning a Pilgrim Scholarship, became the head chorister of Winchester Cathedral. He then won a scholarship to study in the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music. Upon graduating he returned to Scotland where he performed Tamino for Opera West, followed by several tours as a leading tenor with Scottish Opera-go-round. Over the last decade, Ivan has sung most of the tenor parts on the oratorio repertoire, including Handel's Messiah in St John's Smith Square, and Verdi's Requiem in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall. "We decided to get together to perform some of the many beautiful Scots songs there are in our heritage - and also because this is the age of 'three tenordom'," he says. "Many countries now have their own three tenors, but very few have the depth of material available to them that we have here in Scotland." The third tenor is Glasgow's Jamie MacDougall, who has established himself as one of the country's most versatile young singers. Whether on the operatic stage or the concert platform, he has sung to critical acclaim, performing in many of the world's major music festivals including Edinburgh, Perth Festival in Australia, the Salzburg Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. Of course, you might know him better as presenter of BBC Radio Scotland's classical weekly music programme Grace Notes. Alan adds: "Our common bond is the Bard. He is as fashionable today as he ever was. There's a magic about Burns and his music. It is such a pleasure to perform in his name."

Belfast Telegraph article from 27th January 2003

"It was Pavarotti, who made his British debut in Belfast in Madam Butterfly in 1953, who hit on the bright idea of teaming three tenors in a sort of mobile concert party, and now there are tenor trios both of Irish and Scottish origin.

It was the Three Scots Tenors who entertained the audience in the Waterfront on Saturday night with a programme entitled Burns and Beyond.

The trio involved were Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe, and it must be said that these are three excellent singers with fine voices. They gave an excellent presentation and introduced us to much that was welcome and very new from the Scottish repertoire.

The presentation of the programme was admirable and there was none of the larking about that Pavarotti found necessary, while the programme, which was hosted by Pamela Ballantine, was a clever arrangement of solos, duets and trios, all sung with great style and considerable effect.

This was a programme which deserved a bigger audience but those present needed no encouragement to join in the melodies, although Scottish are equally well know here. For me one of the joys of the evening was the number of delightful melodies that the singers had found in that wonderful treasure house of folk music that is Scotland's.

There was support from Strings Ecosse, which were much appreciated, and of course we must not forget the Scottish bagpipes.

This blending of voice and instruments was very attractive and I must also add that the excellent music arrangements were made by Michael Barnett, the company's MD who proved to be a superb accompanist who added greatly to the singing of this impressive trio."