SONIC CREATIONS AT DEAN CASTLE

East Ayrshire Leisure invites you to a unique celebration taking place at Dean Castle. Creative talent including leading percussionists and pupils from across East Ayrshire will come together to perform a visual and performing arts celebration of sound, sculpture and light in the castle’s iconic courtyard.
Pupils from James Hamilton Primary, St. Andrew's Primary and Auchinleck Primary have been composing their own music in workshops with Composer and Artistic Director of The Cumnock Tryst, Sir James MacMillan and percussionist Iain Sandilands. The pieces will be performed at Sonic Creations by the children, with one of the world’s leading percussionists, Colin Currie. The performance will be layered on top of a specially commissioned soundscape composed by Alistair MacDonald.

Following an initial visit to each school by Colin Currie, the children have worked for several weeks with Iain and James, learning about the creative process and the variety of percussion instruments and sounds available to them. They went on to compose their own musical ideas and rhythms which came out of discussions about the history of Dean Castle and the imagined activities associated with such a historic building. The pupils then refined the elements that would be included in their final pieces of music and have created brand new works that include a specially designed sonic sculpture as the central element.

The sonic sculptures/instruments were designed and created by blacksmith Tony Morrell of Morrell’s Forge, and are all inspired by elements of Dean Castle and its history. Following the performance the percussion sculptures will remain on display in the castle courtyard and future visitors will be invited to play them.

This unique celebration of East Ayrshire's creativity will take place on Saturday 18 November at 6.30pm.
The event is free but ticketed

This project has been developed by East Ayrshire Leisure in partnership with The Cumnock Tryst.