Mareel opens this weekend!

SHETLAND’S brand new £12 million music and cinema venue Mareel opens this weekend with two concerts by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.

The announcement comes after three false starts over the past two weeks as venue operators Shetland Arts had to wait for certificates to be issued for them to move in.

This weekend’s NYJO concerts, part of Scotland’s Summer MusicFest, have been moved from Lerwick Town Hall, the arts agency announced just before 4pm on Friday.

This will be followed up by a classical piano recital by local pianist Neil Georgeson on Thursday next week.

Shetland Arts will be hugely relieved that next week they will be able to host the 2012 book and film festivals WordPlay and ScreenPlay at the prestigious venue that is now more than two years behind schedule.

The first public film will be shown on Friday, though a private screening is likely to take place beforehand for the Callum Younger Reach Fund, which was won by local promoter/publisher/photographer Malcolm Younger.

Music course inductions being run at Mareel in conjunction with Shetland College will begin early next week.

Shetland Arts director Gwilym Gibbons said: “The excellent NYJOS Summer MusicFest, which includes two showcase concerts on Saturday and Sunday, wasn’t programmed to take place in Mareel, but we are very pleased to be able to move it there to kick off the public’s first experiences of the building in style.”

Corinna Gregory, Jazz Ensembles Manager for NYJOS, said: “We’re delighted to be the opening act in Mareel and with the warm reception we’ve received in Shetland. We’re going to create a real buzz while we’re here!”