Also in the news / Mandolin concert, new HIAL boss, park run celebrations, net zero airline and more …
A GROUP of 27 Norwegian mandolin and guitar players will be travelling to Shetland for a concert with the Shetland Mandolin Band in St Columba’s Church on 10 June.
The visit was first suggested by the Norwegian group’s musical director/ conductor, Reidar Edvardsen, who has been arranging the trip in conjunction with Jenny Henry, organiser of the Shetland band.
Edvardsen said: “Our ensemble is composed of players from (what is left of) mandolin orchestras in different cities of Norway, that formed an association in 1979. The orchestra has performed two or three times a year with a varied number of players since 2000.
The Norwegian orchestra only meets in person a few times a year as members have such distances to travel.
He added: “Our programme will be quite light music, containing Norwegian folk tunes, a compilation of classical original and arranged pieces by Nordic composers and maybe something romantic from Italy.”
The concert kicks off at 7.30pm and donations will be welcomed on the door.
FORMER chief executive of both Loganair and Prestwick airport Stewart Adams has been appointed interim managing director of Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL).
This follows the earlier announcement that HIAL’s managing director Inglis Lyon stepping down from his post at the end of June.
Stewart said: “Having worked in the aviation industry for over 40 years, I know only too well the vital role that HIAL’s 11 airports play in Scotland’s transport network.
“The air connectivity and support their airports provide for lifeline and essential services are vital for local communities.”
THE COUNTRY’S most northerly park run will be celebrating its 200th event this coming weekend.
The Bressay Park Run covering a five kilometre course has been on every Saturday morning since early 2018 and usually attracts between 30 and 50 local and visiting runners.
It’s an early start at 9.30am with the ferry from Lerwick across to Bressay leaving at 9am.
More details can be found here.
SHETLAND girls football under 14’s and under 16’s impressive league cup campaign ended with defeat in their respective quarter finals last weekend.
The U14’s lost 2-1 in a bruising encounter with Stonehaven Strollers, while the U16’s travelled to Mintlaw to play Thistle Youth FC with a depleted squad losing 5-0.
Club secretary Adam Priest praised the effort of the girls to make it to the quarter finals: “Both squads have done so well to progress this far in each completion, it has been a great learning experience for players, coaches and our hard-working committee.
“Both squads getting through to the quarter finals has exceeded all our expectation. Attention now turns to our U18’s team who will play their last 16 game in the Scottish Challenge Cup in August.”
TICKETS for Shetland’s second Pride festival are set to go on sale tomorrow (Friday).
The tickets for the festival’s evening event on 1 July will be on sale from 8am and will cost £25.
Musical acts announced so far include The Fiction and Vagabond, as well as drag queens Skinny Minnie and Miss Lily Minogue.
More information can be found on their website.
MEMBERSHIPS for Shetland Wool Week are available now.
Members receive advance access to the programme, exclusive stationary, a member’s badge and entry into a prize draw.
Wool week will run from 23 September to 1 October this year.
Find more information on their website here.
AN AMBITIOUS plan to establish Scotland’s first net zero airline to provide affordable and clean flights across of the Highlands and Islands has taken the top prize at a university competition in Inverness.
Founder of FlyHighland Ltd, Thomas Eccles, was named the overall winner after impressing judges with his pitch to be an aviation innovator by operating aircraft using hydrogen propulsion from the airport at Wick.
He was motivated to improve Scottish flight connections after being shocked by the price of a last-minute flight from Shetland.
He said: “It’s a tremendous honour to be recognised for our commitment to communities because we’re driven by the stories at the heart of the isolated communities we want to serve, and I’m deeply touched that we’ve been recognised for that.”
The University of the Highlands and islands (UHI) business competition is part of the centre of living Sustainability at the Inverness campus and is now in its 17th year.
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