Edinburgh Quartet

Winning one of the prestigious Creative Scotland Awards (value 25,000 pounds and funded by the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund) allowed Kenneth Dempster to collaborate with the poet Ron Butlin to create a 30 minute children's opera.

Based on a sequence of six photographs of the people of St. Kilda taken in 1886 by the Scottish photographer George Washington Wilson, Faraway Pictures celebrates the way of life, traditions and values held by the St. Kildans as well as charting the decline of the community which eventually led to the islanders requesting their own evacuation in 1930.

The children (approx. 25; aged 10-14 years old) are required to sing twelve musical numbers, as well as to act and dance, in an opera that is full of variety and contrast. Having learned all their words and songs in advance, the children are rehearsed intensively for two consecutive days by Kenneth (music direction) and Ron (stage direction) with the Edinburgh Quartet joining in on the second day. In performance, the children are accompanied by the Edinburgh Quartet and conducted by Kenneth Dempster.

The project introduces children to the idea of opera (and the excitement of live performance) while at the same time acquainting them with the words and music of living poets and composers; all in a framework that is positive, informative and fun.