‘Brave’ singer comes to MSUM’s Hansen Theatre
Julie Fowlis and her Scottish band perform Gaelic music
Julie Fowlis sang the hit song “Touch the Sky” for the blockbuster 3-D Disney hit Brave a few years ago. It’s an inspiring, beautiful song, but when Fowlis performs at MSUM Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m., she’ll focus on music that inspired Scotland’s Parliament to name her the nation’s Gaelic Ambassador.
Fowlis, raised on North Uist in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, has been a standard bearer for Gaelic music and culture over the course of a solo career which has spanned three award-winning studio albums and numerous highly acclaimed projects and collaborations. She won Gaelic Singer of the Year and Album of the Year (on two occasions) at the Scots Trad Music Awards, plus several other major accolades, including Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Fowlis is touring all over the United States through October. The touring group includes husband Éamon Doorley, her main musical companion and co-producer; Dublin’s Tony Byrne; and Highlander fiddler Duncan Chisholm. The group is known for emotive, expressive and high energy live shows.
“There are some voices that carry much more than a melody,” wrote the Evening Standard-London. “They transport you to another place, give you goose flesh and make magic out of thin air. Julie Fowlis has just such a voice.”
While in Fargo-Moorhead, Fowlis will present an hour-long workshop on Gaelic singing at noon the same day. The workshop will introduce MSUM voice students to Gaelic musical traditions and vocal techniques, with demonstrations by Fowlis. The workshop is free and open to the public to observe.
For tickets to the Thursday performance, go to www.mnstate.edu/tickets or visit or call the MSUM Box Office Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at (218) 477-2271. Tickets are also available at the door the night of the performance if not sold out.
