We were delighted to be part of the 2025 Cumnock Tryst at the start of October.
This project was the final performance from our two-year Unbroken Thread project, a creative partnership with Hebrides Ensemble and the Cumnock Tryst.
We were delighted to work with pupils from Hillside School, adults from Riverside Centre and special guest singers from the CAMPS choir and Festival Chorus.
Here is a short film documenting the project:
Pete Sparkes, Gillian Walker, James MacMillan worked with all the participants through a series of creative workshops between April – Sept with regular visits and input from Will Conway, Jean Johnson and Asher Zacardelli from the Hebrides Ensemble.
Here is a gallery of photographs from the performance:
Drake Artistic Director Pete Sparkes worked with pupils from Hillside School and adults from Riverside Centre to develop a performance that included live music pre-recorded films and clips. The ideas and creative content was developed with each group from initial workshops – leading to the creation of Sideways News – a full news report with newsreaders, weather reports, live music and end of performance song where the main performers were joined by a community chorus and the audience! This ambitious performance was help in front of a packed out Barony hall to 200 people and was a real highlight of the festival.
This project is a strong example of a long term creative partnership that has built up a trust and understanding between it’s key partners. The performance was well supported by the Cumnock Tryst who looked after the venue hire, technical support and marketing/audience – this ensured that our DMS input was focused on making the creative process, the rehearsals and the performance as ambitious and inclusive as possible.
Big shout out to Rufus Sullivan who was instrumental in making this whole project happen!
This project is part of a long standing collaboration with Cumnock Tryst and Hebrides Ensemble
Thanks to Fieldstead for their support
