New Song to Premiere at 2013 Pipes of Christmas Concerts
Jason Sweeney, a music student at Edinburgh Napier University has won the inaugural Alexander McCall Smith Prize for Composition. Sweeney, 20, is from Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Currently in his 3rd year at Edinburgh Napier University studying for the Bachelor of Music with Honours degree, majoring in Composition, Jason hopes to follow his idols, John Williams and Alan Sylvestre, into the world of film scoring.
A two-time recipient of the Monklands’ Rotary Club Young Musician of the Year Award, Jason is an accomplished musician on both piano and clarinet and performs regularly with the highly-esteemed Motherwell Symphonic Band.
Jason Sweeney (left) meets with Prof. Alexander McCall Smith
In 2012, Jason was commissioned by North Lanarkshire Council to compose a Fanfare in honour of the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth which premiered at a special commemorative concert in Motherwell Civic Hall. Later that same year, the region’s education department invited Jason to tutor at a music workshop which he had himself attended as a pupil only two years before. The invitation was then repeated in 2013 and has again been extended for the 2014 event.
Jason’s parents and three brothers fondly recall when, aged just 18 months, he entertained the family at Christmas dinner, having picked out Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday on a little toy piano he had been given that morning, by his aunt.
Of the piece Christmas Card from Ettrick Bay, Jason says “I was inspired by the landmark “Boat on the Shore” of Ettrick Bay on the Isle of Bute, the skeleton of an old wooden boat that lies buried in its sand. Ettrick Bay is a place that I hold dear in my heart, and I have many wonderful memories of childhood holidays with my family.”
Ettrick Bay, on the Isle of Bute is the inspiration for the new tune
“The slow opening section of the piece reflects the carefree and simple times of childhood, and the lullaby-like melody suggests the comfort that comes with being surrounded by family. The quicker middle section was written to depict the fun that my brothers and I would have whilst enthusiastically climbing and swinging from the boat in the sand, much to my mother’s disapproval.”
“When I returned to Ettrick Bay only a few months ago, I was very upset to see that the boat, which had almost become a childhood friend, had been removed from the shore and destroyed. The piece returns to the slow section to close in order to suggest the idea that while the boat, in reality, is no longer here, it will always be a wonderful part of my memories, never to be forgotten.”
“I am very grateful to Professor Alexander McCall Smith and to the Clan Currie Society and “The Pipes of Christmas” for providing the opportunity for me to share my music with tonight’s audience.”
The Alexander McCall Smith Prize for Composition