A renowned expert on Scottish music and culture, Dr Fred Freeman, will speak on the topic of Scottish traditional music and multicultural identity at IT Sligo next Tuesday, October 4th .
Dr Freeman is one of the leading authorities on the work of Robbie Burns, and has also written and researched extensively on the work of little-known Scottish songwriter, Robert Tannahill.
Dr Freeman is currently Fellow in English at the University of Edinburgh and is a graduate of Aberdeen and Edinburgh universities. He has taught Scottish literature at The School of Scottish Studies and at Edinburgh University, and held the positions of Writer in Residence at the Aberyswyth Arts Centre and Artist in Residence in West Lothian and East Ayrshire. He also held a postdoctoral appointment at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford where he worked on ethnic minority writers in Scotland.
Dr Freeman himself has an extensive musical background. Starting at the age of 4, he has played piano, and, then, classical and jazz trumpet, rock bass and highland bagpipes, before concentrating fully on musical arranging and producing. He has produced CD collections comprising all the works of these songwriters/poets and has an extensive knowledge of Scottish traditional and folk music and its cultural contexts. CDs collections include The Complete Songs of Robert Burns (Linn Records, 1996-2003); A’ Adam’s Bairns – a tribute to Hamish Henderson (Greentrax, 2004)and The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill (Brechin-All Records, 2006)
The talk, which will be illustrated by musical excerpts, takes place in the Library Seminar Room A1060 at 1.10pm sharp on Tuesday 4th October 2011. All are invited to attend. The event is supported by the Irish Social Science Platform.