Musical Celebrations

The Cumnock Tryst was founded by Sir James MacMillan a musician, composer and conductor who grew up in Cumnock.

The Tryst was approached by the CCLP in order that we might work with them to build a cultural project, a musical project. We called it A Musical Celebration of the Coalfields. The project gave us the opportunity at the Tryst to embed deeper into the community. - Sir James MacMillan

The aim of the Tryst is to encourage the socio-economic development of Cumnock and the surrounding area through the power of music and especially composing.

Tryst is an old Scots word for a meeting place or a romantic rendezvous. The town itself sits where two rivers meet and was built on the marriage of agriculture and coal.

The Tryst project brought ten different groups together from the local area and offered a unique proposal. To write songs that were meaningful to them and then perform them accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

The groups involved were;

• Cumnock Area Musical Productions Society
• Cumnock Youth Musical Theatre
• Dalmellington Brass Academy
• Doon Academy
• Logan Primary School
• Netherthird Primary School
• Robert Burns Academy
• Strings n Things
• The Cumnock Festival Chorus
• Things Tae Dae

A whole team of musicians, composers, producers and artists worked together to produce something really special. The essence of the project was captured on video where you can see participants talking about their experiences.

There is more photography, poetry, songs and spoken word in the video production "The Moss and the Cosmos".

The CCLP project sat right in with our aims. We went blind into ten different community groups and asked them what they wanted to write a song about. We ended up with ten different perspectives on life. Some looked back, some were about life right now and some were looking forwards. All tell their stories of where they are at this stage in life and where they live.”
Rufus Sullivan.

The Tryst continues to work with schools and community groups. The collective hope for the future is that the work continues for many years to come and the Tryst's aims are achieved.

The final word goes to Sir James; many of the participants echo his sentiment.

"Experiencing an orchestra up close is a visceral thing, a deeply emotional thing. It is a great joy to be able to do something like this."