We are curating a series of afternoon concerts at Northesk Church in Musselburgh, a beautiful venue with a fantastic acoustic. The concert experience is delivered with our trademark Brunton welcoming atmosphere and provides a warm place to relax awhile on a cool autumn afternoon.
This autumn’s series spans Scottish traditional, classical music and Irving Berlin.
The 1.30pm concerts are designed to give an hour of accessible, enjoyable and inspiring music from talented performers, as well as providing an opportunity to stay for a chat and a cuppa afterwards. Attending live events is fun and can also help improve mental and physical wellbeing.
Grace Stewart-Skinner performs clàrsach on Tuesday 13 October.
In this intimate acoustic performance, she will share some of her favourite traditional tunes, alongside her own compositions.
Grace is a Highland grown clàrsach (Scottish harp) player and composer who has been surrounded by traditional Scottish music her whole life. She enjoys experimenting with the clàrsach by incorporating a myriad of effects and techniques to create mesmeric soundscapes and melodies. Grace’s knowledge and sensitivity to the tradition shines through her practice, resulting in Trad compositions with a contemporary twist.
The concert on Tuesday 10 November is Women In Love and Life with Cornish mezzo-soprano Amy Karensa and Scottish pianist Catriona MacKenzie.
Centred on Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, this concert traces a path from Romantic to twentieth-century song, exploring women’s experiences of love and life through the ages. Includes works by Robert Schumann, Carl Loewe, and Madeline Dring.
Amy and Catriona met at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and both have a passion for Lieder – German song that sets poetry to music. Amy won the 2025 Elgar Spedding Prize for Lieder and Catriona was a 2025 Leeds Lieder Young Artist. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to collaborative song. Their career highlights include performances with the RSNO, Wexford Festival Opera, St John’s Smith Square, and Kings Place.
Finishing the year is an hour-long concert Celebrating Irving Berlin on Tuesday 8 December.
The story of Irving Berlin, who wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, is interspersed with many beautifully familiar melodies sung as solos and duets by mezzo-soprano Jane Monari and tenor Christian Schneeberger, accompanied by pianist Derek Clark.
Originally from Philadelphia, Jane Monari graduated from the Juilliard School with a Bachelor of Music in Voice, has a Master of Arts from the Royal Academy of Music and studied opera at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed many times with Scottish Opera and other leading opera companies.
Glaswegian Christian Schneeberger is a prizewinning graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has performed with Scottish Opera, Opera Alba and Opera Bohemia.
Glaswegian Derek Clark was Head of Opera at Scottish Opera for nearly 30 years. Also a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire Derek has conducted for many operas, composed and arranged music, is Director of Music at Helensburgh Parish Church and is an in-demand accompanist.
Our Brunton team looks forward to welcoming you to this series of relaxed concerts in Musselburgh.
Tickets include a free post-concert cuppa and can be booked from The Brunton’s website at www.thebrunton.co.uk or by phone on 0131 653 5245, Monday to Friday, 11am to 3pm.
