NEWSLETTER
Hosted by Alan Cumming and Featuring Top Scottish Artists Mànran, Julie Fowlis, Dougie MacLean, Oban High School Pipe Band, and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Including a Rare Performance of the Gregg Fiddle, an 18th-Century Fiddle Connected to Scottish Poet Robert Burns
New York, N.Y. (February 11, 2025) — Scotland's preeminent cultural extravaganza, Hoolie in the Hydro, crosses the Atlantic for a highly-anticipated debut event titled Scotland’s Hoolie in New York on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The event is spearheaded by award-winning musician and broadcaster, Gary Innes, the visionary behind Hoolie in the Hydro – Scotland's biggest night of traditional music, which has attracted nearly 20,000 people in the past two years to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro arena.
“To have Scottish traditional music ringing out across Carnegie Hall’s infamous red seats is testament to the continuing rise in popularity of our country’s musical heritage,” Gary Innes said. “Having Scottish traditional music performed in this eminent venue truly affirms our genre’s place amongst the world's musical tapestry."
Held during NYC Tartan Week, the largest annual celebration of Scottish heritage in NYC, Scotland’s Hoolie in New York brings together some of Scotland’s top tier artists including the multi award-winning, electrifying band Mànran who are known for their dynamic fusion of traditional tunes with contemporary influences featuring the masterful accordion playing of founding member Gary Innes himself.
Additional artists include Julie Fowlis (who gained international recognition for her contributions to the soundtrack of Disney-Pixar's animated film Brave, particularly for performing the song Touch the Sky) and band, Dougie MacLean (composer of the iconic song Caledonia and The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack), the Oban High School Pipe Band (one of the top youth pipe bands in Scotland), and performers from the iconic The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, all hosted by beloved Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor Alan Cumming (The Anniversary Party, GoldenEye, Transformers, The Traitors).
In a special partnership with the National Trust for Scotland, the event will feature a rare performance of the Gregg fiddle - a decorated baroque fiddle dating from 1750 and attributed to William Gregg, the dance teacher of Scottish poet Robert Burns recognized as the famed composer of Auld Lang Syne. The instrument was thought to have been played at the Bachelors’ Club in Tarbolton where Burns was learning dance steps and has been named one of the “25 Objects That Shaped Scotland's History” by VisitScotland.
"We are delighted to welcome the Gregg fiddle back to New York City for its premiere at Carnegie Hall during NYC Tartan Week,” said Kirstin Bridier, Executive Director of The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA. “Robert Burns had an impact far beyond Scotland, influencing American authors, artists, and thinkers from Frederick Douglass to John Steinbeck to Bob Dylan. Being able to publicly share this remarkable instrument, which the poet danced to and likely played, is at the core of what The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA aims to do: connecting Americans with the irreplaceable cultural heritage and natural beauty cared for by the National Trust for Scotland."
The fiddle has traveled to the US only once before, as it is kept safely on display in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, where the Bard was born. Ayrshire fiddle players Alistair McCulloch (Royal Conservatoire Scotland) and David Moore (Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra) have been the only musicians with permission to play it until now - its December 2024 debut at Hoolie in the Hydro played by Ewen Henderson, and its April 2025 Carnegie Hall debut played by Duncan Chisholm.
“I am incredibly honored and proud to have been asked to play the Gregg violin, an instrument that played a daily part in Robert Burns’ life,” Duncan Chisolm said. “To perform with it in such an iconic space as Carnegie Hall in New York will be a truly special moment and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Concert Information
Scotland’s Hoolie in New York
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage | 881 7th Avenue | New York, NY 10019
Tickets: $70-$175
Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/04/05/Scotlands-Hoolie-in-New-York-0800PM
Artists:
Mànran
Julie Fowlis and band
Dougie MacLean
Oban High School Pipe Band
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo performers
Alan Cumming, Host
Additional artists to be announced
About Hoolie in the Hydro
Now in its fourth year, Hoolie in the Hydro has quickly become a world-renowned event and recently commemorated 100 years of Scottish music with Hoolie 100 on Saturday 7th December 2024. Spearheaded by treasured musician and broadcaster Gary Innes, the events seek to preserve and promote Scotland’s rich cultural heritage, making the National Trust for Scotland a natural event partner.
About National Trust for Scotland
Established in 1931, the National Trust for Scotland is Scotland’s largest conservation charity and cares for, shares and speaks up for Scotland’s magnificent heritage. Over the last 90 years the Trust has pioneered public access to and shared ownership of some of the most magnificent buildings, collections and landscapes in Scotland. It cares for more than 100 sites, from ancient houses to battlefields, castles, mills, gardens, coastlines, islands, mountain ranges and the plants and animals which depend upon them.
In March 2022, the National Trust for Scotland launched Nature, Beauty & Heritage for Everyone, its ten-year strategy which sets out the ambitions of the charity over the coming decade. From speaking up for Scotland’s heritage which doesn’t have a voice, to improving the lives and wellbeing of people across the country, and responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis, the Trust will build on its work in recent years to grow its impact and conserve and restore more of Scotland’s heritage, as it moves towards its centenary in 2031.
Scotland’s largest membership organisation, the National Trust for Scotland relies on the support of its members and donors to carry out its important work.
For more information on the National Trust for Scotland visit www.nts.org.uk
The National Trust for Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland, Charity Number SC 007410.
About The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA
The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA is an independent non-profit that exists to support the National Trust for Scotland’s most urgent conservation priorities. Based in Boston, NTSUSA has members across all fifty states. Over 25 years, NTSUSA has committed more than $12 million in grant funding to protect Scotland’s heritage and natural beauty now and for generations to come at properties including Glencoe, Ben Lomond, St Kilda, Culloden Battlefield, and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.
Photos at top courtesy of the artists; photo of Alan Cumming by Frederic Aranda.
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CONTACT:
Leah Rankin | Batcello PR
leah@batcellopr.com | 716-868-6278