UHI students gather at Caledonian Stadium for creative residency

Over 40 students from UHI creative industries courses gathered in Inverness recently for a two-day event welcoming them to the new term. Students from UHI’s applied music BA (Hons), creative writing BA (Hons) and contemporary film making in the Highlands and Islands BA (Hons) met at Caledonian Stadium on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 September.

The group, who travelled from across the UK to attend, got to know each other by collaborating on a creative task - filming a performance of a song in a single take. The song, ‘Follow the Leader’, was written by Edie Gorham Wootton, an Orkney-based musician and UHI applied music graduate.

Music students and staff also entertained customers with a session at MacGregor’s Bar on Monday evening.

Residencies are regular fixtures of many of UHI’s courses. They enable students to collaborate, develop practical and networking skills and connect socially with one another.

Speaking about the Inverness event, Anna-Wendy Stevenson, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for UHI’s applied music BA (Hons), said:

“Residencies are one of the highlights of the academic year for students and staff members. Although we meet in Inverness every September, no residency is the same and we set a new challenge each year. The mix of skills, experience and ideas the students bring creates unique directions and encourages individuals to make new connections. We were delighted to be welcomed by Inverness Caledonian Football Club and enable our students to collaborate in such an iconic venue.”

Anna McPherson, Programme Leader BA (Hons) Contemporary Film Making in the Highlands and Islands degree, added:

"This inter-disciplinary creative residency was a fantastic opportunity for our new contemporary filmmaking students to learn to work cohesively as a production crew, having just met their peers for the first time! They gained experience of the fundamental skills of video and sound recording on location and interpreting the best visual representation of a fluid musical performance.”

Daisy McCormick, an applied music student from Midlothian, was one of the attendees. She said:

“This was my first residency and it was a great balance of fun and hard work. Meeting other students from my own course and the film and creative writing courses was great. Collaborating to create the music for the video was quite ambitious, but I was impressed at how it all came together and being in the stadium was a lot of fun.”

The students’ video is available on UHI’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/PXKHswckzgo

You can also watch spoken word performances and behind the scenes footage from the day: https://youtu.be/YO8_dpwmGjw

To find out more about creative courses at UHI, visit www.uhi.ac.uk/courses