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WASHINGTON, March 23 – Provocative discussions, intriguing conversations and remarkable performances are expected from a new transatlantic public program created by Scotland’s leading universities to celebrate Tartan Week in New York.
The universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, along with The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, are collaborating with the pioneering New School in the heart of Greenwich Village, CUNY Graduate Center, and Hunter College to present a three-part series to get New Yorkers talking about Scotland.
The Scotland Conversations New York (April 3-4, 2006) will focus a twenty-first century lens on the Scottish Enlightenment – the great cultural flowering of the eighteenth-century when Scottish intellectuals like David Hume and Adam Smith changed the way we think about the world. The series will explore the ideas and influences of the Enlightenment on the founding fathers of America, and their contemporary relevance in culture and politics.
Leading American voices appear alongside some of Scotland’s most distinguished scholars and thinkers. Grammy Award-nominated jazz pianist and educator Dr. Billy Taylor, and the director of Washington’s National Portrait Gallery Marc Pachter discuss the arts and the pursuit of happiness on April 3 with the Scottish literary critic Cairns Craig from the University of Aberdeen, and architecture writer Charles McKean from the University of Dundee.
One New York’s most celebrated radio broadcasters Leonard Lopate leads a discussion on April 4 on the changing face of patriotism from eighteenth-century Scotland to living in the post 9/11 world. Panelists will include the veteran journalist and editor emeritus of Harper’s Magazine Lewis Lapham, outspoken cultural commentator and activist Todd Gitlin, European political analyst Bill Miller from the University of Glasgow, and best-selling Scottish historian Tom Devine, who outsold Harry Potter in Scotland, from the University of Edinburgh.
The Scotland Conversations New York opens on Monday, April 3 with a free lunchtime performance from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama at the Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue across from the Empire State Building. Introduced by the virtuoso trumpeter John Wallace and principal of the RSAMD, the concert includes a rich program by Scottish and American composers including Aaron Copland and James MacMillan. RSAMD musicians also feature in the evening programs on the arts and patriotism.
Leonard Forman, Chair of The Scotland Conversations Leadership Committee and Special Adviser at the University of Aberdeen, said, “We are so proud to be presenting this program for Tartan Week in public partnership with such prestigious New York institutions and the British Council USA.
“Our aim is to raise the profile of Scotland’s universities in New York as hothouses for generating intellectual debate and ideas, and in so doing introducing Scotland to a whole new public audience. Scotland’s universities were at the center of The Scottish Enlightenment, and so it is fitting that we use it as the theme for our inaugural program in America.”
Unless otherwise stated, tickets are $10 for general public and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets are available direct from the venues. For the latest information on The Scotland Conversations, visit www.scotlandconversations.org.
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ABOUT THE SCOTLAND CONVERSATIONS: The Scotland Conversations is a new public program created and presented by the internationally renowned universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in association with prestigious American partners.
Supported by The Scottish Executive, The Scotland Conversations aims to help build cultural and scholarly partnerships between Scotland and America through ongoing creative and intellectual collaboration. The program makes its US debut in New York in April 2006 to celebrate Tartan Day, and to mark the 50th anniversary year of the American-Scottish Foundation, the 150th anniversary of Caledonian Club of New York and the 250th anniversary of the St Andrew's Society of New York State.
The Scotland Conversations New York inaugural program will feature leading Scottish and American speakers, and will appeal to a broad range of residents and visitors alike interested in the history of ideas, the arts, music and much more.
ABOUT TARTAN WEEK: The US Senate designated April 6 as National Tartan Day in 1998 to honour “the outstanding contribution of millions of Scottish-Americans to our great nation” and the House of Representatives passed a similar resolution in 2005. The significance of April 6 dates back to the 1320 signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, which, it has been argued, was the model for the American Declaration of Independence. New York City has celebrated Tartan Day since 1999 and, every year, the amount of activities here has increased to the point that it is now referred to as Tartan Week. For more information on Tartan Week 2006, visit www.tartanweekny.com.
ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNCIL USA: An arm of the United Kingdom's international organization for educational and cultural relations, the British Council USA increases recognition of the wide array of learning opportunities available in the UK and facilitates educational cooperation between the US and UK. The organization also showcases British creativity by introducing the American public to high-quality, groundbreaking artistic achievement, and highlights the UK's scientific innovation in disciplines ranging from biotechnology to planetary science. Through its work, the British Council USA endeavors to promote an image of the UK that is up-to-date, vibrant, in the vanguard of new thinking and fully representative of the country’s geographic and cultural diversity.
CONTACT: Stacy Hope
(202) 588-7849
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