Simon Thacker

August was a special month as it saw the world premiere of Tandava @edfringe as part of @MadeinScotShows: music written and performed by me, dance by #India's Piah Dance Company. After sold out shows & fantastic reviews, a fitting climax came with a live performance on @bbcnews!

HAAAPPPPPYY CHRISTMAS!!!

last week, is "Todi Udaya" [=the dawn, ascent of Todi — musically and symbolically]. Todi Udaya is a stunning 10 minute work of genuine creativity. Well done to Scott Abel, Ciaran Cortes, Liam Golecki and Finn Thomson. You achieved something very special. 4/4

composition from scratch? That's exactly what we did, with all 5 of us contributing equally. There was one limitation: it would be based entirely on the notes of the Todi Thaat of Hindustani music. The result, given its world premiere at the annual College ensembles concert 3/4

Last week saw the culmination of a very significant first in my 20 years of teaching. Guitar ensemble is an integral part of studying at @edinburghcoll. Every year I choose the music after meeting the new students. This year an idea popped into my head that I had never 1/4

At @UofGlasgowMusic recently, Justyna Jablonska and I played music from our debut Karmana album (nope, still not on Spotify) to a packed audience, with extra seats required. Thanks to everyone who came along for making it such a great atmosphere and listening so intently.

Looking forward to returning to the @UofGlasgowMusic concert series this Thursday at 1.10pm, with cellist Justyna Jablonska playing duo music I wrote for our debut album "Karmana." Free entry, all welcome. gla.ac.uk/events/musicin…

Simon Thacker & Justyna Jablonska. Songs Of The Roma. Album Listen. liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk/2024/11/15/sim…

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Abre Ramce, my transformation of an Esma Redzepova classic on the Songs of the Roma album, appears at 16 mins amongst a plethora of musical gems from around the world, on the latest Demésenllà, from Catalonia. ivoox.com/en/demesenlla-…

With two former students, @KieranMcCrossan & James Mcgeachy, on Fri at the Palace of Holyroodhouse for a ceremony with HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, marking his becoming Patron of the Edinburgh Society of Musicians.

"Wildly imaginative" is my middle name... Songs of the Roma in the latest issue of Songlines Magazine

A few months ago, Songs of the Roma was released. This is the story of its remarkable journey so far: youtu.be/dH_SlhB2K44 Thank you to the many reviewers and djs who set Songs of the Roma on its journey & 1 of the best editors in the Indian film industry for the great video

Well done to my @edinburghcoll students for a great performance at last week's ensembles concert, playing Machado and Ravel. Here are some clips, trying out the space, which has a beautiful acoustic, then in the performance itself.

Great to see international radio support for @scottishmusic member Simon Thacker!

My ferocious reimagining of Esma's Abre Ramce features on the latest Crossing Continents presented by Gil Medovoy, based in California. I think this is the third track from Songs of the Roma to appear on the show. Check it out from 22 mins 30 secs here: kdrt.org/audio/crossing…

Check it out from 14 mins 30 secs here mixcloud.com/celt95fm/plane… 6/6

one of the very best shows anywhere for discovering aural gems from ever corner of the world. Presenter Sandy Semeonoff describes this transformation of Ibrahim as "flamboyant, devil may care, no holds barred playing and singing", which sums it up perfectly. 5/6

The transformation of Esma Redzepova's Ibrahim I created for the Songs of the Roma album is an answer to the question, how does one approach a song (and performance) that is one of the highlights of the whole Romany song repertoire, to the point that it is an archetype? 1/6