Music is Love Student Showcase

Last Thursday in the Barron theatre, a full capacity audience was treated to some of the finest musicians from talent “literally” right on our doorstep. Music is Love’s “Student Showcase” highlighted some of the most talented students we probably pass everyday on the street. It wasn’t just the talent that struck me, but the diversity in the kind of music we produce, frankly, blew me away.

Beginning with Hamish James Hawk and friends, there was no way you couldn’t fall in love with his voice and witty lyrics. His acoustic set, later joined by Alex Duthie on guitar and Anna Merryfield on vocals, (looking very regal may I add), was heart-warming, funny and so professionally executed; a name to definitely look out for in the future.

The Barron was then treated to something very special indeed. Ziji Jiao, a Chinese student of the University, gave us a taste of the Erhu, a traditional Chinese violin. Playing three beautiful songs, the whole room was in awe of this unique performance.

And to finish the performance off, none other than St Andrews very own Big Band. And big they were. Squeezing onto the Barron’s intimate stage seemed an issue but they made it, just, and delivered a fantastic performance with some Big Band favourites. Not only were the audience loving every minute of it, the Big Band delivered a performance full of personality and no wonder; with the enthusiasm of Matthew Johnson as a conductor, it would be hard not to. Finishing with an encore of “In The Mood”, the whole theatre was up dancing.

Forget about the big cities having the best music scenes, we’ve got all the talent we need right here in our little town. All you need to do is look for it.