Links to selected CHROMA projects:

SHETLAND BLUES
SHETLAND 2026: BIGTON & FAIR ISLE

Feedback from Shetland Blues August 2026
BIGTON
Shetland Youth Orchestra
It was a privilege to start our academic year with a visit and workshop from the CHROMA ensemble. The piece of music chosen to work on was accessible and fun, Stuart was brilliant with the children, and I watched as the orchestra started hesitantly, and with support from all the CHROMA musicians, became confident and strong players. Many chose to come and listen to and perform in the evening’s concert. I strongly believe in the importance of striving for excellence, and how valuable it is for younger musicians to play with professionals. To have had the opportunity to play with such fabulous musicians is a rare and special opportunity, one which many will remember for the rest of their lives.

Annalie Hayward, Shetland Youth Orchestra

Bigton young musicians
The visit from CHROMA was a huge highlight at the start of term for the young people who usually attend Bigton Band. It was so exciting to meet and hear the performers and to learn about instruments that they don't often hear in this combination. The bassoon was a huge hit as many of the children had never heard a live bassoon and it was such a treat for them to hear it played so expertly and up close.
Many of the children had a really visceral response to hearing the ensemble playing together and they were quite mesmerised. Adam (10) said, "it's so amazing - when you look at each instrument it gets louder in your head". 
It was great fun to share the time together and we were most grateful to all the CHROMA musicians for doing some improvisation and teaching us all some new conducting signals! 
Hymhus Friday Friends lunch singalong
At Friday Friends craft and lunch group we usually have a bit of a singalong after our soup. In August we had the added bonus of the CHROMA ensemble (who were rehearsing in the Bigton Hall) joining us with a wonderful impromptu accompaniment! On the theme of Blue we sang Blue Moon and Blue Suede Shoes which went down a storm and many of the participants hadn't heard these instruments before. Thanks to the musicians for their willingness to muck in and their versatility!
Common Thead mending - to music
Our first mending session in our Common Thread series also coincided with the CHROMA visit and we were so pleased that Claire was willing to lead this pilot sewing session. Claire did a fabulous job of putting everyone at ease and giving us the confidence to try some new mending techniques. It was greatly enhanced by the beautiful background music as the CHROMA musicians rehearsed in the adjacent room. We'll have to try and add this element to all our mending sessions from now on! 
Hymhus gig with guest performers
The concert at Hymhus on Saturday evening was made all the more special with the inclusion of young musicians from the Shetland Youth Orchestra. For some of them it was the first time they have been to Hymhus and it felt like such an inclusive and energetic way to end the evening. The New Orleans Funk piece was technically challenging and it was so great to see the young players rise to these high expectations and gain confidence. It made it all the more exciting to watch as we all knew it had come together that day! Special thanks to Stu who did a fabulous job of directing and bringing everyone together with so many elements involved. 
Hymhus audience participation as percussion section
At Hymhus we like to promote active involvement in music making whenever possible so it was the icing on the cake to have the audience involved with percussion parts in the Saturday night performance. It was pitched so well - at just the right level of interesting, challenging but not too complicated. You could really feel the sense of connection between everyone in the room. What a joy!

Alice Ritch, Bigton Collective

FAIR ISLE
The Fair Isle community has a treasured relationship with the CHROMA team, sharing wonderful musical and artistic experiences since 2002.  As the remotest inhabited island in the UK, you might think Fair Isle was isolated or insular, but it is the opposite and the whole community from our youngest children to folk in their 80s look forward to the visits of CHROMA, whether it be to join in the music, the creative sessions or just to enjoy the chance of listening to world class musicians in our island home.

For almost 25 years CHROMA have given the residents of Fair Isle (and lucky visitors too) the chance to be involved in a creative experience which really does enrich our lives.  Personally, I was 18 the first time CHROMA visited the isle and found the level of musicianship inspiring.  Now, my children have had the opportunity to take part with various projects with CHROMA and are equally inspired - as were their grand and great-grandparents.  How lovely that 4 generations of our and indeed other island families, have had the privilege of being involved in CHROMA projects.

Friendships have been made and we look forward to seeing the returning musicians each time, as well as making new friends.  When visiting the isle, the CHROMA team is invited to stay with islanders: eating together, having fun and sharing experiences.  Fair Isle is a strong, talented community which loves to join in.  Claire, Stuart and the team listen to the community when planning a project, taking inspiration from the wealth of riches Fair Isle has to offer, but adding aspects of music and art we would not usually have access to.  Ours is a friendship and indeed partnership which I hope continues to flourish, the benefit to all is very tangible - a CHROMA visit is one of the highlights of the year for our isle.

Eileen Thomson - Chair, Fair Isle Committee

The children of Fair Isle Primary School could not have enjoyed their week with the CHROMA ensemble any more. It was a fabulous week full of music making, composition and art creation. The energy, knowledge and passion from the ensemble meant the children were enthused from the very first session, carrying this energy all the way through the week in everything they did.
To see each child take part in composing their own piece of blues music was fantastic to see, with so many expressive arts skills honed and developed in the process. The afternoon art complemented the music in a way that brought the project to life even further, from cyanotype to watercolor to simply the freedom to express yourself through the paintbrush.
The planning and preparation behind the project was evident. What was fascinating to observe was how the musicians involved our children in the editing process, allowing them to feed back on how their pieces sounded and make adjustments and tweaks. The musicians deserve huge credit for the thought that went into each element of the learning that saw children make so much progress and gain confidence. Taking their bows at the Saturday night concert captured this perfectly and I am certain the children will remember this experience for years to come (one child even asked for multiple copies of his composition the day after so he could send them to all his family members far and wide).
We cannot wait for more projects in the future and are absolutely thrilled the children have such an experience here in Fair Isle.

Jonathan Pye Principal Teacher Fair Isle School

Luca (11): “I had such a great time and all the CHROMA ensemble are lovely.” 
Ander (8): “I had so much fun because they have been making music with us and I loved composing.” 
Teddy (11): “It was a good experience and I would love to do it again and again and again.” 
Khalicee (6): “I enjoyed meeting the musicians because it was exciting to meet new people and I love music.” 
Hetty (6): “I love spending time with the ensemble because I love music and they were energetic and kind.”

Claire’s Blog of the residency in Bigton and Fair Isle

ARMADA 1588
shetland 2023: BIGton, sandwick, dunrossness & fair isle

Bigton, SANDWICK, DUNROSSNESS

“We were delighted to have the opportunity to reconnect with our old friends CHROMA (we first worked with them in 2006) when they visited Bigton in September with a Spanish Armada themed project. The bairns loved taking part in the schools' workshops in Renaissance music and dancing. It was such a highlight to have Chroma join us at Bigton Band and for everyone to get the chance to listen to instruments that they rarely hear - and played so beautifully. The visitors really embraced the spirit of our 'open-to-all' group with energetic, fun and inclusive activities. It was such a memorable experience to improvise sections of Warlock’s “Mattechins” with them. They even had us all singing the Spanish song “Cabrillas Galopando” in 4 parts. The Bigton community turned out in force for the free gig in our new venue Hymhus, with Bigton Band joining CHROMA for the finale. It was the first time the venue had hosted an acoustic classical chamber group since we gained community ownership of the kirk and it was so special to hear the detail of all the instruments and appreciate the high level of musicianship, sensitivity and interplay between the performers. Special thanks to Claire for organising and for creating such a warm and welcoming atmosphere at the workshops and the concert - the personal touch makes such a difference and helps to make classical music seem all the more accessible. CHROMA made a lasting impression and helped to motivate not just the bairns but the grown up tutors too! It was very much enjoyed by all and we hope they will come back again soon. “

Alice Ritch, co-founder, the Bigton Collective

“The bairns really enjoyed the day, and I cannot believe how it all came together. Two of my bairns are in the school, one was part of the musical group and one in the dance group. Both have raved about Friday and really enjoyed it.”
Louise Leslie, Acting Head, Dunrossness Primary

Fair Isle

“CHROMA visited Fair Isle in September 2023 for a wonderful week of immersive music, dance, crafts and history.  From 5 year olds in primary 1 to islanders in their 80s, all of us benefited hugely from this week of creative fun.  CHROMA are highly skilled in encouraging and engaging the children, including kids with additional support needs, and all found a happy place to write their own music and take part in the activities.  CHROMA used a local theme, the wreck of a Spanish Armada ship here in Fair Isle, and brought the story to life with music, writing, beach combing and even dance.  The children learned about music and performance in a comfortable setting and will always have that to treasure, and us adults got to join in and enjoy world-class performances, even here in the UK's remotest inhabited island.  We hope our now long-standing friendship with CHROMA continues to keep enriching our lives here in Fair Isle.”

Eileen Thomson, secretary Fair Isle Community Association

”On behalf of the staff and children, I would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone on the CHROMA team for a fantastic week of creativity and fun! The children fully immersed themselves in every activity and the whole community were extremely proud of their performance on Saturday night. The concert was beautiful and we were mesmerised by the musical pieces. We are very grateful and look forward to next time! “
Gillian Maxwell, Head Teacher, Fair Isle School

TOWARDS LIGHT
in various forms & Locations 2021-2022

"We were so happy to have the wonderful Chroma return to Fair Isle this autumn.  Each and every member of the group brings so much to Fair Isle - of course beautiful music, but also fun and engaging creative workshops for all ages - something quite special when we live in the UK's most remote island community.
The Fair Isle children get an incredible introduction to classical music and the joy it brings.  Chroma is not just a group of visiting artists; they have become true friends of the community and they enrich our lives here."
Eileen Thomson, Fair Isle Community Association

“thank you  so much for the great work you did with school children. The processes worked through, skills practiced and knowledge shared along with so much creativity has very much enhanced the children’s curriculum this term and beyond”
Ruth Stout, Head Teacher, Fair Isle School

2020-2021 BETWEEN LOCKDOWNS:
CurrenT, RisinG; RHUL & RAM

In July 2020 we recorded the score for Current Rising - a hyper-reality opera at the Royal Ballet and Opera (experiences postponed due to 3rd Lockdown but ran during May 2021), then worked with the under- and post-grad composers at Royal Holloway University of London (67 in all, over two terms), culminating in a live-streamed concert of stimulus piece Railgun by Anna Meredith plus a selection of student works. We continued our mentoring of 6 post-grad composers and 3 instrumentalists at the Royal Academy of Music - in the room in October , over zoom in February and back in the room again in March, when we recorded the resulting pieces.
Thank you to everyone who persevered to make these projects happen - safely - and bravo to the faculties at RHUL and RAM for giving their students quality projects with in-person CHROMAtie mentoring!

AWAKENING 2018-2019

CHROMA ARCHIVE