Dream the Future

Guest curator Rachel Sermanni welcomed us into the realms of Dream and Play.

Audiences were invited to delve into a weekend of beautiful gigs and creative activity with Rachel at the helm.  A daytime mini retreat explored creativity with music, art-making, good food and yoga nidrã. The evening gigs were curated by Rachel to connect spirits, warm hearts and nourish souls.

Rachel Sermanni

DELVE’s guest curator, Rachel Sermanni, invited us in to the realms of Dream and Play.  The world wants a beautiful future, it needs us to see this future into fruition and we can practice this by coming together, taking pleasure in precious art and getting curious about our own creative processes. Audiences witnessed beautiful gigs to delve under the surface of creativity. We explored innate abilities to create, express and ENJOY with music, poetry, art-making, writing, good food and yoga nidrã. A mini creativity retreat, incredible musicians and poets offered inspiration, entertainment, solace and resonance.

Some words from Rachel Sermanni:

I’m so excited to be inviting such incredible people to DELVE at the Lemon Tree this year. Jesca Hoop has been a huge personal inspiration for me for the last decade, ever since I saw her at a house concert in England somewhere. The way she weaves and tells her stories, the style of guitar playing and the way she chooses to sing her songs. She is completely unique and so very magical. Everything about her story-song-weave is intentional and imbued in dark and mystical tones.

Laura Jane Wilkie is one of the greatest fiddle players in the world and she happens also to be my dearest friend who played music with me when I was just beginning my own musical journey. We share a belonging to the wilds of the highlands, the same humour and love for playing tunes. Her recently released debut album is formidable and delicate, unique, authentic and uncontrived all at once. She is such a force and I’m so excited she will be performing her music.

Kris Drever is a most excellent guitar player, singer and writer of songs. He is so technically good at everything but this never seems to get in the wayof his intuition within music. The music is full of feeling, his ability to play and meld with others is so inspiring. I admire him a huge amount and am so excited to have him join us.

I first came to know Courtney Stoddart through BLM movements in Edinburgh, online, during covid. Her poetry brought me to tears and onto the floor.  She does not hide from hard truths, from facing all and every shadow, her writing is fearless. Fearless also because of the willingness to evolve, transform and transmute which is so much of what I want to bring forth over this weekend. She is the epitome of courage and taking the road less travelled. Courtney will be bringing her all seeing eyes and mysticism and I can’t wait.

Kirsty Whiten is an absolutely incredible visual artist. Visual artist doesn’t do it justice because so much of her process is internal and unseen. Her hand is adept with figure and landscape drawing and painting but it’s the roots from which she works that really pulls me in. She, like Kris, has the technical ability but never lets this overshadow her intuitive progressions and processes. She, like Courtney, allows herself to shapeshift and stretch out of her own safe/known skin, to see what more life has to offer and she to it.

Simone Seales is a superb cellist who thrives in the world of improvisation. I am so excited she will be joining me, for the second time, to aid in a creative, intuitive & improvised yoga Nidrã during the creative workshop.