Outputs
Touring exhibition
CD of songs collected
Journal articles
Research facts
6 years
10 Islands
100 people
300 songs
Outputs
Nimitau Exhibition
Film
Journal articles
Research facts
2 provinces (Ontario & Quebec)
3 years
30 fiddle players
Seinn SPIORADAIL
Sacred Soundscapes of the Highlands and Islands (2019-2023)
In September 2019, Frances started working on her latest research project, exploring the sacred singing traditions of the West Highlands and Western Isles.
Putting ethnographic fieldwork at the heart of the project, Frances has been interviewing and recording singers from a variety of backgrounds across the region, and will be continue her research throughout 2022 and 2023.
Resources
Sacred Singing Scotland Blogspot
www.seinn.org
Funded by
The British Academy, The Carnegie Trust, The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
The Cree Fiddlers of James Bay
Eeyou music and dance traditions in James Bay, Canada (2011-2016)
Since 2011, Frances has been working on a research project exploring Eeyou music and dance traditions in the James Bay region and their historical and musical connections to Scotland via connections with the Hudson's Bay Company from the late 1600s.
She has visited and conducted fieldwork in the region in Wemindji, Waskaganish, Mistissini, Ouje-Bougoumou, Moose Factory and Moosonee.
Resources
James Bay Fiddle Blogspot
Funded by
The Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Foundation for Canadian Studies in the United Kingdom, Wemindji Cultural Department, and the University of Aberdeen.
The documentary features singers from the project including Iseabail T MacDonald.
The Exhibition at Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway.
Frances conducting research and recording participants.
The Exhibition at Museum nan Eilean, Stornoway.
Frances conducting research and recording participants.
Sacred Traditions of North East Scotland
2005-2009
From September 2005 until February 2009, Frances worked as a full-time researcher of sacred music traditions of North-East and Northern Isles coastal communities, supervised by Dr Ian Russell at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen.
She travelled extensively throughout North-East Scotland making audio recordings of musical events and conducting interviews. The research culminated in a numerous conference papers, articles, and the publication of her first full-length monograph by Routledge, Singing the Gospel along Scotland's North-East Coast, 1859-2009 in 2018.
Funeralscapes
Funeralscapes is a unique and exciting interplay between landscape, music and emotion. Combining fieldwork at ancient burial sites in Scotland with public engagement activities, this project aims to reconnect the landscape with its sonic environment.
By re-experiencing and re-interpreting the sonic environment of burial and funerals, we hope to learn more about why people choose specific burial locations, their acoustic qualities, and the roles of music and sound during the burial process.
Soundscapes Rostock
In 2010-11, Frances spent one semester working as a Eurolecturer, funded by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung Foundation, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock. She worked with ethnomusicologist, Dr Barbara Alge to develop teaching modules and research. During that time she and Barbara worked with music students on a Soundscapes field research project in Rostock. This culminated in a body of material, which can be found on the Soundscapes Rostock website and presented in the form of a public exhibition in Rostock in March 2011.