A brand new concert series from Origin Scotland: The first of which is an advent journey exploring the rich melodies of early music blended and contrasted with the rhythms of jazz.

Origin is delighted to introduce Benjamin Shute, former concertmaster of the Boston Chamber Orchestra, now living in Scotland. Benjamin is an early music specialist, performer, teacher and author.

This event will pair his music with the free-roaming jazz of composer, performer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Green and his quartet, creating a unique soundscape of early music and jazz, interspersed with Advent-themed readings by Heather Holdsworth.

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Baroque Violin: Benjamin Shute
Originally from the Brandywine River Valley of Wilmington, Delaware, USA (Lenape), Benjamin Shute now happily calls Fife home, teaching at the University of St Andrews Music Centre and performing frequently as soloist, chamber musician, ensemble leader, and director. He began his activities under the tutelage of Lee Snyder in Philadelphia, appearing regularly as recitalist and concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the mid-Atlantic region, while at the same time beginning a lifelong interest in historical performance practices.

Subsequent formative influences came through further studies at the New England Conservatory and the Musikhochschulen of Freiburg and Frankfurt, where his mentors included Rainer Kussmaul, Lucy Chapman, Masuko Ushioda, and Bernhard Forck. Having previously served as co-founding director of the New England Conservatory Early Music Society and concertmaster of the Boston Chamber Orchestra, he has enjoyed collaborating as director from the violin with ensembles including the Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Enid Symphony, and Heisenberg Ensemble, also finding invaluable enrichment in chamber music collaboration with musically diverse colleagues on three continents.

With harpsichordist Anastasia Abu Bakar, he has performed internationally as the Highlands Duo, made the premiere recording of the violin-piano sonatas of Karen Khanagov, and collaborated in various musicological projects. As a composer, he was a finalist for the American Prize in chamber music composition, and his works have been performed at venues including the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. He is author of the books Sei Solo: Symbolum? The Theology of J. S. Bach's Solo Violin Works (Pickwick, 2016) and The Harmonic Violinist (forthcoming, Oxford University Press), various critical editions, and reconstructions of J. S. Bach's lost D-minor violin concerto BWV1052R and incompletely surviving D-major sinfonia BWV1045 (PRB Productions).

Prior to moving to Scotland, he held full- and part-time professorial posts at American institutions including Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Cairn University, and Dickinson College.

Trumpet: Jon Green
Boston-born Jon Green is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer who writes and performs across genres for a wide variety of settings. This Quartet features Chris Amer (guitars), Mario Caribe (double bass) and Chun-Wei Kang (drums).


Narrator: Heather Holdsworth
Heather is a teacher, lecturer, artist and enjoyer of deep conversations over tea with friends. Her focus is on the subject of Spiritual Formation and Discipleship for people of all ages. After graduating with a degree in education, she taught in various schools, specialising in emotionally and behaviourally disordered young people. She has a keen interest in how people grow and, following a 2-year diploma in Practical Theology, completed an MA in Spiritual Formation & Discipleship in Seminary in Chicago in 2010. Heather has recently published an illustrated commentary on the Psalms from her home in St. Andrews, Scotland where she lives with her husband, Adrian.