Arcadia Scotland

Art and Culture

May They Always Flourish: Graduation at the University of St Andrews: Throughout the End of March, MUSA

Exhibition about the roots of graduating at the University of St Andrews.

A Silvered Light:  McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum, Throughout the End of March

Scottish art photography from Dundee's permanent collection featuring work by Calum Colvin, Oscar Marzaroli, Maud Sulter, Emma Hamilton, Patricia MacDonald and David Williams.

Orkney at War: Defending Scapa Flow in the Second World War: 20 March, School I St Salvator's Quad, 8pm

Talk by Geoffrey Stell, Heritage Consultant; St Andrews University Archaeology Society.

Bell Pettigrew Open Afternoon: 22 March, Bell Pettigrew Museum, 12-5pm

Explore our fabulous zoology collection at the Bell Pettigrew Museum.

Seaweed: Ancient Food for Modern Thinkers: 22 March, Botanic Garden, 10am

Join Rory MacPhee, one of the authors of Seaweed and Eat It, to talk about and taste seaweed, and find out about its uses in your everyday diet; St Andrews Botanic Garden Education Trust; Botanic Garden.

Music, Comedy and Dance

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Slavonic Dances: 19 March, Younger Hall, 7.30pm

Selections from Dvořák's two sets of Slavonic Dances frame Ligeti's Violin Concerto, featuring the great Tasmin Little as soloist, and Haydn's Symphony No 31 'Horn Signal'. Robin Ticciati conducts.

Hermann von Helmholtz and the Physics of Music: 20 March, Gateway Gallery, 1pm

Our understanding of the physics of musical instruments owes a huge debt to the work of Hermann von Helmholtz in 19th century Germany. His seminal work ‘On The Sensations Of Tone’ (1863) also set out novel techniques crucial in studying the perception of pitched sounds. This talk by Dr Jonathan Kemp (Music Dept) will cover the experiments he conducted and their relevance to contemporary musical acoustics. Held at the Gateway Galleries. Free but booking essential.

Out of Order: 28-30 March, Byre Theatre

A farce by Ray Cooney, with Saturday matinees.

Music Lab: 23 March, MUSA, 1-3.30pm

Learn how musical instruments produce sounds by having a go at making your own! You can try percussion instruments, string instruments and wind instruments and find out how they all work in very different ways. Held at MUSA. Free, but booking essential.

Lectures, Sports and Local Festivals

Underground Britain: 22 March, The New Geological Frontline: Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee, 6pm

Geographer and geologist Professor Iain Stewart examines how geology is increasingly intruding into our everyday lives – through fracking for onshore oil and gas, deep injection of water for geothermal power and underground storage of carbon dioxide and radioactive waste. Stewart explores this 'land below ground', showing how it is playing an ever more important role in our modern world and asking what the public really knows (and wants to know) about what lies deep beneath their feet.

The Elvis Parkrun: 22 March, Craigtoun Country Park, 9.30am

Run, jog, jiggle walk, hop or crawl three laps round the park, but do it like Elvis – prizes for the best costumes (or just come and watch). Register online at Register Once with Parkrun.

St Andrews Park Run: 15, 22, 29 March, Craigtoun Country Park, 9.30am

An informal weekly 5k run in Craigtoun Country Park. Everyone is welcome, no matter how fast or slow (you're welcome to walk the route, bring your dog or push a buggy), so you can use it as a one-off fitness test, a chance to get some fresh air or come every week to try to beat your personal best time.