Celtic Music Radio is adding a series of lunchtime concerts featuring musical talents from colleges and universities across Scotland to its coverage of Celtic Connections 2016. The station, which broadcasts to Glasgow on 95FM and is available elsewhere online through the Celtic Music Radio website, has been broadcasting from the festival since 2006. The lunchtime concerts will be hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University, which is providing an outside broadcast unit for the live performances, operated by Honours’ degree students.

celticmusicradio.net

The Scottish Storytelling Centre on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile celebrates Robert Burns’ birthday with an extended series of events from January 21 to February 6, under the Burnsfest 2016 banner. Opening with writer and comedian Keara Murphy giving a live version of her acclaimed BBC Radio Scotland documentary, The Secret Sex Life of Robert Burns, the series includes a beginner’s introduction to Burns’ work, children’s shows, an afternoon of Burns songs and related music, and a Burns Supper.

tracscotland.org/scottish-storytelling-centre

German-Scottish folk group Cara follow up their Celtic Connections appearance on Wednesday, January 27 with concerts at Eden Court, Inverness (28th), Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline (29th), and Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh (30th). The group, which formed in Germany in 2003 and recruited Edinburgh-born vocalist and pianist Kim Edgar (pictured) in 2013, specialises in Scottish and Irish music and releases its fifth album, Yet We Sing, to coincide with the tour.

cara-music.com

SphereRSS has announced its 2016 programme of Saturday lunchtime concerts at Renfield St Stephens in Bath Street, Glasgow. The Eilidhs - harper Eilidh Munro and fiddler Eilidh Steel – will be preceded at noon by a come-and-try-clarsach session on January 23. Harpist Esther Swift and tenor David Douglas present The Sweetest Hours, a celebration of Robert Burns, on February 6. Mezzo-soprano Liz McEachen and pianist-violinist Moilidh NicGriogair appear on February 20, followed by Ad Libitum – violin and accordion duo, Andrea and Djordje Gagic on April 2 and the Drake Music Ensemble on April 16. All concerts begin at 1pm.

facebook.com/SphereRSS