Broadway star to perform in pub

Tsidii Le Loka heard Gaelic sung in Grand Central Station

A star of New York City's Broadway theatre district and Tony Awards nominee is to sing in a Highlands pub.

Tsidii Le Loka's performance at Hootenanny's in Inverness on 3 April came about after she heard Gaelic sung in Grand Central Station.

She will work with Highland Council's Mairi Mhor Gaelic Song Fellow and singer Fiona Mackenzie.

Ms Le Loka was an original cast member of the Lion King musical, playing the character Rafiki.

Ms Mackenzie was singing in Gaelic in the New York railway station during celebrations of the city's links with Scotland.

The event also tied in with Highland 2007 - a year-long festival of Highland arts and culture.

Major project

Ms Mackenzie said: "I met Tsidii when I was in New York for Tartan Week, with Highland 2007, and she heard me singing in Grand Central Station.

"She was instantly struck by the similarities between Gaelic working song rhythms and the work songs of her own native Lesothan culture and so we have been collaborating on material since then.

"We have been working on ideas for a major humanitarian project called Women of the World which is designed to draw profile, through music, to the plights of woman and children in different parts of the world."

Hootenanny's is a regular live music venue.