Music and performance are a key part of Dunfermline’s story.
Dunfermline has a recent history of a thriving music scene, being one of the main centres of the folk music revival in the 1960s and the birthplace of successful bands such as The Skids, Big Country and Nazareth. The singer Barbara Dickson was born and bred in Dunfermline. Two of the UK’s most famous ballet dancers, Moira Shearer and Kenneth MacMillan, came from the city. This connection to performance is reflected in the city’s architecture, which includes many significant theatres, cinemas and dance halls. In earlier times the Abbey was a source of creative talent, with the poet Robert Henryson and the composer John Angus, who was a monk and master of the Song School.