Thursday in Edinburgh – what’s on today

Live Music Now: Andrew Waite and Seth Tinsley. The accordion, voice and guitar duo perform a mixture of traditional and self-penned songs  and tunes in response to John Ruskin’s artworks and other portrayals of the Scottish landscape.  6-6.30pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed.

The Drawing Room: an informal, artist-led drawing session. Developed by contemporary artists, each session is inspired by the GENERATION exhibition and also reflects concerns in the artists’ own work.  All materials supplied, no experience necessary. This session will be led by Robert Baldock and Emma Bowen. 5.30-6.45pm, Royal Scottish Academy, (Scottish National Gallery), The Mound. Free and unticketed. Part of GENERATION By Night.

Lunchtime concert: Charles Eliasch (baritone), Sofia Dimitrova (soprano) Will Shaw (piano.) 1.10-1.50pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free: retiring collection.

Free Fringe Music at The National Museum of Scotland. Today: Andrew Waite and Seth Tilsey, accordion, guitar and vocals. 2-2.40pm, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street.

Lunchtime Concert: Julian Layn (Switzerland), piano. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Informal Concert: Piano Speak.  Will Pickvance performs popular piano improvisations and witty repartee. ‘A Bach fugue evolves into a bebop classic on its way to becoming a version of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ 1.30pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Conserving Stephen Campbell: Kirsten Dunne and Sarah Laing discuss the labour of love involved in installing Campbell’s immersive installation On Form and Fiction (1990). 6pm, Royal Scottish Academy, (Scottish National Gallery), The Mound. Free and unticketed. Part of GENERATION By Night.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh presents Writers At The Fringe: every Thursday during the festival Blackwell’s invites a selection of Scottish performers to give a taste of their work. New and unpublished works stand alongside established writers.  This week Sarah Sheridan, Jake Walker Curley, Jim Hall, Nicola White and Matthew Zajac. 5.45-7.45pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets available from the shop’s front desk or by calling 0131 622 8216, or from the Fringe Box Office.

Rocks: through video, photography and live performance, Rocks presents the journey of rocks from beach to stage, and the trajectory of a poem from idea to communication. 6-6.15pm, Edinburgh College of Art, Main Building, Lauriston Place. Free; no booking required. Part of ECA Masters Festival 2014.

Edinburgh Book Fringe 2014: Scotland ’44 – Ideas for a New Nation. Dominic Hinde, Lee Bunce, Oliver Escobar-Rodriguez and Laurie MacFarlane launch their new publication, which proposes ideas for a fairer, greener and more decentralised society for Scotland over a thirty year period, 2014-2044.  1pm, Word Power Books, 43-45 West Nicolson Street. All welcome! Admission free – donations also welcome!

iBeacons Camera Workshop: Otherie. Come and try an app that enables you to attach photos to specific places inside buildings and then share them with other people who visit the same places.  Invent a game that can be played with this set-up! 11.30am-1.30pm, Edinburgh College of Art, Main Building, Lauriston Place. Free but places are limited and must be booked via eventbrite. Part of ECA Masters Festival.

Gayfield Twilight Talks: Garden in Mind – designing for health and well-being.  Annie Pollock, Director of Landscape Design and Architecture at the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre and Celine Sinclair, Chief Executive of The Yard, discuss the role of landscape design in creating health-giving environments.  Introduced by leading architect Richard Murphy OBE. 6-8pm, The Yard, 22 Eyre Place Lane.  Free tickets can be booked via eventbrite.

War Poets Collection Guided Tours: Edinburgh Napier University houses a small special collection of material relating to the fascinating history of its Craiglockhart campus, which began life in 1880 as a Hydropathic establishment and was requisitioned by the military in 1917 as a hospital for shell-shocked officers (Seigfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen met here.) In the 1920s it became home to the Convent of the Sacred Heart and Craiglockhart College of Education.  Catherine Walker will provide a guided visit and talk about the many interesting characters who have had links with Craiglockhart over the years.  11am-12 noon or 2-3pm, War Poets Collection Exhibition Area, Edinburgh Napier University Craiglockhart Campus, Glenlockhart Road. Free, but each tour is limited to 12 people, so please book by calling 0131 455 4260/4274 or emailing events@napier.ac.uk  The War Poets Collection Exhibition is open to the public for viewing during campus opening hours – all welcome! There is more information about the War Poets Collection on its website.