On Saturday 4th October twelve young musicians from across Scotland came together to compete to win through to the finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2015. It was a brilliant concert with each of the semi-finalists performing at Coulter Hall, Coulter. Each musician had ten minutes in which to impress the five judges. After much discussion the 2015 finalists are:
Ryan Young – fiddle (Cardross)
Claire Hastings – Scots song (Dumfries)
Heather Downie – clarsach (Dunblane)
Ainsley Hamill – Gaelic song (Cardross)
Gemma Donald – fiddle (Shetland)
Seamus O’Baoighill – fiddle (Skye)
The finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award will be held on Sunday 1st February at the City Halls, Glasgow as part of the prestigious Celtic Connections festival.
Simon Thoumire, creative director of Hands Up for Trad said “This has been yet another fabulous year for Scottish traditional music. It gets harder and harder to choose between the young musicians entering the young trad award. The future of trad music is so exciting.”
The BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award is managed for BBC Radio Scotland by Hands Up for Trad and exists to encourage young musicians to keep their tradition alive and to maximise their musical potential by the pursuit of a career in traditional music. Each year the winner is provided with high profile performance opportunities and the necessary tools and advice they require to launch a career in traditional music.
The ‘Award’ takes the form of a competition which includes a fun residential weekend in October at Wiston Lodge, South Lanarkshire for 12 semi-finalists. The weekend includes workshops and advice on all aspects of working in the traditional music business plus a public concert with performances by the semi-finalists. From this concert, six finalists are chosen by a panel of judges to go forward to the grand final. This is held each February at a prestigious concert at Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow where one of the six is judged to be BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award winner for that year.
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BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award website is www.youngtrad.scot
If you like to interview any of the finalists please Hands Up for Trad at info@handsupfortrad.scot
The 2014 winner was Robyn Stapleton www.robynstapleton.com
Hands Up for Trad was formed in 2002 and exists to increase the profile and visibility of Scottish Traditional Music through Information, Education and Advocacy. Hands Up for Trad’s primary aim is to promote excellence, visibility and developing talent within Scottish traditional music through our key projects; Scots Trad Music Awards, BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award, Scotland Sings, FolkWaves, Distil, Tinto Summer School and the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. Follow us @handsupfortrad, www.handsupfortrad.scot, www.facebook.com/handsupfortrad
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