17 year old Brìghde Chaimbeul is from Skye has won BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Award 2016. She was brought up in Sleat but has lived with her family in Kyle for the past few years. She is a native Gaelic speaker and comes from a family of musicians and artists. Her mother Liondsaidh Chaimbeul is a sculptor, born and brought up in Edinburgh and her father, Angus Peter Campbell, is from South Uist and is a writer and actor.
She has four sisters and a brother, all of whom play music. Her two older sisters, Màiri and Steaphanaidh Chaimbeul have previously been individual Finalists in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition as well as being Finalists, as a duo, in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards.
Brìghde was introduced to the chanter as a child by a neighbour in Skye, Konstantin Kosmidis, from Greece. While at Bun-Sgoil Shlèite (Sleat Primary School) she was taught piping by Niall Stewart. At age twelve she was given a scholarship to attend St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh where her teacher on the Highland Bagpipes is award-winning piper Iain Speirs. Brìghde also plays the piano.
She was gifted a set of Hamish Moore smallpipes three years ago by Hamish (a set his father made) and since then has been taught on the smallpipes by Fin Moore. She was one of hundreds of entrants to the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards and was selected alongside nine other acts to the semi-finals weekend in Kendal. Cumbria, at the end of January. All the musicians had workshops led by James Fagan and Nancy Kerr. They then all played a ten minute selection at a public concert on the Saturday evening. Four of them were then nominated as Finalists, which took place at a glittering ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday, when Brìghde was selected as the winner, and given her prize by the great Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell.
Brighde says “I’m delighted to have won this wonderful award. It was completely unexpected and I can only thank everyone who has taught me and helped me.” As part of her prize Brìghde is now invited to perform at the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Towersley Festival, the Cropredy Festival and gets a recording session on BBC Radio 2’s folk programme.
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