{"id":22040,"date":"2025-03-06T15:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T15:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/?p=22040"},"modified":"2025-03-07T12:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T12:22:16","slug":"hands-up-for-trads-women-in-music-and-culture-2025-misha-macpherson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/hands-up-for-trads-women-in-music-and-culture-2025-misha-macpherson\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands Up for Trad’s Women in Music and Culture 2025: Misha MacPherson"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hands Up for Trad\u2019s Women in Music and Culture 2025 list has been announced to celebrate just some of the women working in Scotland.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched as part of International Women\u2019s Day 2025<\/a>, we shine the spotlight on 12 women who all contribute towards Scotland\u2019s cultural landscape through their work. Read the 2025 list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked Misha MacPherson<\/strong> to tell us more about her work, influences and ambitions for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you first get involved in the arts and who were your early influences?<\/strong>
I was four years old when I started singing Gaelic songs, and I was lucky to be surrounded by incredible women from my home island of Lewis who nurtured and encouraged me\u2014as well as iconic singers to look up to, such as Iseabail MacAskill, Alma Jamison, Mary Smith, and Margaret Stewart, to name only a few. Andrew Yearly and his unique, infectious energy for teaching music were a huge source of inspiration, as were Peigi MacLennan and Anna Dholaidh, who took me under their wings from a young age. My parents weren\u2019t musicians themselves, but their love of music and culture filled our home, and their unwavering support made access to the arts feel incredibly easy and natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The F\u00e8isean movement was hugely influential, from F\u00e8is Eilean an Fhraoich to F\u00e8is Rois, where I met one of the most incredible and inspiring women in my life, and in Scottish culture, Fiona Dalgetty. Her generosity, vision and commitment never fail to inspire me. HebCelt was another formative experience growing up – I was knee-high when I first attended, surrounded by the most incredible Gaelic and Scottish music, but also sounds from Ireland, Qu\u00e9bec, Africa, and beyond. Many of those CDs made their way into our house, broadening all of our musical horizons. Growing up next door to Alyth McCormack also meant I had a real-life example of what was possible. I feel incredibly lucky to have been raised on an island with such strong, talented, and generous women\u2014there are too many to name in one place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a time when many artists and creative professionals are facing significant challenges, how have you developed and evolved your creative practice over the past few years?<\/strong>
Reminding myself that this line of work is a choice\u2014a privileged choice\u2014and one that I continue to choose, has been quite grounding and refreshing over the past few years. I\u2019ve also found that collaborative work with musicians from other cultures, traditions, and genres, as well as artists from different art forms – such as Kirsten Newell, a superbly talented Bharatanatyam dancer – has really pushed me to continue evolving and challenging myself creatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic truly pushed me out of my comfort zone, leading me to present my first documentaries for BBC ALBA, something I never expected to do but that has since become a bigger part of my creative life. Often, the most daunting opportunities turn out to be the most rewarding, and I\u2019ve been really lucky to be in a position to take some really lovely and diverse opportunities on over my career. Studying at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki was another huge turning point. Their focus on improvisation wasn\u2019t something I would have naturally gravitated toward, but it opened up an entirely new creative realm for me, as did working with deeply inspiring figures like Timo Alakotila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel has also been a constant source of growth. Learning how artists in other cultures sustain their work has made me realise that we, as artists in Scotland, are just one small part of a vast global network of traditional artists. It\u2019s easy to feel like our work is small, but when you zoom out, you see how all these traditions – these tiny cogs – are what make the world so richly diverse. I\u2019ve also been hugely inspired by those who\u2019ve been on this path for longer than me, like Kenna Campbell and Margaret Bennett, whose warmth, openness, and encouragement have been a guiding light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who or what interests you creatively?<\/strong>
I\u2019m so fascinated by how we can take music, poetry, and stories from past generations and present them in a way that feels true to both their origins and our present world – balancing respect with individual creative interpretation. The well of Gaelic song is so deep, and I love delving into archives like The School of Scottish Studies and \u2018Tobar an Dualchais\u2019, where tiny nuances – things that would be lost if melodies were simply written down – can still be heard in their raw, natural beauty. The Gaelic language itself is another profound source of inspiration. So many words have no direct English translation, and their poetry and specificity reveal entire worldviews. And, of course, I love live performance – the magic of connecting with an audience and that unspoken dialogue between performer and listener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel will forever hold a huge place in my heart, as will meeting people from diverse cultures and traditions – hearing their stories and learning about their lives and ways of living. I feel most creative in places like Iona, where the white sands and silence feel so close to the past and offer such tranquility. But I\u2019m equally inspired by the bustling, chaotic energy of somewhere like Rajasthan, where there\u2019s no time to think, only to absorb – the colour, the noise, the people, the cows, the chai. The extremes of both silence and vibrancy fuel me creatively and give me a humbling sense of place in the world. \u2028\u2028Our connection with nature, the landscape of home and particularly the sea, are inspirations I constantly return to too. Lately, I\u2019ve been especially interested in the link between culture and environmental welfare and sustainability. I recently learned that while Indigenous people make up just 5% of the global population, they protect 80% of the planet\u2019s biodiversity. That connection between traditional cultural knowledge and the health of the earth, sea, and sky is so powerful\u2014when we lose these cultures, we lose so much more than just language or music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


And finally (although I could easily write a short book about everything that inspires me), the work of so many creative individuals – artists, musicians, writers and poets – fills my cup almost every day. I feel incredibly grateful to live in a city and country so rich in creativity and diversity, where the depth, innovation, and authenticity of the work produced by so many artists and musicians never cease to inspire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your plans for the next year or so and\/or what are your longer term creative ambitions?<\/strong>
The next few months have some really exciting performances and projects lined up. I\u2019ll be touring with Donald Grant and the Scottish Ensemble this spring, diving deeper into Gaelic song with full string arrangements – something I\u2019ve been hugely enjoying over the past few years. In May, I\u2019m heading to the \u2018Prototipoak Festival’ in Bilbao, Spain, with a beautiful three-part vocal piece called \u2018The Bird That Never Flew\u2019 by Hanna Tuuliki. I\u2019ve also just started work on a new composition commission exploring the connection to nature in urban and rural settings, which will be developed over the next few months.\u2028\u2028I\u2019m also working on some new material with my own band for some lovely performances in the UK this year (which will be announced soon); and this month I\u2019m heading to Ardkinglas House for a short cross-cultural residency with some Scottish & Indian musicians. Just to mix things up, I\u2019m also in the Voice-over Studio at the moment, recording the voice for the main character in \u2018Hilda\u2019 – a very cool Netflix cartoon with a sweet but feisty female lead character – that is being dubbed into Gaelic. Every year as a freelance artist is totally different to the last, and it\u2019s something I love most about the job!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about Misha MacPherson here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the Hands Up for Trad\u2019s Women in Music and Culture 2024 List<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands Up for Trad are an organisation who work with Scottish traditional music, language and culture. If you would like to support our work you can donate here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hands Up for Trad\u2019s Women in Music and Culture 2025 list has been announced to celebrate just some of the women working in Scotland.   Launched as part of International Women\u2019s Day 2025, we shine the spotlight on 12 women who all contribute towards Scotland\u2019s cultural landscape through their work. Read the 2025 list here. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,336],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-women-in-music","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/files\/2025\/03\/Mischa-Macpherson-High-Res-3.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/files\/2025\/03\/Mischa-Macpherson-High-Res-3-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/files\/2025\/03\/Mischa-Macpherson-High-Res-3-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"simon","author_link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/author\/simon\/"},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcv15g-5Ju","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22040"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22050,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22040\/revisions\/22050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/handsupfortrad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}