Congratulations to Mairi Callan who has been nominated in Gaelic Singer of the Year sponsored by Highland Society of London in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2025. Vote now!. It’s going to be another great night at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 6th December in Aberdeen Music Hall. Why not join us for a brilliant night of music and awards. Buy a ticket here.
We asked Mairi of Mairi Callan the following questions.
Tell us about yourself
I am a Gaelic singer, harpist and composer. While at University I studied Gaelic song with Kenna Campbell, voice with Paul Keohone, and traditional and classical lever harp with Savourna Stevenson. I graduated BMus (First Class) from the University of Edinburgh in 2023. I have since studied traditional Gaelic song with Iseabail T. MacDonald.
My musical journey has at times traversed musical genres but it has also been underpinned by the Gaelic song tradition I was immersed in growing up. My jazz arrangement for piano and voice of the Gaelic satire, Cailleach Mhòr Stadhlaigh was selected for the St Andrews Scottish Songbook and was performed at the book launch by tenor Jamie MacDougall and pianist Scott Mitchell.
I won the An Comunn Gàidhealach Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod in Inverness in 2021 and the Traditional Gold Medal in memory of Mary Lamont at the Royal National Mod in Lochaber in 2025.
I enjoy performing self-accompanied on clarsach and piano. I also enjoy composing melodies and musical arrangements for Gaelic poetry in order to introduce the beauty of the written word to new audiences.
Why are you involved in Scottish music?
I grew up in a Gaelic speaking home immersed in the Gaelic song tradition of the Outer Hebrides. My Mum is from North Uist and my brothers and I spent many happy holidays there visiting family. We explored the beautiful landscape and learned about the places, people, customs and historical events named in the songs my mother sang at home or as a member of the waulking song group ‘Bannal’. This is how my love of musical storytelling began. I enjoy sharing the history and human stories in the songs, and experiencing the joy, catharsis and sense of belonging singing, whether accompanied or unaccompanied, brings. A sense of continuity lies at the heart of the Gaelic song tradition, yet there is the opportunity to develop, to be creative and to express yourself, and in doing so to renew the tradition. There is also the opportunity to work with musicians across varied musical and cultural backgrounds and to share our musical and cultural experiences. I also enjoy blending Gaelic song with other art forms, and am currently working with a drama group that performs in English but which incorporates Gaelic song and Scottish traditional music to enhance their storytelling.
Any particular career highlights?
Winning the Traditional Gold Medal in memory of Mary Lamont at the Royal National Mod in Lochaber in 2025.
Winning the An Comunn Gàidhealach Gold Medal at the Royal National Mod in Inverness in 2021.
Performing compositions from my project, 'Slighe Fonn na Bardachd: Bho Bhalbhachd nan Duilleag gu Binn-guthan an t-Sluaigh / The Musical Journey of Verse: From Silent Page to the Melodious Voices of the People’, alongside Ruairidh Gray and Alice Macmillan, at the Blas Festival, and at The Scottish Arts Club in Edinburgh, in 2024. A book of my project compositions is due to be published in early 2026.
Performing at ‘Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh’, the concerts marking the new edition of Frances Tolmie’s collection of Gaelic song, at Celtic Connections and Mòd Phàislig in 2023.
Performing on BBC Alba’s Alleluia.
Performing with The Glasgow Improvisation Orchestra at Ceol is Craic.
Performing and teaching Gaelic song self-accompanied at The International Harp Festival in Edinburgh 2025.
What are your plans for the future?
To perform traditional Gaelic song and to share my compositions and arrangements to wider audiences. I hope to work with musicians across musical genres and from different cultural backgrounds to enhance my musical and performance skills and to bring my music to new audiences. Funding permitting, I plan to record an EP of four of the songs from my project* next year.
* My project was inspired by the premise that Gaelic verse was composed to be sung, and that the word sung celebrates the social, political and cultural history of Gaelic Scotland with greater intensity and passion than the poetic text silent on a page. Having researched the many published collections of Gaelic poetry, it became apparent that there is an extensive body of Gaelic verse that was composed to be sung but for which there are no known melodies: the bards’ stories silent on unturned pages. I set out to give the bards their voices back by composing melodies for ten texts from seven published collections of Gaelic poetry from the 17th and 19th century, and full clàrsach self-accompaniments for two of the poems. I selected poems by Iain MacCodrum, An Clàrsair Dall, Sìleas na Ceapaich, Màiri Nighean Alasdair Ruaidh, Maighread Nighean Lachlainn, Donnchadh Bàn and Iain Lom. By giving the bards a voice I hope to reintroduce their work to a new generation of Gaelic singers and their audiences.
Mairi Callan Social Media
Website:
Facebook: Mairi Callan Musician
Instagram: mairi.callan
YouTube: @MairiCallanMusic
TikTok: @mairicallanmusic
The 2025 MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards are on the 6th December 2025 in Aberdeen Music Hall! You will be able to watch it live in person (buy a ticket here). Watch it live in the UK at 9pm (GMT) on BBC ALBA and and around the world here. Hosted by Scottish personalities Alistair Heather and Mary Ann Kennedy, the night in the Granite City will also welcome live performances from some of the brightest lights on the thriving trad scene today including beloved singer Hannah Rarity, UK folk legends The Poozies, trad pop band Mec Lir and BBC Radio scotland Young Traditional Musician and Scots Performer o the Year Ellie Beaton and many more!
If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish trad music and musicians why not become a friend of Hands Up for Trad. In addition to our high profile events like the Scots Trad Music Awards, we also deliver a less well known, education programme for young people from 8yrs right through to young adults at the start of their careers. Read more here.