{"id":10142,"date":"2025-11-03T09:30:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/?p=10142"},"modified":"2025-11-03T11:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T11:43:17","slug":"mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2025-blair-parham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/mg-alba-scots-trad-music-awards-2025-blair-parham\/","title":{"rendered":"MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2025: Blair Parham"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Congratulations to Blair Parham<\/strong> who has been nominated in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2025. Vote now!<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0It’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<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We asked Blair of Blair Parham<\/strong> the following questions.<\/p>\n

Tell us about yourself<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m the Director of Music and Conductor of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra and founder of Scotia Arts, which runs projects including the Scottish Music Academy and collaborations with overseas networks, expanding the reach of Scottish Music. I am also one of the directors of the new Fresh Ayr Folk Fest, and have organised other non-trad music festivals and events in the past. Most of what I do sits somewhere between performance, education, and event management \u2013 making sure Scottish music keeps moving forward while staying rooted in what makes it ours.<\/p>\n

Scotia Arts came about because I had a tonne of ideas and no real outlet for them. It pulls together people who can make things happen: musicians, teachers, promoters, agents, technicians, funders, and I try to build projects that actually reach an audience. That might mean setting up a new folk festival in Ayr, touring Scottish artists overseas, or building an online space for people to learn traditional music properly. Think of it as creative, organised chaos.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m fairly practical by nature. I like clear plans, working with good people, and seeing things done properly. I get a kick out of seeing an idea that started on a bit of paper turn into a full hall of people having a great night. The aim\u2019s simple: keep Scottish music visible, sustainable, and taken seriously, without taking ourselves too seriously in the process.<\/p>\n

Why are you involved in Scottish music?<\/strong>
\nI got involved in Scottish music because I couldn\u2019t really avoid it. It\u2019s what I grew up around and what I enjoyed the most.<\/p>\n

It started with the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra, when I joined as a 10 year old, and then transitioned into spending years helping young players find their way. Once you\u2019ve seen a hundred young people manage to play in tune, at the same time, you start to think anything\u2019s possible. From there, it grew: more projects, more musicians, and gradually a life built around trying to give Scottish music the platform it deserves.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been one for talking about preserving tradition. I\u2019d rather see it played, taught, argued over and reimagined. If we\u2019re still debating what counts as \u201ctraditional,\u201d it probably means it\u2019s alive and well.<\/p>\n

So I suppose that\u2019s why I\u2019m still at it. It keeps me busy, keeps me learning, and keeps Scotland sounding like Scotland.<\/p>\n

Any particular career highlights?<\/strong>
\nThere have been a few moments that made me stop and think, \u201cWell, that\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d Playing at the White House was one of them. Shea Stadium in New York was another \u2013 not the usual spot for a cellist from Ayr!<\/p>\n

Performing in China to several thousand people was equally surreal, but the real highlight came later, standing in the audience in Shijiazhuang, watching 25 Scottish artists I\u2019d brought together through Scotia Arts play their hearts out. Seeing that many top performers representing Scotland, halfway across the world, in a \u2018small\u2019 city of 12 million people, felt like a full-circle moment. To see the artists swarmed by an army of enthusiastic Chinese fans afterwards was something else!<\/p>\n

Closer to home, I\u2019m immensely proud of helping shape the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra\u2019s growth, and seeing our latest album longlisted for Scots Trad Music Awards Album of the Year, (a first for the SFO), as well as launching Fresh Ayr Folk Fest. They\u2019ve brought folk together, given new artists a stage, and proven that tradition doesn\u2019t need to stand still.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no single \u201cbest\u201d bit, really. The best bits are the people you meet and the daft places the music takes you.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for the future?<\/strong>
\nMost of what I\u2019m planning is a continuation of what\u2019s already working, just a bit bigger and hopefully a bit smarter.<\/p>\n

With the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, it\u2019s about keeping standards high and audiences engaged. We\u2019ve got players who care deeply about the music, and my job is to bring the best out of them, making sure everything works together.<\/p>\n

Scotia Arts is where a lot of the new ideas live. I want to keep building partnerships that connect Scotland\u2019s traditional music with audiences around the world, whether through collaborative tours and festivals, the Scottish Music Academy, Fresh Ayr Folk Fest, or projects that haven\u2019t been invented yet.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of talent coming through, and if I can contribute even a tiny bit to help create the space and structure for it to thrive, that\u2019ll do. Beyond that, I\u2019ll keep doing what I\u2019ve always done: try to make good things happen, and hopefully avoid too many disasters along the way…<\/p>\n

Blair Parham Social Media<\/strong>
\nWebsite: https:\/\/scotiaarts.com\/<\/a>
\nFacebook:
\nInstagram:
\nYouTube:
\nTikTok:<\/p>\n

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<\/a>). Watch it live in the UK at 9pm (GMT) on BBC ALBA and and around the world here<\/a>. 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!<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/strong>. 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to Blair Parham who has been nominated in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2025. Vote now!\u00a0It’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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nominee-2025","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/files\/2025\/10\/Kevin-Kerr1010-FreshAyr-25-SUN-23815-trad-awards.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10427,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10142\/revisions\/10427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotstradmusicawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}