Calum McIlroy from Aberdeenshire is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland or watch on BBC ALBA.

We asked Calum the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
I first got involved in traditional music through the cèilidh band at high school, thinking it would just be bit of fun and not at all expecting to gain so much from it! After leaving school I got more experience playing folk music through local groups like the North East Folk Collective and the Cèol Mòr Big Band at Aberdeen International Youth Festival. I was also part of two fantastic tours with the Fèis Rois Cèilidh Trail.

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
I’ve been inspired by many of the previous winners of the competition like Anna Massie, Gillian Frame and Ewan Robertson, who have all gone on to have flourishing careers in traditional music. I was also really excited by the prospect of working with Mhairi Hall and Mike Bryan, and performing at a high profile event like Celtic Connections.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
I have reached a stage where I am involved in a couple of different musical projects and I feel I would benefit with a bit of help getting them out there. This competition has a great reputation and I thought it would be an excellent way of gaining some more exposure.

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
Reaching the final of this competition is definitely my biggest musical achievement so far, but other highlights include playing at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the North East Folk Collective, and being part of “Brave in Concert” at Celtic Connections 2019 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Lorne MacDougall, Chris Stout, Fraser Fifield and many others.

What are your plans for the future?
I’ll be recording an EP with the help of Megan MacDonald and Ruairidh Gollan in early February, and then will be looking forward to my final recital and completing my BMus in Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I have also been working on some new material with Anna Garvin, who is a great pianist from Oban.

Why not buy a ticket to hear Calum McIlroy or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.

Mhairi Catherine Mackinnon from Perth is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland or watch on BBC ALBA.

We asked Mhairi the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
I started learning trad music from an early age – it was all around me growing up with my parents listening to lots of Scottish music & my grandad playing the accordion… I had an interest in it and my granny bought me the My First Ceilidh Collection Tune book for my 10th birthday… the year after, I began playing with the Dunkeld and District Strathspey and Reel Society!!

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
I entered this competition to push myself – to play and learn new music, as well as to encourage myself to perform on a solo platform which I find quite nerve wracking!! Stepping out with my comfort zone and pushing myself to try new things and present myself at a professional level is so important to me right now in my career as not only a musician, but as a teacher too… I need to continue to push myself and develop my own playing in order to inspire and teach the next generation!

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
I hope to gain a little bit more exposure within the music scene – I hope people will hear my playing and want to collaborate with me, on whatever level that may be – session musician recording work, strings ensemble work, teaching & general music performance!!

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
I have so many that I’m incredibly grateful for!! Playing at the Scots Music Trad Awards with the Scott Wood Band, Playing at the London Olympics with Cherrygrove, playing at Festival de Ortiguiera and the BBC 1 Hogmanay Show with the Scott Wood Band, playing as a soloist on BBC Radio Scotland’s Take the Floor with Robbie Shepherd, as well as all the amazing festivals I’ve been fortunate to perform at!!

What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to keep pushing myself musically, to be creative, to get involved, to collaborate, to perform, to continue my teaching and develop my techniques as well as continuing to compose my own music with the hopes to one day creating my very own debut album!!

Why not buy a ticket to hear Mhairi Catherine Mackinnon or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.

Josie Duncan from Lewis is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland or watch on BBC ALBA.

We asked Josie the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
Growing up in an island community meant that I was immersed in Scottish traditional music from a young age. Gaelic music had a particularly profound impact on me growing up, and this meant that when the time came to go to university, I sought an education that would allow me to further deepen my understanding of the form and take lessons from some very inspiring traditional singers.

Throughout my studies at the Conservatoire and ever since then, I have had incredible opportunities and have been lucky to share the stage with people I have long idolised, and peers who I have come to deeply respect.

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
The competition presents a brilliant opportunity to focus closely on a small collection of songs, which allows you to really focus on your chosen pieces. It also offers the chance to make music with the highly sympathetic house band, which is a real treat.

I have grown up watching the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award and it’s an honour to have a chance to be a part of it in 2020, and to bring Gàidhlig songs to this years competition.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
The competition places you alongside musicians you may not otherwise have found yourself working with, I am so looking forward to working with these musicians at the competition itself and beyond.

I feel extremely lucky to be given the chance to appear on one of the most coveted stages at the festival, and it’s a real honour to perform alongside the other finalists. Throughout my career I have been taught by some extremely inspiring performers, and I look forward to distilling as much of that as possible into one performance.

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
Having the chance to travel through music is always a joy. I’ve had the opportunity to sing in Australia and around Europe, which has been incredible. I hope to travel more often and even further afield in years to come. As well as this, Celtic Connections and Hebridean Celtic Festival are always highlights for me closer to home.

What are your plans for the future?
I would love to one day make my own album and to have the opportunity to share Gaelic songs further afield. I hope to encourage others to sing and to always find enjoyment from music and song, the way I do now.

Why not buy a ticket to hear Josie Duncan or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.

Cameron Nixon from Peterculter, Aberdeen is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland or watch on BBC ALBA.

We asked Cameron the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
I have always been heavily influenced by different genres of music. Originally learning the violin in primary school, I continued to receive lessons throughout secondary school from Susan Simpson. As I progressed, I joined the school ceilidh band and found that I was more interested in learning about Scottish Traditional music. This was my first introduction into Scottish music. As my dad was an active member of the Garioch Fiddlers in Inverurie, I too began attending, starting in the Junior Section and playing in Fiddlers Rallies. I won the local Garioch Fiddlers competition and I regularly entered the North East of Scotland Music Festival in the Scottish Fiddle Section. I later joined the North East Folk Collective which was founded by Sharon Hassan. This group provided a platform for engaging with other musicians in the North East. We arranged and promoted local music throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. As I enjoyed learning, playing and singing Scottish Music, I made the decision to complete my final year of schooling at Sgoil Chiuil Na Gaidhealtachd (Plockton Music School). I thoroughly embraced the opportunity to develop my own playing and singing at Plockton as I learnt a great deal about Scottish Traditional Music under the tutelage of Dougie Pincock (Head of School). I sang under the tuition of Wendy Weatherby and received fiddle lessons from Gordon Gunn. We performed in many concerts, went on tour around the Western Isles and released a CD during my year at Plockton. Consequently, this was the turning point for me and lead me to want to pursue a career in traditional music. I was accepted to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Glasgow. I am now in my final year studying Scots Song on the BMus Traditional Music course under the tuition of Fiona Hunter.

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
Since the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award was established in 2001 it has long been a prolific award and a goal for many young traditional musicians. In some respects, it has been a great platform for new musicians who are at the beginning of launching their career. The award enables young traditional musicians to achieve recognition in their chosen field of music and to develop as musicians. It also provides the opportunity to collaborate with other great musicians. As the award is now in its twentieth year, which also coincides with me being in my final year at RCS, I felt that it was a great opportunity for me to progress in my career and to set myself a challenge.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
Prior to reaching the final of the competition, I had a fantastic weekend in Biggar for the semi-finals where I gained a considerable amount from that experience. It was a tremendous privilege to perform with Mhairi Hall and Mike Bryan and it was an incredible experience to hear all the other talented musicians performing. Overall, I hope to gain an insight into working efficiently with accompanists, working well as a team, learning through rehearsals and arranging songs for the final.

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
I have many musical highlights with both Scottish Music and also with Classical Music. At age fourteen, I was given the opportunity to tour with Scottish Opera in “The Magic Flute” as one of the three Spirits – we toured in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Belfast. As a member of the North East Folk Collective in Aberdeen, we performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of Music for Youth. I have also had the opportunity to perform with the National Youth Choir of Scotland in numerous places including, Chicago, The Royal Albert Hall with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, La Côte-Saint-André, in Yellowstone and in Carnegie Hall, New York. In my sixth year of school at Plockton we toured the Western Isles playing in many venues. In 2019 I recorded on Malinky’s most recent album “Handsel” and performed it with the band in the Glasgow City Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections. In October 2019 I went to Cape Breton with other RCS students and Jenn Butterworth where we performed as Ùr in the Celtic Colours International Festival. It was a special festival and there were many highlights and memories made during our time there. We met many inspirational musicians, the hospitality extended to us was exceptional, and it was the warmth and appreciation from the audiences that made our performances special.

What are your plans for the future?
My ultimate aim is to pursue a career as a Scots Traditional Singer and perform as widely as possible around the UK and beyond. I also plan to give private music tuition in both fiddle and voice as I feel that I would like to get others involved in learning Scottish music. As I have performed with a few bands, my other aim is to establish my own band as another means of performing with others. I already play with a couple of duo’s and I would like to continue to perform with them. In addition, I want to compose more of my own pieces and this is something which I am very keen to develop over the next few years, and ultimately, produce a CD.

Why not buy a ticket to hear Cameron Nixon or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.

Alexander (Ali) Levack from Maryburgh is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland

We asked Alexander (Ali) the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
I first began piping lessons at the age of 9 when I was encouraged to do so by my Grandfather. He too played Pipes & Fiddle so was very much a musical mentor for me growing up.
Between the age of 9 and 15 I was solely a piper and as well as receiving tuition and mentoring from my Grandfather, I also received tutelage from the likes of Benny Manson, Paul Harrison, Trevor Dear, John D. Burgess, Norman Gillies and Iain Macfadyen.
Right up until the age of around 20, I regularly competed in solo piping competitions across the country and was lucky enough to have had a lot of success during this time.

At the age of 15 I moved away from home to Plockton, where I attended the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music for 4 years.
Attending Plockton Music School had a profound affect on me as a musician and is what I believe helped me most in becoming a full time professional musician.
Here I recieved weekly one-to-one piping tuition from Iain Macfadyen as well as learning to play whistle with weekly one-to-one tuition from Hamish Napier.
Also learning to play in an ensemble and not just as a solo piper was largely due to my time spent at the NCETM.

After Plockton I moved to Glasgow where I was accepted to study Piping at the RCS, continuing on with weekly piping and whistle tuition at the feet of great tutors.
After a couple of years of studying at the RCS and building a career as a musician, I took the chance and began performing full time as a professional musician.

6 years on and I’m lucky enough to still be living as a full time musician in Glasgow, performing, recording and collaborating in what is a great and vibrant scene filled with an abundance of talented musicians.

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
I competed in this same award in 2018 and reached the Final.
Looking back on the 2018 Final i.e. how I performed, prepared, handled myself etc. I felt that there was a lot that I would do differently if I ever entered again.
After a lot of persuasion from friends and family to enter for this years competition, I gave in and decided to apply my experience and self critique from the 2018 Final into this year.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
With my band ‘Project Smok’ having just released a brand new debut Album and plans for myself to launch a solo career at some point this year, I feel that the coverage and following which the competition and winning it can bring couldn’t come at a better time. It would be a tremendous boost in momentum for both myself and ‘Project Smok’ with everything that we have coming already.
As much of an opportunity as the competition provides, I also feel that I would do my upmost to shed light on the award and what good it can bring to those who compete. Be that introducing it to an audience who might not otherwise be involved and/or encourage more people to enter and compete, who might not feel they could.

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
*Headlining ‘Festival de Ortigueira’ 2019 in Galicia with ‘Project SMOK’, to an audience of around 30,000 people.

*Performing as part of the Commonwealth Closing Ceremony 2014 at Hampden Park, playing alongside Dougie Maclean, Donald Shaw, Patsy Reid, Kylie Minogue and Lulu.

*Releasing ‘Horizons’ (‘Project SMOK’s debut record) at Celtic Connections 2018.

*Touring and performing with artists/bands such as: Mischa Macpherson, The Tweed Project, Anxo Lorenzo, Levack/Stewart/Irving, Martin O’Neill, Donald Shaw and many others.

*Recording the new ‘Project SMOK’ album, ‘Bayview’. This was recorded at Edwyn Collins personal Recording Studio in Helmsdale, using all vintage analogue gear as used and recorded with by Edwyn himself throughout his time with ‘Orange Juice’ and solo career.

What are your plans for the future?
With the release of ‘Bayview’ (‘Project SMOK’ Debut Album) and the launch of a solo project of my own later this year, there is already a lot of momentum building for both myself and the band. Between Tours, Festivals, Collaborations and more recording, there is a lot forthcoming.

Why not buy a ticket to hear Alexander (Ali) Levack or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.

Padruig Morrison from Uist is a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2020. The finals will be held at Celtic Connections Festival on 2nd February 2020 at 5pm. Buy a ticket here or listen live on BBC Radio Scotland or watch on BBC ALBA.

We asked Padruig the following questions:

How did you get involved in Scottish music?
Growing up in Uist I was surrounded by the Gaelic culture from birth, added to which, my father used to sing at traditional ceilidhs regularly, and so there was no way I was going to escape it! I took up the box through the fèis evening classes when I was eight, around the same time I also took classical piano lessons, and carried on with both all through school. I continued going to the fèisean in Uist and to others around Scotland, all of which nurtured my interest in Scottish music, and in push its boundaries.

Why did you enter BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award?
I entered because of the experience and exposure associated with the award, but also to use it as an opportunity to push me towards innovating and stretching the boundaries of the genre more.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?
The experience of performing from such a huge platform will be great in so many ways. It will be a very valuable experience working with the house band, but likewise, I’ll gain experience in working with them on some hopefully more innovative sets and in quite a short space of time!

Do you have any particular musical highlights?
Recent music highlights have included my New Voices commission from Celtic Connections and performing 50 minutes of new music with a group of amazing musicians. I’ve also really enjoyed working with ensembles such as the Hebrides Ensemble, the Hard Rain Ensemble, and with some of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, as well as touring the west coast a lot with Beinn Lee.

What are your plans for the future?
I hope to do more solo work in future, and with a strong compositional focus. I will hopefully recording an album in the next year made entirely of original music. As well as that, this year will see Beinn Lee’s second album released, and hopefully in the next couple of years some more music will be released from Causeway Trio.

Why not buy a ticket to hear Padruig Morrison or any other of the finalists at the Grand Finals on Sunday 2nd February at 5pm. The finals are part of Celtic Connections festival.