Adult Fèis 2024

Ady Harper is a multi-instrumentalist from Wick and has been teaching for over 40 years. Growing up listening to John Carmichael and Fergie MacDonald, Ady was surrounded by music from a young age, with his father leading The Wick Scottish Dance Band for many years,. Ady has had prolific career to date, as a performer, record producer and tutor, and was inducted in to the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2020 for Services to Performance.

Equally at home as accompanist or melody player, Anna Massie is one of Scotland’s foremost guitarists. As well as being a skilled multi-instrumentalist renowned for her work with Blazin’ Fiddles and RANT, she also presents BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning flagship trad music programme, Travelling Folk. Three-time nominee for Best Instrumentalist at the Scots Trad Music Awards, 2021 winner of the Trad Music in the Media award for her Black Isle Correspondent work and 2022 Producer of the Year award, Anna is a highly talented musician, presenter and producer.

Corrina Hewat is a Scottish singer and harper, composer, educator, director, big thinker. Widely regarded as one of Scotland’s most original musicians, she has been involved with a huge variety of bands and projects over the last 25 years.

Dave Milligan is a highly versatile musician and a leading figure in the diverse Scottish music scene. His musical imagination flows freely between multiple genres, and is in great demand all over the world as a performer, composer, arranger, musical director and educator.

Having established himself early in his career as one of the most sought-after jazz pianists in the country, Dave’s work with some of the folk and Celtic music scene’s brightest artists earned him a reputation as a hugely adaptable, genre-defying, creative force. As part of Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival in 2003, he co-founded and directed – along with harpist, vocalist and composer Corrina Hewat – The Unusual Suspects, a 22-piece big-band of leading folk and jazz musicians that set the bench-mark for the wave of large-scale ensembles that followed in the contemporary folk scene. The Scotsman would later count their debut performance in a list of the top 20 gigs of all time.

Duncan Chisholm is one of Scotland’s most recognised and accomplished fiddle players and composers; Duncan’s music contains the rarest of chemistries, a glorious combination of invention, tenderness and passion. Born and brought up near Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, Duncan has spent most of his life developing his unique musical voice. Fiddle playing at its best, Duncan’s feather-light handling of dynamics and ornamentation, allied with his pure-distilled tone, lend his characteristic spine-tingling magic to his music.

Duncan creates music which is sumptuously layered and awash with dazzling colours, textures and rhythms. It is music that requires no introductions or programme notes to carry you on its journey. The sound may be traditional but this is 21st Century traditional music which is sophisticated, exhilarating and meltingly beautiful. Duncan’s well-established musical career has taken him throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, both through his solo work and while playing with other musicians and bands.

Arran-born fiddler and singer Gillian Frame is a captivating performer whose richly diverse musical experience, since winning the inaugural Radio Scotland Young Musician of the Year contest in 2001, shines vibrantly through her mix of tunes and songs, old and new. Her album “Pendulum” received high praise from fans and critics alike and was described as ‘one of the best albums of recent times’. She is a member of RANT.

Gillian has worked with many acts and was a founding member of the band Back of the Moon with whom she toured for seven years, seeing them win various accolades including Best Up and Coming Act followed by Best Folk Band at the Scots Trad Music Awards. During this time she also graduated with a BA (Hons) in Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Gordon Gunn has been described as “one of the most exciting and innovative fiddle players of the times. Born & brought up in Wick, Caithness, Gordon was taught by the highly respected violin teacher Margaret Henderson who taught many pupils in the north of Scotland. Gordon is also a founding member of Scottish group Session A9 who were voted best live act at the 2012 Trad Awards. Whilst working with Session A9, Gordon also tours with Session A9’s Brian McAlpine on keyboards and include a variety of musicians including Marc Clement and Phil Anderson on guitar and vocals.

Hamish Napier is from Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. For over a decade he was an integral part of Glasgow’s vibrant folk music scene, whilst also touring in Europe and North America with Scottish folk quartet Back of the Moon (‘Folk Band of the Year 2005’ MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards). After gaining degrees in Astronomy and Music in Glasgow, Hamish was awarded a year’s scholarship to study jazz piano and composition at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. He then taught composition and music theory for 6 years at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He now tutors online and at music schools and festivals worldwide. He recently returned to his native Strathspey, composing three solo albums The River (2016), The Railway (2018) and The Woods (2020) in celebration his homeland.

Renowned vocalist Hannah Rarity has left an indelible mark on the Scottish folk scene, securing her place as a standout artist. The recipient of the prestigious BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year award in 2018, Hannah has since collaborated with esteemed folk acts such as Blazin’ Fiddles, Rura, Niteworks, and Cherish the Ladies. Her albums, ‘Neath the Gloaming Star’ (2018) and ‘To Have You Near’ (2022), both garnered critical acclaim, being shortlisted for Album of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. In 2022, she was invited to work as co-musical director for the Opening Concert of Celtic Connections.

Performing a carefully chosen mix of traditional, contemporary and self-penned material, her ethereal voice is reminiscent of legends such as Eva Cassidy and Cara Dillon. Equally at home in a number of genres, she is a sought-after collaborator, session vocalist, MC and tutor.

Harper/ pianist Ingrid Henderson is a ”musician of outstanding calibre, a virtuoso in terms of sensibility.” With over 25 years experience in traditional music, her teaching credentials include lecturing on UHI’s BA Gaelic & Music & tutor at the National Centre of Excellence in Trad Music. She performs as a duo with ex Blazin’ Fiddler, Iain Macfarlane & with the Glenfinnan Ceilidh Band.

John is one of the great characters of the Scottish music scene and one of the music’s most dedicated advocates through his work as a musician, performer, bandleader, television producer, accordion teacher and competition adjudicator.

John is a percussive dancer, photographer and musician from Skye. He has performed and taught in the traditional dance and music scene for 30 years. His strongly improvised style was influenced through study with percussive dancers in various traditions including Canada, the Appalachians and Ireland. Early projects included cross cultural collaborations, touring his 7-strong Scottish Stepdance Company at festivals in the UK and Europe. More recently he has focused on the rhythm tap genre in jazz. His workshops explore musicality, feeling grooves and building rhythmic patterns.

Kim is an artist, freelance designer/illustrator, musician and art teacher from Ullapool. She released her album, Leave that Fly, in 2018. She runs weekly music sessions with Mairearad Green, and regularly plays gigs and Ceilidhs with a variety of other musicians, including The Highland Ceilidh Band. She is also a regular Fèis Rois YMI tutor.

Lauren is a member of the chamber-folk quartet RANT, plays on viola and fiddle with Salt House, is a member of the Rachel Newton Band and is in a duo with flautist Calum Stewart. She’s also considered one of Scotland’s most expressive fiddle players whose solo work is steeped in the rich culture of the Highlands. One of her most celebrated works was a new commission for Feis Rois in 2017 titled ‘The Seer’ which followed with an album in 2018 featuring 40 minutes of music based on the life and prophecies of the Brahan Seer.

Louise Mackenzie is from Nigg in Easter Ross and as a youngster, was taught by three of Scotland’s most respected and treasured Tradition bearers; Aonghas Grant, Alasdair Fraser and the late Dr Tom Anderson. She was greatly inspired and influenced by her mentors and inherited a love for both teaching and composing. As well as tutoring for Fèis Rois she has been involved with various Fèisean for over 35 years. She was also a full-time Strings Instructor in East Sutherland for 15 years. In 2020, Louise was nominated as Tutor of the Year in the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.

Renowned for her deft and lyrical accordion style, as well as her dextrous piping, Mairearad is in great demand not only as a performer, but also as a composer.
Often seen on stage alongside multi-instrumentalist Anna Massie, composer, Mike Vass, piping supergroup, Tryst and singer-songwriter, King Creosote.

Margaret Stewart is an award winning Gaelic singer from the Isle of Lewis. She has three studio albums to her name and a number of collaborative recordings. A native Gael and Gaelic speaker, born and brought up in the Outer Hebrides, Margaret has a great passion for the songs and culture of her homeland. As well as her musical performances, in collaboration with the some of the cream of Highland and Irish musicians, she is also in demand as a mentor, teacher and lecturer on various themes of Gaelic song and related history.

Margaret has amassed an impressive repertoire of songs, over the years, and has recorded two seminal albums with pipers Allan and Iain MacDonald (Fhuair mi Pog and Colla Mo Rùn) and a solo album (Togaidh mi mo Sheòlta), on the Greentrax label. She continues to develop performances and recording collaborations with some of Gaeldom’s finest musicians and regularly performs with harp virtuoso Ingrid Henderson.

Mike Vass is one of the most creative forces on the Scottish music scene. As a musician, composer, producer and arranger Vass has amassed a body of work that encompasses early appearances as a livewire young fiddler, collaborations with many of the leading voices among today’s Scots and Gaelic tradition bearers, delivering multi-media performances, overseeing critically acclaimed recordings, and scoring for prestigious ensembles.

Singer, piper, storyteller, teacher and all-round tradition bearer, Rona Lightfoot is one of Gaeldom’s great characters, a one-woman ceilidh with a treasure trove of folklore and the spirit to take on authority and win.

Hailing from the west of Glasgow, Roo Geddes has bolstered his upbringing in traditional music with studies in Jazz and Classical music. Playing his great, great grandad’s fiddle, his music has taken him around the world and he loves sharing these perspectives through teaching.

Korean born cellist Su-a Lee is one of the highlights of the Scottish music scene. Celebrated
wherever she goes, she stands out for her versatility, popularity, and appetite for musical
adventure.Born in Seoul, Su-a trained at Chethams School of Music, completing her studies at the Juilliard School in New York. On graduating with her Bachelor’s degree, Su-a moved to Scotland, to join
the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, where she remains as Assistant Principal Cello.

Though Su-a spends most of her time playing classical music, she is also very much in demand
across a wide musical spectrum, working in all art forms. The range of her non classical work has encompassed recording Musical Saw for Eric Clapton, performing at Celtic Connections with Jack Bruce of Cream and the folk band Lau, to improvisatory work with the Belgian Theatre group Reckless Sleepers, regular appearances with fiddler Duncan Chisholm, and a tour of India with the Sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan.