RCS musicians nominated for MG ALBA Scots Trad Awards 2021
RCS musicians nominated for MG ALBA Scots Trad Awards 2021
Published: 04/11/2021
Musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland have been nominated for top traditional music awards.
Staff, students, graduates and former students are on the shortlist for the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, which will be live in Glasgow on December 4 and are voted for by the public.
The annual awards, organised by Hands Up for Trad, will champion Scottish traditional musicians of all genres at the city’s Engine Works venue featuring live performances from Ímar, Dàimh, Hannah Rarity, The Canny Band and more to be announced. It will be broadcast on BBC ALBA at 9pm on December 4.
RCS graduate Hannah Rarity will perform live at the awards
Encompassing all aspects of making and playing music, each year sees a lively and enthusiastic crowd enjoying some of the biggest names as the industry and audiences join to honour singers, instrumentalists, composers and songwriters, including the Gaelic Singer of the Year and Musician of the Year Awards.
Professor Joshua Dickson, Head of Traditional Music at RCS, said: “The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is delighted to see the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards coming back in full force to celebrate the wealth of multi-generational artistry in Scotland’s vibrant and resilient traditional music scene.
“As we hunger for greater contact between musician and audience in a post-pandemic world, and the meaningfulness that imbues in today’s mediated landscape, nothing says ‘we’re back’ like an evening at Na Trads. We are happy to continue to support the Up and Coming Artist of the Year category and wish all the best to this year’s nominees.”
The Traditional Music programme at RCS is the UK’s only Bachelor of Music degree dedicated to traditional and folk music. Students explore Scotland’s unique and dynamic musical traditions as a conceptual, critical and creative framework within which to achieve a distinctively personal voice as an artist. This is interwoven with a solid basis in contemporary and eclectic performance practice.
Within the awards and the programme, three further pillars of the Scots Trad Music community will be recognised through special awards; the ‘Janet Paisley Services to Scots Language Award sponsored by Creative Scotland’, the ‘Services to Gaelic Award sponsored by Bòrd na Gàidhlig’, and the ‘Hamish Henderson Award for Services to Traditional Music’.
Original Work of the Year sponsored by PRS for Music
1. 7 Years Old – Calum MacPhail
2. Fatma’s Waltz – Adam Sutherland
3. Dùsgadh – Breabach
4. The Driftwood Project – Jack Badcock
5. Wild Edges – Inge Thomson
Community Project of the Year sponsored by Greentrax Recordings
1. Cabraich Community Arts, Stornoway: Online Skills and Ceilidh
2. Dee and Don Ceilidh Collective’s ‘Our Rivers and Glens’ project
3. Riddell Fiddles’ Two Towns Housing Estate Youth Musical Outreach Programme
4. Stonehaven Folk Club Folk in Crisis Concerts
Event of the Year sponsored by VisitScotland
1. Capers in Cannich
2. Celtic Connections
3. Eden Court Under Canvas
4. In The Tradition – Edinburgh International Festival Traditional Music Programme 2021
5. NAAFC Festival
Gaelic Singer of the Year sponsored by The Highland Society of London
1. Ainslie Hamill
2. Iain ‘Costello’ Maciver
3. Kim Carnie
4. Mairi Macmillan
Musician of the Year sponsored by The University of the Highlands and Islands
1. Ali Levack
2. Findlay Napier
3. Ingrid Henderson
4. Iona Fyfe
5. Mhairi Hall
Online Performance of 2021 sponsored by Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust
1. Alec Dalglish Live Streams
2. An Tobar Summer Sessions
3. Làn-Dùil Online Festival
4. Norrie “Tago” MacIver Live Streams
5. Ron Jappy Vincular Album Launch
Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year sponsored by Traditional Music and Song Association
1. Beth Malcolm
2. Calum McIlroy
3. Cameron Nixon
4. Ellie Beaton
Trad Video of the Year sponsored by Threads of Sound
1. Adahs Way – Ali Levack
2. Doddie’s Dream – Bruce MacGregor
3. Summer – Lewis McLaughlin
4. Mairead nan Cuiread – Mhairi Macmillan
5. Pretty Girl – Lapwyng (Valtos Remix)
Trad Music in the Media sponsored by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
1. Ceòl is Cràdh’ (BBC ALBA)
2. Tartan Tunes
3. Taynuilt Ceilidh’s
4. The 22nd Annual Pipes of Christmas – 2020 / The Clan Currie Society / The Learned Kindred of Currie
Up and Coming Artist of the Year sponsored by Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
1. Arthur Coates
2. John Dew
3. Madderam
4. The Canny Band
Music Tutor of the Year Award sponsored by Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative
1. Imogen Bose Ward, Fiddle
3. Isla Ratcliff, Scots Music Group
4. Michael Bryan, Guitar
5. Craig Muirhead, Director of Piping and Drumming at Strathallan School
Album of the Year sponsored by Birnam CD
1. And Den Dey Made Tae – Ross & Ryan Couper
2. Cairdeas – Brian Ó hEadhra & Fionnag NicChonnich
3. Gaol – Rachel Walker
4. Livewire – Mec Lir
5. MAIM – Whyte
6. Milestone – Duncan Lyall
7. Orkney Monster – The Chair
8. Still Time – Karen Matheson
9. The Light of The Moon – Gnoss
10. Where the World Is Thin – Kris Drever
(Names in bold signify staff, graduates and former students of RCS)
Within the awards and the programme, three further pillars of the Scots Trad Music community will be recognised through special awards; the Janet Paisley Services to Scots Language Award sponsored by Creative Scotland, the Services to Gaelic Award sponsored by Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the Hamish Henderson Award for Services to Traditional Music.
Organising body, Hands Up for Trad, was formed in 2002 and exists to increase the profile and visibility of Scottish traditional music through information, advocacy and education to artists, participants and audiences.
For the public vote, and latest news, visit www.scotstradmusicawards.com
Keep up to date on Twitter @handsupfortrad, Instagram @handsupfortrad and Facebook/handsupfortrad
#NaTrads21
