The only Bachelor of Music degree specialising in traditional and folk music in the UK, which has launched a generation of leading artists, celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a landmark international conference.

Tradition in Motion, from Tuesday 31 March to Thursday 2 April, will bring together artists, educators and researchers from across Europe to reflect on the journey of traditional and folk music in higher education. They’ll also explore how music education connects with cultural traditions and the wider folk scene, especially across Nordic and Celtic countries.

The BMus in Traditional Music degree began life as the BA Scottish Music in 1996. An Honours year was added in 2000, a formal pathway for Piping was established in partnership with the National Piping Centre in 2001, and the programmes were re-launched as the BMus Traditional Music and Traditional Music: Piping in 2015. They remain the only Bachelor of Music programmes dedicated to traditional or folk music in the UK.

Professor Joshua Dickson, Head of the Traditional Music programme at RCS, said: “This academic year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the BA (Scottish Music) at Scotland’s national conservatoire – a milestone that reflects just how far traditional music education has come.

“In that time, shifts in pedagogy, art and society have shaped not only the programme itself but the many communities with a vital stake in traditional music’s place within higher education in Scotland and beyond.

“Despite many developments and innovations over the past thirty years, some things remain unchanged. The economic outlook across much of the UK, and elsewhere, continues to present challenges to inclusion and participation.

“But the collaborative environment between formal institutions is, if anything, growing in diversity and strategic impact, and innovations in technology and communication arguably create ever more fertile ground for professional development among graduates.”

Graduates of RCS’s Traditional Music programme have gone on to shape the contemporary traditional music scene in Scotland and internationally, alongside a wide range of performers, educators and creative practitioners working across the industry.

Graduates include:

• Winners of BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician: Robyn Stapleton, Hannah Rarity and Eryn Rae
• Finlay MacDonald, director of the National Piping Centre
• Iona Fyfe, Kathleen MacInnes and Siobhan Miller, singers
• Ainsley Hamill and Paul McKenna, singer/songwriters
• Findlay Napier, folk musician
• Gillian Frame, Graham Rorie and Ruairidh MacMillan, fiddle players
• Lucie Hendry, fiddle player and harpist
• Calum MacCrimmon, bagpiper and whistle player
• Angus MacPhail and Andrew Stevenson, founders of Skippinish
• Martin Gillespie, founding member of Skerryvore

The conference will open with a keynote from Dr Jo Miller, co-founder of the BA Scottish Music, chaired by Professor Joshua Dickson, Head of Traditional Music at RCS.

Their session, Reflecting on the Journey, traces the evolution of Scottish traditional music education within conservatoire settings and its relationship to wider cultural shifts over the past three decades.

RCS contributions will include staff and alumni presenting new research

• Dr Andrew Bova will explore Post Pandemic Pipe Bands: Music, Repertoire, and Ecology
• Neil Wood presents Sounding Scottish on the Harp
• Emma Tomlinson’s session is on The Viola in Scottish Traditional Music
• Connor Civatte hosts Scottish Traditional Music, Video Game Music, and Breaking Cultural Codes
• Bede Patterson presents Toward Critical Artistry in Bagpipe Composition, Arrangement & Performance: A Comparative Investigation of Piobaireachd and Other Music
• Professor Fred Freeman presents Burns, Hamish Henderson, and Music
• Professor Margaret Bennett delivers Addressing the Challenges of UNESCO in 21st Century Curriculum Development
• John Mulhearn presents Let Piping Flourish

The conference will bring together international figures shaping traditional and folk music education worldwide, including Dr Vilma Timonen, Lecturer in Folk Music, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts; Anna Wikenius, Folk Department, Royal College of Music Stockholm; Caterina Plana Cerdà, Traditional Music, Fundació Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya  and Professor Dr Sven Ahlbäck, expert on Scandinavian rhythm and dance music traditions

The conference will culminate in a delegate concert at the National Piping Centre.

Visit the conference webpage to view the programme