Celtic Connections BBC Awards

And the 2010 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year is: Inverurie fiddler Daniel Thorpe. He beat off the competition in a closely fought competition during Celtic Connections. This was his second year in the finals. His playing had clearly matured in the last year, and his sets were carefully chosen as crowd and judge pleasers. A graduate of the Plockton Centre of Excellence and of RSAMD, Daniel is already no stranger to the big stage. His trio, Tyskie (above left, with Daniel Thorpe top), were Danny Kyle Stage winners in 2009, and have played a number of festivals with the ceilidh band Heuch.

Daniel played the technically challenging slow air, Lament for King George V, by Donald Riddell, with passion and commitment; had a happy , merry opening set of upbeat tunes for his opening set; and had first class accompanying musicians. Clearly he had just the right balance of skills and stage persona to win through.

Two Argyll pipers were in the finals. Kyle Warren, from Helensburgh, is studying at RSAMD, has been in the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland and is a member of Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. Kyle started playing the pipes aged 8 and is a keen composer with two of his tunes making it into Michael Grey’s fifth collection of bagpipe music. His time as Pipe Major of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland gave him the opportunity to work with some great names including Donald Shaw and Carlos Nunez. With the ‘boyband on pipes’ TNT (The New Tradition), he won a Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections in 2007. Lorne MacDougall (above right), the Carradale Piper, had strong support from the audience. Choosing an excellence mix of the old and new, he impressed with a mix of pipes and whistle, and I particularly enjoyed his Fred Morrison tune.

Paddy Callaghan, the Glasgow accordionist, with Adam Brown on bodhran and Julia Reid on bouzouki, produced the fullest band sound of the night, and clearly had an advantage over those who used the ‘house band’ musicians to accompany them. He clearly spends a lot of time with his musicians and was relaxed and expert on stage. Paddy has won many fleadhs on accordion and harp, and plays across the genres of music with the Chihuahaus. On the evidence of the awards final this is a trio we will be hearing a lot more from.

There were also two outstanding clarsach players involved in the finals. Many times Mod medal winner (the first at 8 years old) Mairi Chaimbeul, from Sleat in Skye, is a student of the great harpist Catriona McKay. With her sister, Steaphanaidh, Mairi was also a finalist in the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards. A sweet slightly breathy Gaelic voice combined with some world harp music ensured a great reception from the audience. Hannah Phillips, the other harpist, is a post graduate student at RSAMD, having won the Governors’ String Recital prize in her undergraduate years. Her playing was clean and precise, and she was not afraid of adding innovative playing techniques into the mix.

Whilst the judges were ‘wailing and gnashing their teeth’ and having to come to a decision, the large partisan and supportive crowd were entertained by last year’s winner Ruairidh Macmillan. As fiddler to the Hands Up for Trad Award winning group, the Paul McKenna Band, he is dashing off to Memphis for the  Folk Alliance Festival and is about to launch his first solo CD.

Deciding who is the ‘best’ out of a top piper, top fiddler, or a clarsach player, is an unenviable task – a little like deciding which is the ‘better’ fruit – apples or oranges.

I don’t know what criteria the judges are given, but clearly sheer musicality, stage performance, audience interaction, and the ability to act as a traditional music ambassador all play their part. At the end of the day it has to be a subjective call, but I have agreed with the judges in seven of the last ten years.

This crop of young musicians was hard to separate, and the overall quality and commitment was extremely high. Most sets were chosen with care to give variety, whilst showing musical skills to the best. The mixture of the new and the more traditional is a great strength of this event and it is clear that compositions by the likes of Donald Shaw, Martyn Bennett, Gordon Duncan and the Cunningham brothers are firmly in the sights of our young up and coming performers.

Although competition nerves are bound to play their part – and there were a few rough edges – any one of these finalists would be welcome at most folk clubs, festivals and community concerts. I have noticed a great improvement in stagecraft and confidence, especially in the use of microphones and choice of material, over the years  Hopefully the experience of playing at the Awards, and the exposure they receive as a result will help yet another group of young players to access more performance opportunities.

The Awards ceremony was followed by a concert-cum- arty to celebrate 10 years of the Awards, showcasing many of the previous winners. All have gone on to become well established on the Traditional music circuit. The Awards, organised by Hands Up for Trad, have clearly proved themselves to be a springboard for burgeoning careers for a number of young musicians.

Fiona Hyslop, MSP and Minister for Culture, in her opening remarks, commented that the Awards show both the wealth of young musical talent that has emerged from these awards over the years, and that clearly traditional music has great relevance to the young people of Scotland.

We must hope that these feelings are heart-felt and will be remembered when it comes to continuing to invest in the future of our music.

Mark Morpurgo, Folk and Traditional Music Editor