Tinto Summer School |
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Tutors for Tinto Summer School 2009
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Heather Downie Heather has always had a love of Scottish music, and has been singing for as long as she can remember. Her passion grew working with the late Martyn Bennett, after which she decided that a career in traditional music would be her goal. At the age of 15 she began playing the Scottish harp and was immediately accepted into Splore, at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. She has studied under a number of talents including Corrina Hewat, Wendy Stewart and Savourna Stevenson. Having just graduated with a first class honours BA in Scottish music, Heather is currently working on a postgraduate year in performance studies specialising in Scottish harp and piano. Heather has travelled extensively in Scotland and Europe and her music has taken her as far afield as St. Louis, Canada and New York. She currently performs solo, in fiddle and harp duo ‘A Little Bit of Somethin’ and in the new contemporary Scottish trio ‘Tyskie’. Heather also regularly works and performs with Margaret Bennett and is featured on her latest CD, ‘Take the Road to Aberfeldy’. |
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Gillian Frame Gillian Frame of Back of the Moon and The Bar Room Mountaineers comes from the Isle of Arran on the West Coast of Scotland. Hailing from a family of musicians she was introduced to traditional Scots and Irish music at an early age. In January 2001 Gillian won the prestigious Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year Award. Since then she has been rapidly gaining experience in all areas of traditional music, using her talents as fiddle player and singer in both performing, recording and teaching contexts, and in 2002 graduated from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with BA (Scottish Music) Hons degree. During the Celtic Connections festival 2002 Gillian debuted her 'New Voices' commission, "Kinship Theory", which consists of all her own compositions and arrangements, and amongst numerous other performances played in the first ever, "Unusual Suspects" a piece put together by Corrina Hewat and Dave Milligan involving over thirty of Scotland's top Traditional Musicians. |
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Martin Hunter Martin Hunter is one of Scotland's leading young traditional musicians and was a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2007. He plays button accordion with Glasgow band, Anarkali. Throughout his teens Martin played with St Roch's Ceili Band, and represented Irish Minstrels CCE at fleadhanna over the years winning the All Ireland championship with Irish Minstrels Grupa Ceoil in 2007. He won a Danny award at Celtic Connections 2004 with band Tacan and appeared alongside fellow Young Musician Finalists on the TMSA Trad tour in 2007 which led to the innovative Chuting Blancs. Martin has appeared on the TG4 programme Geanntrai in an episode about Irish music in Glasgow. He has recorded numerous sessions for BBC Radio Scotland and has performed all over Scotland as well as in England, Ireland, USA, Canada and Japan. Martin graduated from the University of Paisley with a degree in Music Technology in 2005. He plays regular sessions and gigs in and around Glasgow, teaches regularly, both privately and at St Roch’s, where he helps to bring on the younger generation at weekly classes. |
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Mairead McManus Mairéad McManus from Paisley, grew up learning the flute at Glasgow's Irish Minstrel's CCE. She has achieved a number of All Ireland medals in a number of categories including Senior Tin Whistle and as part of the St. Roch's Senior Grupai Cheoil which won the prestigious title in 2007. In 2005, Mairéad and fiddle player Katie Boyle won the very prestigious Senior Duet title at the All Ireland Fleadh in Letterkenny. She is a qualified Music Tutor of Traditional music and was awarded Teastais Teagaisc Cheol Tíre certificate from Comhaltas in Dublin in 2005 and has taught at a number of residential music schools. Mairead has toured across the globe with various traditional outfits. She was a member of the Danny Award winning band 'Cushtie' that shared the stage with Liz Carroll, John Doyle and the Dubliners. The band went on to supporting The Saw Doctors on their British Tour in 2006. Mairéad graduated with a First Class M.A. in Traditional Irish Music Performance in 2008 from Ollscoil Luimnigh under the tuition of Michael o Suilleabhain and Niall Keegan. This gave her an opportunity to discover a number of traditional styles and was tutored flute by Brian Finnegan, Jean Michel Veillon, Conal O'Grada and Harry Bradley. She was also chosen to play with Grammy Award Winning Vocalist Bobby McFerrin on his visit to Ireland in 2008. |
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Mark Neal Mark is a multi instrumentalist focusing on playing guitar and singing, but can be found playing many other instruments including cittern, flute, whistles, percussion, mandolin etc. around the Edinburgh session scene. Originally from East Kilbride he has lived in Edinburgh since moving there to study for a physics degree and then a musical acoustics PhD in 1993. When not playing gigs or teaching Mark also runs the recording studio The Sonic Lodge and does sound system installation and consultancy. Mark has always been interested in all types of music and has played with a number of different bands in many different genres. He enjoys blending the traditional songs and tunes with influences from a number of different styles, creating something contemporary but still linked to its musical heritage. Mark plays as part of a duo with Eilidh Steel and with folk/rock ceilidh band Teannaich and has in the past played in a number of other bands including funk band Hejira. |
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Adam Sutherland Adam has become a familiar face on the scene in recent years mainly as part of the Peatbog Faeries, and Session A9. He has been nominated six times in the Scots Trad Music Awards. With his own unique style of communication Adam is increasingly sought after as a teacher. In the past he has taught for South Lanarkshire Council, Glasgow Fiddle Workshop, Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin and Feis Rois amongst others. Adam has also recorded and performed with Croft no Five, Fire in the Bog, Scottish Stepdance Co, Salsa Celtica, Findlay Macdonald band and Avernish. |
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