Skye traditional music contest goes global
There was an international flavour to the recent traditional music competitions held at Armadale Castle, Gardens and Museum of the Isles as music fans from as far afield as Australia, North America and Japan tuned in to the live stream of the event.
The winners of the competitions also had a certain global appeal as a Japanese traditional musician took the top prize in the clàrsach competition, while the piobaireachd was won for the third time by an Edinburghbased piper, who has piped for bands in Canada.
On Friday, the 32nd Donald MacDonald Cuach piobaireachd competition was held in front of a capacity audience and live streamed to the world for the first time via a video link.
The event involved five of the world’s most celebrated pipers – Callum Beaumont from Dollar; Glenn Brown of Canada; Dunoon’s Alasdair Henderson; Iain Spears of Edinburgh; and Crieff ’s Craig Sutherland – who competed against each other for the coveted prize.
Adjudicator Allan MacDonald said he had been left with a difficult task in judging the competition because they were ‘all so good’.
The winner of the competition was Iain Spears for his interpretation of The Groat.
Iain has won both gold medals and numerous other prizes in competition. He has won the Glenfiddich Championship on two occasions and won the Donald MacDonald Cuach in 2009 and 2016.
Iain lives in Edinburgh with his wife Susanne and their two children. He is head of marketing at Kames Capital, an investment management company based in Edinburgh.
The winner of the inaugural Princess Margaret of the Isles Memorial Prize for senior clàrsach (June 16) is Riko Matsuoka.
Riko was born in Osaka, Japan and is studying for a Masters in Scottish Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.
Her performance included a composition inspired by a Japanese traditional song and featuring both Scottish and Japanese musical styles.
Riko began playing the piano at the age of three.
She started playing the harp at the age of 14.
She became the finalist of the Osaka International Music Competition in 2013.
Later on, she immersed herself in Scottish traditional music and the sound of the clàrsach.
She moved to Edinburgh to study the clàrsach and traditional Scottish music in 2016.
In 2017 Riko began her Masters studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the Scottish Traditional Music Course under the tuition of Corrina Hewat and Heather Downie.