Biography

Aidan O’Rourke was brought up in the West Coast town of Oban and moved with his family to the beautiful Seil Island, near Oban, as a teenager. He lived there until going to university in Glasgow at 18.

In 2005 he took up a two-year musician-in-residence at the Tolbooth in Stirling, which the Artistic Director says “is as much about nurturing Aidan’s talents as a composer and musician as it is about the Tolbooth utilizing the talents of the musician”.

In 2004 Aidan was commissioned by Fife Community Services to compose and perform a piece of music to celebrate the visit of his holiness the Dalai Lama to Fife. As part of the project he worked with troubled young people with a broad range of musical talents.

According to all who worked with him, Aidan’s work on the project was ‘inspirational’, both in relation to the composition and to the performance he drew out of the youngsters.

How the Award Helped

Aidan received a Daughter of Dewar Award to buy a new fiddle.

Since the Award

Aidan is a busy recording and performing fiddler at the top of his game, including playing and recording with Blazin’ Fiddles and his new trio Lau. His fiddle was coming to the end of its life, and Aidan badly needed a new one to match his abilities and to enable him to challenge himself musically.