2006 Awardee: Kirsty MacKinnon

I thank the trustees … most sincerely. The clàrsach is essential for my studies in Scottish Traditional Music.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD:
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Kirsty MacKinnon has lived all her life on the beautiful Isle of Mull. Her family has a long tradition in Gaelic music, especially singing. She has been involved in many arts projects run by An Tobar in Tobermory over the years.

Now eighteen year old, Kirsty is about to leave Mull and embark on a degree in traditional music at RSAMD, specialising in the clàrsach and Gaelic singing.

Kirsty is already an experienced performer, having appeared in concerts and ceilidhs as a soloist and as part of ensembles and choirs. She also performed as lead singer with the Tobermory rock band Speechless, writing some of the lyrics and melodies for their singles. Kirsty is also a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing piano and guitar as well as clàrsach.

Kirsty is a skilled performer in many different musical genres, as well as being a talented songwriter with experience in producing. A successful career in music is a given; Kirsty is spoilt for choice as to which direction she will go in.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award contributed towards buying Kirsty’s first good quality clàrsach.

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I thank the trustees … most sincerely. The clàrsach is essential for my studies in Scottish Traditional Music.

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2006 Awardee: Laura Aldridge

I am extremely grateful for this incredibly generous offer. This award will make an enormous difference to my practice as an artist.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 27
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Laura Aldridge, from London, is a graduate of Wimbledon School of Art where she studied painting. She moved to Scotland to pursue a Master of Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art and has now made Glasgow her base where she believes that, as an artist, her work can flourish in a supportive environment.

On the strength of her final degree show at Tramway, Laura was awarded the Glasgow Sculpture Studios Graduate Scholarship, an annual award given to one graduating student. This provides valuable studio space to enable Laura to prepare for her first solo exhibition in Glasgow in 2007.

Laura has already exhibited in Glasgow, London, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv and Denmark. Throughout her studies, Laura has developed a unique and distinctive ‘voice’ through her work. It has immediacy and vibrancy, but its apparent simplicity and air of innocent fun are deceptive. Dig a little deeper and one can see in Laura’s sculptures, allegories of social structures and hierarchies.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will provide funding for research time and materials towards Laura’s first solo exhibition in the UK.

Since the Award

Laura writes “I believe that your support has afforded the space and time to make the most of this research and development period. It has meant that I have been able to realise a strong and confident body of work for my solo exhibition at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.”

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I am extremely grateful for this incredibly generous offer. This award will make an enormous difference to my practice as an artist.

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2006 Awardee: Laura McKinlay

I am delighted and privileged to accept this Award

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 17
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

From the age of seven, Laura’s driving ambition has been to become a professional musician.
Currently a student at the RSAMD, Laura has already distinguished herself by playing with two of Scotland’s youth orchestras, the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth String Orchestra.

She has also been leader of the Repertoire orchestra of NYOS, her Local Council orchestra and School orchestra.
Amongst the prizes and awards she has already won are the Bach class at the Glasgow Music Festival and a bursary to attend the European Youth Summer Music Course in Hertfordshire.

In common with a lot of the young musicians at the RSAMD, Laura has a keen interest in Scottish traditional music and plays in a ceilidh band.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards bought Laura a performance quality violin.

Since the Award

After trying several violins, Laura eventually decided on a Chinese violin made in 2005. As its first owner, she has enjoyed breaking it in and notices that it continues to grow in its capabilities and tone.  She writes, “My new violin is capable of much more advanced techniques than my old one .. and because of this, my musical understanding also progresses further.”

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I am delighted and privileged to accept this Award

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2006 Awardee: Lee Borwick

I am overjoyed at the news of my award from the Dewar Art Awards, so generous and kind.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 22
ARTFORMS: ,
WEBSITE:https://www.leeborthwick.co.uk
 
 

Biography

Originally from Galashiels, Lee Borthwick graduated with a first-class honours from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. She received the John Grays Legacy while an undergraduate and was also nominated by Gray’s for the BP Prize.

While an undergraduate Lee took part in an exchange scheme and spent some time in Finland, which had a significant influence on her creative work. She was intrigued by the empty landscapes, wild nature, icy colours and abandoned wooden houses and developed a range of fabrics exploring the surface of wood and markings created by nature.

Lee, like many people of her generation, is concerned about the environment and interested in using eco-friendly, sustainable textiles.

After graduating, Lee won a place on the highly competitive Masters course in Constructed Textiles at the Royal College of Art in London. Lee’s outstanding talent and intellect approach to textile design will no doubt take her far both nationally and internationally.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award provides crucial financial support to Lee while studying at the RCA, London.

Lee’s funding has been continued for a further year into 2007. She writes, “I always aimed to keep my personal voice amongst so many testing projects. Through this … I was nominated to be one of the exhibitors as part of the ‘Out of the Blue’ exhibition this summer. I was selected as one of 23 students out of 90 who applied.”

Since the Award

Lee graduated with an MA in Constructed Textiles after a year which she describes as being ‘the most exciting, challenging and inspiring year of my life so far.’ Sustainability and the environment are key issues in Lee’s practice.  A collaborative project with a fellow student in Printed Textiles was shortlisted by Valpak, the leading provider of recycling solutions for the UK.

During her final year, Lee was awarded the John Dunsmore Scholarship, giving her the opportunity to visit Nepal to work with a community of weavers. She plans to help them develop products such as bags and clothing for the local market. Her final degree collection of work was shown in the Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Auction, arranged by auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull.

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I am overjoyed at the news of my award from the Dewar Art Awards, so generous and kind.

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2006 Awardee: Lesley-Ann Smith

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 22
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Hailing from Prestwick in Ayrshire, Lesley-Ann Smith is a talented double-bassist. A graduate of RSAMD, she is currently pursuing postgraduate studies also at RSAMD.

As a youngster, Lesley-Ann was a member of the main youth orchestras of the UK, Scotland and also of NYOS’s Camerata. While an undergraduate she distinguished herself by winning the Eugene Cruft prize for Double Bass in 2004 and 2006.

Lesley-Ann’s ambition is to become a professional musician. Already she regularly plays with the main Scottish orchestras on a freelance basis, and in 2006 she participated successfully in the Side by Side project with the Scottish Opera.

To help her professional development, she now needs an instrument to match her standard of play.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award contributed towards the purchase of a double bass.

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2006 Awardee: Linsey McDonald

I would like to thank the trustees for their very generous award. I am looking forward to starting my course in January 2007.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD:
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Linsey MacDonald, from Lundin Links, Fife, started playing trumpet when she was 11. She quickly demonstrated musical potential above her peers. She was first a pupil at the RSAMD junior school and then progressed to study for a degree in music also at RSAMD.

From an early age she loved playing jazz and during high school played with the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra. She joined the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra when it was founded in 2002, playing lead trumpet. She joined the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra the same year, playing third and fourth trumpet. With her own jazz octet The Hemato she performed at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in 2006.

Tommy Smith considers Linsey to be an amazing young musician, with great potential. He is impressed both by her fantastic improvisational skills as a performer and her maturity as a composer.

There are very few top line female jazz trumpeters, and even fewer lead female trumpeters in the UK. Linsey has both the technique and artistic potential to become one of the very finest lead trumpeters in the UK.

Linsey was offered a scholarship to study jazz trumpet at the renowned ‘mecca’ of jazz, Berklee College of Music, Boston, where most of the world’s jazz greats have studies. But without additional support she would not have been able to take up the offer.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award has provided funding to enable Linsey to study for a 2-year Diploma in jazz trumpet at Berklee.

Since the Award

Linsey’s first year at Berklee was very exciting. She played in all three of the Berklee Big Bands, with a 10-piece all-women ensemble consisting of music students from all over the world, with the Berklee Rainbow Band in front of a crowd of 10,000 and with The Berklee Baseball Samurai at the opening of the baseball play-offs, which is a great honour in America.

With the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, which focuses on contemporary repertoire, Linsey performed with Maria Shneider, considered to be one of the most influential female jazz composers/performers on the New York scene today.

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I would like to thank the trustees for their very generous award. I am looking forward to starting my course in January 2007.

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2006 Awardee: Lorna Geller

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 23
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

At the age of 18, Lorna Geller left Irvine, where she grew up, first to study for a music degree at Oxford and later to pursue postgraduate study in violin performance at the Guildhall School of Music in London.

Lorna is one of several awardees who started her musical education at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh. While she was a student of David Takeno’s in London, he encouraged her passion for solo and chamber music playing. During that time, Lorna was playing on a wonderful Degani violin on long-term loan.

Now 23, Lorna’s musical CV is impressive. Winner of many prizes and awards, including the 2005 Waddell Memorial Prize for Scottish String Players, Lorna has played with several leading chamber orchestras and appeared as soloist with the Ariette Ensemble, the Oxford Sinfionetta and the Edinburgh Festival Concerto Orchestra.

Lorna also took part in a Cultural Exchange Programme in the Gambia studying West African tribal culture and musical traditions which led to a collaborative project and exhibition in both the Gambia and London.

Lorna is both a talented and dedicated musician who is still improving and developing. She has an opportunity to buy the Degani violin she has been playing for many years.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award provided the balance of the funds required to purchase the instrument.

Since the Award

After completing her studies at the Guildhall, Lorna went on to pursue a career as a violinist, including work with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and in 2012 as a trialing sub-principal of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

After 10 diverse and busy years in London, she moved back to Scotland in 2013 to work with the Sistema Scotland charity, and holds the post of Senior Musician at Big Noise Govanhill in Glasgow.

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2006 Awardee: Madeleine Shaw

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Dewar Arts Awards for their generous financial support of my professional development in music and opera.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 28
ARTFORMS: , ,
 
 
 

Biography

After three years on a post-graduate programme at the RSAMD, Glasgow, Madeleine gained a place at the prestigious National Opera Studio in London in the face of extremely stiff competition. Madeleine is considered to be one of the most gifted mezzo sopranos of her generation.

She writes of her time at the studio, “It is a dream to be able to work with the coaches, directors and singers that the studio attracts.  I loved every second of my time there.”

Without her training at the Opera Studio, Madeleine says that she would never have had the opportunity of auditioning and going on to work for one of the UK’s leading opera companies.  She writes, “This is the perfect start to my professional singing career that will hopefully go on for many years to come.”

Madeleine is currently a member of the Young Singers Programme at the English National Opera.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards helped to fund Madeleine’s studies at the National Opera Studio, London, before launching her operatic career.

Since the Award

Madeleine moved on to become a member of the Young Singers Programme at the English National Opera.

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I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Dewar Arts Awards for their generous financial support of my professional development in music and opera.

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2006 Awardee: Malcolm Cruickshank

It has been really lovely that ‘unknown’ people in the field of the arts have recognised my worth and been prepared to put their faith in my abilities

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 23
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Malcolm Cruickshank is a graduate of Cumbria Institute of the Arts and his ambition is to develop a successful career in the applied arts.

Born and brought up in Edinburgh, Malcolm is an innovative designer and maker. He excels at combining the unusual and unconventional to create well designed objects that function.

These objects have ranged from ‘wearable art’ to lighting and seating and incorporate embroidery, weave, felt, rubber and ‘found materials’. He is particularly ingenious at seeing the potential in recycled materials.
Since a young boy, Malcolm has been fascinated by the whole process of craft making and impressed craft workers whom he spent time observing with his passion and raw creativity.

One of the solo exhibitions which Malcolm was offered in 2006, titled ‘Haute Kilture’ to present a range of alternative kilts and accessories, was supported by an Award.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards contributed towards the costs of Malcolm’s 2006 Jedburgh exhibition ‘Haute Kilture’.

Before the exhibition opened, Malcolm was offered a six-month appointment by Midlothian as a schools’ Artist in Residence. He writes, “I have no doubt that [this award] must have been at least a contributing factor to their final decision.”

Since the Award

After the exhibition, Malcolm was approached by a London gallery who wished to mount his exhibition during London Fashion Week in March 2007. In March 2008 he received the Morton Fraser Award from Visual Arts Scotland.

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It has been really lovely that ‘unknown’ people in the field of the arts have recognised my worth and been prepared to put their faith in my abilities

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2006 Awardee: Michael O’Donnell

I was really struck by [Donald Dewar’s] kind nature and passion for politics and it is a real pleasure to accept an award in his name

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 21
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Michael O’Donnell is, in the opinion of his RCM tutor, one of the finest oboists of his generation who brings a generosity of spirit in all he does. While at the RCM, Michael won the Knights of the Round Table Prize and the Chamber Music Prize.

He has been principal oboe and cor anglais of the National Youth Orchestras of both Scotland and Great Britain and principal oboe of Camerata Scotland. At the end of his third year at RCM, he was awarded the highest mark of any student in his year for his end of year recital. He graduated in 2006 with the top mark in the woodwind faculty and with a first-class honours degree.

Michael was brought up in Scone, Perthshire. His musical ambition is to develop a career in chamber music and orchestral playing. He gained a scholarship to study on the RCM Integrated Masters course (MMus).

Michael is very interested in the Suzuki teaching method and, in addition to his playing, aims to develop the application to oboe teaching.

How the Award Helped

Michael met Donald Dewar in 1997 and then later during the campaign for the devolution of the Scottish Parliament. If he hadn’t gone on to study music, he says he would have gone into politics.

The Dewar Arts Award will help finance Michael through his MMus course.

Since the Award

Michael graduated from the RCM in 2008 with an MMus, Distinction. In late 2010 he was offered the post of 2nd oboe and cor anglais in the Northern Sinfonia and also the post of 2nd oboe in the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Michael writes that he still can’t believe he’s playing in some of the major concert halls of the world. “Growing up in a small village in Scotland, I had no idea my career would allow me to see so much of the world so quickly.”

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I was really struck by [Donald Dewar’s] kind nature and passion for politics and it is a real pleasure to accept an award in his name

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