Biography

Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul is a musician who is influenced by traditional Gaelic music as well as a passion for classical music. She is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she studied with distinguished Serbian Accordionist, Djordje Gajic.

She is currently pursuing her Masters in Classical Accordion Performance at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. There, she studies with Professor Geir Draugsvoll and Professor Bjarke Mogenson, and is kindly supported by the Dewar Arts Awards, the Anglo/Danish Society and the Cross Trust.

Ciorstaidh grew up on the Isle of Skye, where she was surrounded by Gaelic music and culture from a very young age. She regularly performs at festivals and venues throughout the UK, including Celtic Connections, where she was awarded a Danny
Kyle Award in 2024. She was a semi-finalist in the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2019. She is a keen collaborator, and premiered new works for accordion at the RCS Plug Festival. She appeared alongside the RCS Accordion Quartet at the BBC Radio 4 Front Row Programme, ahead of their performance at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney.

Internationally, she has performed at the Malmo Folk Festival in Sweden. Alongside performing, Ciorstaidh is an experienced music teacher, teaching both privately, and at the Glasgow Folk Music Workshop.

How the Award Helped

Ciorstaidh received an award to support her Masters studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she studied with Professor Geir Draugsvoll and Professor Bjarke Mogenson.

Biography

Aileen is an accordionist and pianist of formidable talent and keen imagination. She has performed works by composers such as Dr. Gareth Williams and Dr. Emily Doolittle with some of the leading contemporary music ensembles in Scotland, including The Glasgow New Music Expedition, Ensemble Thing and NOISE Opera, whilst also working alongside the young composers in the RCS Junior Conservatoire.

In 2012 and 2013 Aileen won First Prize in the UK Accordion Senior Recital and Second Prize in the International Accordion Championship Open Solo. In 2016, she founded the folk-fusion band Eriska which she performs with regularly across Scotland, having just released their debut album.

Aileen studied a Bachelor of Music in Classical Accordion and Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In her first year, she was awarded the Tony and Tania Webster Prize for Rare Russian Music. In her third year, she was awarded the Dunbar-Gerber Prize for Chamber Music.

https://soundcloud.com/aileen-sweeney-2

In 2018, Aileen performed Piazzolla’s Concerto for Bandoneon with orchestra conducted by David Watkin as a finalist of The Edinburgh Festival Concerto Competition.  She also became the inaugural recipient of the Geddes-Peterson composition prize at RCS. As the winner, Aileen was asked to write an orchestral work in John Maxwell Geddes’ memory which was performed at his memorial concert.

Aileen graduated from the RCS with First Class Honours, and went on to study at postgraduate level. Her works have been performed by the likes of the Red Note ensemble, RCS Music Lab and the Psappha ensemble.

How the Award Helped

Biography

Growing up in Barrhead, Glasgow, Alistair began his studies as an accordionist at the Paisley Academy of Music. He has shown great promise as a musician, winning numerous competitions at a regional and national level.

Alistair plays with an accordion showband at home and abroad. The group have toured Germany and have performed at Disneyland in Florida.

Although Alistair is partially sighted, he does not let this hold him back. He is hardworking and dedicated to developing his skills as a musician.

How the Award Helped

Biography

Born in Inverness, Samuel was brought up on the beautiful Isle of Coll. He was inspired to take up the accordion after hearing the ceilidh band Skerryvore from the Isle of Tiree performing on Coll. He asked if he could have a go at playing their accordion and was hooked. His grandmother bought him his first accordion.

Samuel is currently a pupil at Aberdeen City Music School where he is studying the accordion. At the audition, he impressed with his talent and, since joining the school, has continued to made excellent progress due to dedication added to raw talent. Quickly it became apparent that the accordion Samuel owned when he arrived at the school was inadequate and actively holding back his musical progress.

Samuel writes that “thanks to the Dewar Arts Award I am now able to buy a higher quality instrument to enable me to play at an advanced level. The new instrument will enhance the range of music I can play.”

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will enable Samuel to buy a Bulgari Champion Cassoto accordion.

Since the Award

Biography

Kathleen Boyle, born and brought up in Castlemilk, Glasgow, comes from a long line of musicians originally from Donegal. She and her three siblings all learned to play Irish traditional music from their father.

With the help of a scholarship, Kathleen was able to go on to study Scottish traditional music at RSAMD, where she had her first formal accordion and piano lessons. Kathleen was the only person in her school year to attend university.

Kathleen, 27, now works as a freelance musician and plays with the band Dochas, which was the winner of the best newcomer award at the 2005 Scottish traditional music awards. More recently Kathleen has played with the band Cherish the Ladies, based in the US. Kathleen is current Scottish and British accordion, piano and piano accompaniment champion in traditional Irish music. She is also a tutor at RSAMD and co-ordinates their YouthWorks programme.

Kathleen’s ambition is to produce a solo CD of Scottish and Irish traditional music, bringing together the two main musical influences in her life. The album will include some of her own compositions as well as other contemporary music and traditional songs. Throughout the years many songs and tunes have been handed down through the five generations of musicians in her family, many of which have never been recorded. One is the famous tune ‘The Moving Cloud’ which was composed by her grandfather and is still often played by traditional musicians.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will provide the funding to record and produce Kathleen’s first solo CD.

Since the Award