Gordon Duncan, from Pitlochry in Perthshire, was widely regarded as one of the most skilled and innovative traditional music performers and composers of modern times. While steeped in the art of traditional highland piping, his approach to his music was always imaginative, fresh and at times radical, to the extent that his influence can be heard within an entire generation of younger musicians across Scotland and well beyond. Gordon died in December 2005, aged 41.
The Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust has now been formed to raise funds for the promotion of piping and other forms of traditional music amongst young people in Scotland.
The specific aims of the Trust are:
- The advancement of education of residents of Scotland under the age of thirty years by encouraging participation in and the study of all forms of traditional music and in particular the music of the Great Highland Bagpipe;
- The advancement of the arts and culture of Scotland by promoting the performance, study and composition of all forms of traditional music and in particular the music of the Great Highland Bagpipe;
- To encourage the attainment of high standards of performance and innovative composition in relation to all forms of traditional music and in particular the music of the Great Highland Bagpipe.
Fundraising will begin in January 2007, and it is hoped that the first calls for funding applications to the Trust will be announced later in the year.
