Individuals

I write to you to express my gratitude for supporting me financially in 2011/2012 during my studies at Berkeley College of Music, Boston, USA. The venture would not have been possible without your support and I am eternally grateful to you for accepting my funding application.

I have since been appointed tutor in Practical Musicianship, Theory and Composition at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and I am currently recording and performing with leading Scottish musicians such as Duncan Chisholm, Jarlath Henderson, Adam Sutherland, Ross Ainslie and Gary Innes.

I gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience in piano and composition at Berklee, and wanted to thank you properly by providing the Trustees with a copy of my solo album “The River”, a Celtic Connections ‘New Voices’ commission which premiered at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall last year. The album received 5 star reviews in the national press and has been Album of the Week on four BBC Radio Stations. At the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016 I was nominated for ‘Composer of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’. I hope you enjoy the album.

Many thanks indeed and warm regards.

With the award I have had Highland Bagpipe tutoring with Fraser Fifield, which has helped me further develop my style, technique, embellishments and improvisation. I was lucky to get some lessons from such an inspiring person. The award has been really useful as I wouldn’t have been able to get this progressive one to one tutoring locally. I have had a lot of musical commitments to date and up and coming until April/May with my school (Aberdeen City Music School, our annual concert), my National 5 exams and performances with my bands I’m in so I haven’t used all of the award yet.  The plan is to have more lessons with Fraser (including some Skype lessons which will save on travel) and I have asked Ross Ainslie as well.

Thank you once again for the award.

Bobby has had a very successful year. It’s all been with your help.

He has been overall Best piper in many competitions in his age group. A first place MSR at the Northern Meeting. A first place at the MOD. Young piper of the year Piobaireachd champion at Benbecula. Chosen to play in Pipe Idol one of the 16 pipers throughout the world. A fourth place in the Argyllshire Gathering under 22 yrs at 13 years of age. Winner of all events at the North Uist Highland games and the Brechin RSPB event in Dundee. Champion piper at the Highlands and Islands piping championships. Many more to follow in more detail.

We have been able to play all over Scotland and the Islands with your help this year and to continue with regular lessons with his tutor Willie Morrison at the College of Piping in Glasgow.

I am really thankful for the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust funding which I got the offer earlier this year. I have been studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow for the traditional music piping degree course.

The fund from the Trust allowed me to do some extra travelling for competitions and also I went to a piobaireachd workshop in Brittany which is called “Pibroch by the Sea” in Cancale. It was a great opportunity because one of my piobaireachd heroes Jimmy McIntosh came from the US to teach that weekend, he is 93 years old and I got to hear him playing two full piobs on the pipes live too, a great experience!

This December, I and 3 friends have formed a piping quartet to compete at the quartet contest in Kemper. We were very pleased with the performance and happy to get 3rd place out of 9 groups. The trips to Brittany for me have been fantastic. It made me wanting to learn much more about traditional Breton music which Gordon also loved.

Thank you so much once again.

Thank you very very much! This is massive for me and will go a long way towards supporting my studies. I’m very grateful for this and can confirm I’ve received the payment.

I don’t think I can put into words how thankful I am for your generosity. This opportunity is one I have been dreaming about for a long time and I can promise you both and everyone at the GDMT that I will not waste a single moment of it. I will of course keep you all up-to-date on my experiences there and will be keeping a blog noting my musical adventures on Cape Breton Island. A million and many thanks.

A follow up: I am going to struggle condensing my time on Cape Breton Island into a couple of sentences as there was just so much wonderful music and moments, but I’ll try my best. Being immersed in the island’s music and culture was such an incredible way to experience how strong an influence Scottish music has had across the Atlantic. Attending several square dances, sessions, and Gaelic language events across the island really helped to improve not only my piping but musicianship as a whole. It has also helped me to establish strong relationships and friendships with musicians/folklore enthusiasts across the province which will be very important for my future studies.

I am so thankful to the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust for helping me make the most of this opportunity – and with the amount of Gordon’s tunes that were common repertoire across the island his legacy helped me make a simple transition and integrate amongst the local musicians.