Benedict Morris Wins BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year

Benedict Morris

Benedict Morris Wins BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year

Glasgow fiddle-player currently studying at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland wins at Celtic Connections.

Fiddle player Benedict Morris has been announced as the winner of the 2019 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year. 

Morris is currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has performed with dance shows such as Velocity with Irish dancer David Geaney, and with Ímar at the Tønder Festival in Denmark. In 2018, he released an album with guitarist Cormac Crummey called Wavelength.

For the competition, he performed ‘Melter’ and ‘Cavers of Kirkcudbright’ by Mike Vass with his own composition ‘Monica’s’, Irish air ‘Paddy’s Rambles Through the Park’ and a set of tunes by Hamish Napier, Jeremy Kittle and Tom Callister.

The competition is open to players based in Scotland aged between 16 and 27, with a prize of a recording session, performance opportunities and Musicians’ Union membership. The finals were held at City Halls Glasgow, and broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland as part of the Celtic Connections festival.  

The other finalists were Luc McNally (guitar and voice), Cameron Ross (fiddle), Ross Miller (bagpipes), Catherine Tinney (voice) and Sarah Markey (flute). Last year’s winner, singer Hannah Rarity also performed a set. The semi-finalists were announced last August.

Listen back to the full finals show on BBC Radio Scotland here

Published on 28 January 2019

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