Highland singer Saffron Hanvidge a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2022
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One of the six finalists up for the coveted title of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2022 is singer Saffron Hanvidge from Inverness.
The contest, which has been used as a springboard in the music industry by previous winners, returns to the City Halls in Glasgow on February 6 with Bruce McGregor and Joy Dunlop hosting.
Saffron, who is a native Gaelic speaker, is a music student at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, and is a four-time Puirt-a-Beul winner and well-known Royal National Mod competitor, featuring as a Gold Medal final ladies runner-up in Inverness.
Saffron has been a prominent Inverness busker for 15 years and took part in the recent BBC ALBA Christmas programme Alleluia na Nollaige.
The other finalists are:
Breanna Wilson – fiddle (Glasgow). Breanna is a fiddle player currently entering her fourth year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She grew up playing traditional music and has competed at the Fleadh multiple times. She has performed at various festivals such as Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours and IMBOLC and is also an avid composer.
Malachy Arnold – clarsach (Glasgow). Malachy plays the clarsach and comes from a line of harp players in his family. Rooted in Irish and Scottish traditional music, Malachy has a competitive playing background in Ireland and has recorded, performed and released music in Scotland. An innovative and creative player he is passionate about expressing new styles of clarsach playing and sharing new compositions.
Eryn Rae – fiddle (Scottish Borders). Eryn is a fiddle player hailing from the Scottish Borders. Eryn started learning the fiddle at the age of seven under the tuition of renowned Shetland fiddler Catriona Macdonald. Now based in Glasgow, Eryn is about to embark on her final year studying traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Malin Lewis – pipes (Skye). Malin is a piper, fiddler, whistle player and instrument maker from the Isle of Skye. They have studied piping at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. As well as composing music, Malin also performs on a set of self-made two-octave smallpipes.
Sophie Joint – piano (Glasgow). Sophie Joint is a pianist from Glasgow with a background in Scottish and Irish traditional music. She is in her final year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has won a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections and The Molloy Award at Birmingham Trad Fest. Sophie enjoys composing and arranging in a contemporary style with strong traditional roots and has performed at international festivals including Festival Interceltique de Lorient and Celtic Colours in Canada.
The final will be screened on Sunday, February 6 from 5.05pm to 7pm and from 7.30pm to 8pm on BBC ALBA. You can also listen on BBC Radio Scotland from 5-8pm.
