Scottish Culture Online

Tinto Summer School is a 5-day residential school in traditional music for high school age (12-18) participants. The school takes place at Wiston Lodge, a beautiful Victorian former hunting lodge in the peaceful rural heart of South Lanarkshire.

As well as learning from some of the best traditional music tutors available, participants also take part in outdoor activities, a fancy dress ceilidh, a BBQ and there’s loads of creativity, socialising, sessions and general fun.

Tutors for Tinto Summer School 2011: 4th – 8th July 2011

Mairearad Green
Mairearad is originally from the Wester Ross village of Achiltibuie and is now based as a professional musician in the happening city of Glasgow. Mairearad is equally talented on the accordion, the pipes and the piano. At the young age of 16 she was a finalist in the BBC Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year competition. Mairearad then went on to attend the Plockton Music School of Excellence where she received tuition from PM Ian MacFadyen and former Runrig accordionist, Blair Douglas. Similar to Blair, Mairearad is a keen composer and many of her compositioins are rapidly becoming popular session tunes and have been recorded by fellow accordionist Gary Innes and Canadian band, ClanTerra. Mairearad can be seen regularly performing with Anna Massie and Jenn Butterworth and she is also a member of the all female pipe group “Tachem” as well as the new accordion extravaganza known as Box Club.

Ingrid Henderson
Multi-instrumentalist Ingrid Henderson was born and brought up in Lochaber, and joined Cliar in June 1999 to play piano and clàrsach. She won the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Young Traditionalist Award in 1990 at a frighteningly young age and is a graduate in Celtic Studies from Glasgow University. She made several albums with brother Alan (of Blazin’ Fiddles) while still a teenager, and as a duo with Skye singer, Anne Martin, she has released an album, “Nighean nan Geug” on Whitewave Music. Ingrid is also a support worker in the Lochaber area for Feisean nan Gaidheal.

Shona Mooney
Borders fiddle player Shona Mooney is one of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians. Since winning the prestigious BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2006, she has appeared at international festivals such as Tønder (Denmark), gone on tour with Scottish Folk orchestra, The Unusual Suspects, The Shee and Borders Fiddles. Shona began playing in O’er the Border with her parents Barbara and Gordon Mooney, bowing a tiny second-hand fiddle bought for her in a junk shop in Peebles. In 2001, aged 17, Shona enrolled upon Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s newly founded degree course in Folk and Traditional Music. After graduating with first class honours, she began by recording albums with her fellow degree friends. A little further down the line and her very own Shona Mooney Trio was formed to fulfil her desire of exploring and expanding the Borders repertoire. Particular highlights so far have been to perform alongside Capercaillie stars Donald Shaw and Karen Matheson at the BBC Proms in the Park and to be chosen to appear on Howard Goodall’s ‘How Music Works’ for Channel 4. Shona also works for the Scottish Borders Council in Arts Development as the Traditional and World Music Development Worker. She travels around the region organising projects within the schools and the community.

Tom Oakes
Tom one of the first intake of students on the pioneering ‘Folk and Traditional Music’ degree at Newcastle University. A finalist in the BBC Fame Academy in 2004 Tom graduated in 2005 with a first in performance and a sell-out final flute recital at ‘The Sage Gateshead’. Performances across the UK and Europe have included a place as principal flautist in a ‘Gaelic Mass’ composed by 2008 ‘Composer of the Year’ Blair Douglas (Runrig) and also in a suite of music by Luke Daniels (Riverdance, De Danaan) entitled ‘Lost Music of the Gaels’ which was toured around Britain with the Solaris String Quartet. Tom is founder member and manager of the renowned ‘Auvo Quartet’ who have toured across Europe performing at festivals and venues in Finland, UK, Sweden, Germany, Estonia and more. They have also been widely featured in the media and were broadcast live on the BBC from Celtic Connections festival in 2009. As well as one of the UK’s leading exponents of the wooden flute Tom is quickly becoming more and more in demand as a guitar accompanist on the Scottish, English and Irish traditional music scenes. Specialising in the nylon string (classical) guitar and working with fiddler Ross Couper (Bodega, Peatbog Faeries), English folk singer Damien Barber (The Demon Barbers – Live Act of the Year BBC folk awards 2009) and Norwegian/Gaelic band Samling. Tom is shortly to have his first commissioned composition ‘Days in Shades of Grey’ performed at Stirling Tollbooth by Edinburgh’s leading string orchestra Mr McFall’s Chamber. He has also just returned from a 3-week residency with AndArt in Marrakech (Morocco). Working with leading stars of UK and Arabic hip hop as well as Moroccan/UK traditional musicians and over 40 illustrators, animators, filmmakers and visual artists to produce a concert, recordings and exhibition in conjunction with the Tate galleries in London. As an experienced and much respected teacher Tom has taught various Summer Schools in the UK and Ireland, at Newcastle University, The Sage Gateshead and at various festival workshops across Europe on both Flute/Whistle and Guitar. Tom is also an outreach worker for the Glasgow based ‘Paragon’. Teaching composition, arrangement and improvisation to all age groups and abilities.

Karine Polwart
Scots songwriter Karine Polwart combines the economy and universality of the folk storytelling tradition with a probing intellect and compassionate lyricism. Twice winner of “Best Original Song” at the UK-wide BBC Folk Awards, she’s collaborated with alt folk balladeer King Creosote, the intellectual maverick of English folk song Chris Wood, Idlewild front man Roddy Woomble, bluegrass ace Tim O’Brien and even the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Following the breakthrough of her debut album “Faultlines”, and its lush 2006 successor ”Scribbled in Chalk”, Karine has released two albums on her own micro label, hegri music, including her 2008 bittersweet collection of original songs “This Earthly Spell”.

Patsy Reid
Patsy Reid is from Knapp in Perthshire, has a great amount of experience in performing and teaching both traditional and classical music. She remains the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship and released her debut solo album “With Complements” in 2002. At 17, Patsy was a finalist in the original BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award and is now a member of the band Breabach who won a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections in 2005. Breabach have recently recorded their debut album and were nominated for best Up and Coming Artist at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2006. The following year they were nominated for Best Folk Band. Patsy also performs with Maeve McKinnon and in 2008, Patsy was asked to write a New Voices commission for Celtic Connections entitled ‘Bridging the Gap’.