Shetland’s Heritage Fiddlers are all pupils of the late Dr. Tom Anderson who have played together since their youth and who will be marking their 40th anniversary this year. It therefore seems particularly fitting that they will appear at a dedicated fiddle theme concert as part of our 40th Festival this year.
Angela Manson, Mairi Jamieson, Valerie Watt, Christine Murchison, Clare Balfour and Claire White all play fiddle whilst Pauleen Wiseman also plays flute. They are joined by pianist Eunice Henderson and Gary Smith, on guitar. First and foremost they mostly play traditional Shetland music, they also throw in some tunes from elsewhere and contemporary Shetland music is also in the mix..
The group was originally known as Shetland’s Young Heritage and was founded by Tom Anderson in 1982. Dr Anderson was keen for the traditional music of Shetland to be saved and passed onto younger generations. He became the first traditional fiddle tutor employed in Shetland schools and many of his pupils have gone on to be great fiddlers and tutors in their own right.
This enthusiastic group have performed locally at concerts, charity events and festivals in the UK and have travelled far and wide to Norway, Turkey, USA, Indonesia, Canada and New Zealand.
Find them on Facebook (opens external site).