MARK MORPURGO reports on the latest Inverclyde Music Festival, and considers what lies behind the list of winners

SCHOOL pupils from Strachur, Dunoon and Lochgilphead have had great success in competitions recently held at the Inverclyde Music Festival.

Strachur Primary School pupils picked up the first four slots in the Under 13’s solo Scots Fiddle section. First was Arlene MacKechnie; Isabella Sumsion came in second; third place went to Rowan Oxland, and Ross Spiers had success with fourth place. Impressive as these results were, the icing on the cake was that Rowan, Isabella and Arlene also picked up the award for the under11’s Instrumental Ensemble playing.

Mairi Voinot with her trophy

Arlene’s older brother Alex MacKechnie has now moved on to Dunoon Grammar School. He won his 18 and under group in Scots Fiddle, and together they won the piano duet section.

Mairi Voinot, from Lochgilphead High, also won the Angus McGilp Quaiche, presented by Hugh McGilp, for the 18 and under Scots Fiddle Solo Competition, and she then she went on to scoop the award for Best 18 and under Solo Instrumentalist. This was against competition from pupils older in both years and experience than her. Unusually this competition lined up young musicians from both the traditional and classical world, which made the win even more impressive.

FiddleFolk/Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop now teaches traditional fiddle in five local schools and holds community workshops for youngsters and adults in fiddle and mandolin. In addition it offers youth residential weekend events and Gaelic tours of schools through its Gaelic wing, Fèis Cheann Loch Goibhle.

What is sometimes forgotten by the press when the results from competitions are listed is the personal stories behind the results, and the enormous impact that music can have on the confidence and lives of the children, their families and the communities involved.
All these talented youngsters are learning fiddle with Sarah Naylor, as part of the school and community tuition programme of FiddleFolk/ Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop.

Argyll and Bute asked Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop, as it was then, to teach in the schools starting in 2005, and the Council’s music policy since 2005 has had spectacular results in this area, enabling older children from Cowal to participate in the recent Argyll Rhapsody, and now delivering stellar performances at the Inverclyde Festival.

Families of these children show enormous commitment, travelling hundreds of miles each year for tuition, and going to the great teaching festivals such as Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Shetland Festival, Blazin’ in Beauly, and the Edinburgh Fiddle Festival.

Gillian Voinot, Mairi’s mother, told me that Mairi has only been playing the fiddle for two years and that her “ability, enthusiasm and joy in the fiddle came as an unexpected gift, not only to Mairi but to us as parents, her family and friends. Without Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop and Sarah Naylor, the truly inspirational tutor they provide, my daughter’s potential would never have been placed so clearly before us. The members of the workshop provide inspiration, experience and support… Our life is now a whirlwind of beautiful music. The potential for Mairi to pass on her enthusiasm to younger children is another opportunity she values.”

Of course there are, around Scotland, numerous individuals and community groups who work, often unpaid or mainly reliant on volunteers, to pass on the traditions and to enthuse the next generation with a love of our music. But many of them are, or at least feel, threatened by the expected budget cuts. If these groups are not valued and nurtured where will the next generation of players come from? Who will act as the ‘feeder groups’ to establishments like RSAMD? Who will train up-and-coming musicians for future much-lauded festivals such as Celtic Connections? ‘If the roots of the tree are starved of nourishment, the tree will eventually wither and die,’

The sentiments of Mairi’s mother, I am sure, could be duplicated, in a different format, many times across Scotland: “Sarah Naylor and FiddleFolk have led Mairi on the start of a journey which has filled her with joy, confidence and talent which has already taken her onto stages at concerts and competitions. Such things are a gift beyond measure.”

Another excellent learning point for the youngsters is that working together towards a competition is fun. Sarah Naylor emphasises that the youngsters are encouraged to think of themselves as a team, and to delight in the team’s success.

The finale covered a selection of the best competitors, but also illustrated many of the primary school initiatives going on in the area. These projects included a modern take on the hit show ‘Fame’, and a group poetry recitation of C.S. Lewis, as well as the more expected music, dance and song.

The two week Inverclyde Music Festival, now in its 85th year, is a shining example of what can be done in an area if councils, schools, music groups and volunteers can all work together for the good of the community. Covering competitions in most genres of music, not just traditional music, it also involves dance, speech and song. They involve most of the local schools, but with an increasing number of visiting out-of-area schools and individuals.

One of the strengths of the events is that young performers in all disciplines get to hear and appreciate other competitors. Who knows what seeds of interest in other areas of song, music and dance can be triggered by such wide ranging get togethers?

No-one in the audience could have gone away with anything less than pride in what is being achieved in the area. Maybe councils from elsewhere could send a representative next year to see whether this festival could work as a template to showcase talent from their own patch of the country!

© Mark Morpurgo, 2010

Links

• Inverclyde Music Festival