Saturday Evening Concert

Laura Wilkie is a Fiddle player from Tain in the Highlands of Scotland. She has a unique style which has roots in the Highland fiddle traditions but is influenced by an eclectic range of music from all genres.

Laura has toured internationally with various projects including; Kinnaris Quintet, Ian Carr, Ross Ainslie, Niteworks, Claire Hastings, Beth Malcolm and Siobhan Miller. As a founding member of Fat-Suit, Laura has been inspired to play with elements of improvisation in different styles, making her a versatile influence on each project. Collaborations include with; Shooglenifty, Man of the Minch, Rachel Sermanni, Elephant Sessions, Paul Towndrow’s Keywork Orchestra, Fatherson, The GRIT Orchestra and many more.

Laura will be playing alongside Gillian Fleetwood. Gillian cut her teeth playing Scottish traditional music in her hometown of Inverness, Scotland. She has since released two critically acclaimed albums with Scottish harp and song duo The Duplets (The Duplets showcase the instrument’s versatility to spellbinding effect” -The Scotsman) who have performed across Europe, USA, Mexico, Australia and Brazil. She has made a further three albums with Glasgow based folk-pop band State Broadcasters (“I recommend it very, very highly to you.” Ricky Ross – Radio Scotland)and she also enjoys working with contemporary songwriters, having toured and recorded with Agnes Obel, De Rosa, Pictish Trail and others. Also keeping Gillian busy is a collaboration with songwriter Martin John Henry; Henry and Fleetwood who make music rooted in places, nature and experimentation.

Benedict Morris from Glasgow is a fast growing name in the traditional world of music. Boasted for his “Virtuosity” by Irish Music Magazine and hailed “Magnificent” by Sharon Mair at BBC Scotland, Benedict is one of the finest up and coming musicians in the scene and is already starting to make a huge impact on the traditional music scene.

Multi-instrumentalist Gillie O’Flaherty comes from Ullapool in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. His involvement in Scottish traditional music started early with Feis Rois, with whom he works closely to this day. Gillie thrives on small ensemble playing. He honed his skills at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton, and has just graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.Gillie has recently been performing with some of the most sought-after names in the trad music scene, such as Hannah Rarity, Ryan Young, and John McCusker, to name a few. Gillie is also a founder member of the new band Astro bloc, and earlier this year, he released his debut EP with his other group, The Tom Campbell Trio.

“Dunkeld Strath & Reel" has been an important part of Dunkeld's lively traditional music scene for over 90 years, has been closely associated with the Niel Gow Festival and, under its music director Pete Clark, is delighted to bring you a programme of great music from the 20th to the 21st centuries, much of it composed locally.