Review: Young Traditional Musician of the Year - Glasgow City Halls

THE fiddle triumphed for the fourth consecutive year at the Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician finals on the last evening of Celtic Connections.

Carrying off a winning set, despite being debilitated by a cold that prevented her singing, Rona Wilkie from Oban took the coveted award for 2012, which will entitle her to, among other benefits, a BBC recording session.

Presented by Mary Ann Kennedy – broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland and screened on BBC Alba later – the event saw 23-year-old Wilkie, currently based in Newcastle, play a vigorous set with accompanists Marit Fält, Jinney Pawsey and Allan McDonald. She was one of six finalists, including three other fiddle players – Katie Boyle and Roisin Anne Hughes from Glasgow and Catriona Price from Orkney – as well as Gaelic singer Kirsty Watt from Lewis and Scots singer Alistair Ogilvie from Strathblane (harps and bagpipes were notably absent from this years’ final qualifiers).

Sterling accompaniment was also provided by guitarist Mike Bryan, pianist Mhairi Hall and Adam Brown on bodhran, although it has to be said that unnecessary levels of amplification in the hall did the fiddlers no favours, frequently harshening tone.

However, the instrument enjoyed an engaging showcase in the hands of the 2011 winner, Kristan Harvey, another Orcadian, who played with panache and, doubtless, a certain relief that she was no longer a finalist, awaiting the judges’ decision.

Rating: ***