Emily Davis and Catriona Price are two sides of the same coin. Both are high-achieving professional violinists. Davis is a former RSNO associate leader, now concertmaster of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and a much sought-after soloist and chamber musician in the classical music world. Orkney-born Price is best known as an award-winning traditional music performer and composer, part of the contemporary folk duo Twelfth Day, though equally comfortable freelancing among the orchestral ranks of Manchester Camerata or Opera North.

What unites them is a passionate belief that classical music in particular suffers from a tribalism that is threatening its future. A chance meeting during the pandemic led them to share their common concerns and plan a new 13-piece Scottish string ensemble, Thirteen North, which launches on 29 June with a multidimensional project – Connected – at the eclectic performance venue Saint Luke’s in Glasgow.

Their paths crossed previously as students at the Royal Academy of Music in London. “We were a few years apart, so didn’t know each other terribly well,” Price recalls.

Davis adds: “During Covid Catriona moved round the corner from me, so we started having these socially distanced cups of tea outside, shared our thoughts, and dreamt up Connected.

"Coming from a purely classical background I've noticed, especially in the UK, a problem with audience demographics. There’s a huge need to seek more diverse and younger audiences, especially those with different musical backgrounds. I’m hugely inspired by the folk scene and Connected is one really exciting way we can bring classical music into the kind of environment where folk music happens.”

Growing up in the fertile music scene in Orkney, Price experienced both camps from an early age. “One of the privileges of that is to experience different types of audiences and how they respond – what makes them tick, what puts them off. I look at folk audiences, how relaxed they are and the laughter they are having, and think ‘why can’t we bring that into a classical context?’ I don’t think it’s anything to do with the actual music; it’s the conventions surrounding the way we present classical concerts.”

This initial project aims to remove the barriers. For a start, there’s a bar, no compunction to remain in your seat or keep quiet, and more importantly a presentation style that young people will be very familiar with. “Saint Luke’s is mainly a rock and pop venue. The people that go are mostly leftfield Indie, open-minded and up for trying things,” Price explains. “That allows us to experiment with things we feel will make a difference, like having the ensemble amplified.”

There’s even a support act. Gaia – the exciting new violin-cello duo of Katrina Lee and Alice Allen, who specialise in music by marginalised composers and recently launched their five-star debut album Stone, Salt & Sky – will kick off with an opening set, before taking their places as members of Thirteen North.

Then it’s over to the main feature, three specially commissioned works exploring “human connections” by folk-influenced Scots composers – Price herself, Pippa Murphy and Uist-born Pàdruig Morrison – set against short films created by Glasgow-based filmmaker Bircan Birol in response to each of the work’s themes, generations, culture and tradition. Bartok’s Divertimento, broken up between the commissions, plays the continuity card.

While presentation matters, it’s been important, says Davis, to get the right people for the new ensemble. “We wanted string players who were top of their fields here in Scotland, especially with expertise in the folk tradition, really open-minded about trying things they wouldn’t necessarily do in a normal professional setting.” No surprise, then, to find versatile SCO cellist Su-a Lee within the line-up.

Are there plans beyond Connected, made possible initially with funding from the European Union Youth Orchestra and Creative Scotland? According to Price, “the aim is to find funding that will allow us to take it into communities around Scotland. We hope to do some festivals next summer, make a recording, commission and collaborate more across art forms and genres. We really just want to bring classical music to a 21st century audience by stamping out those stereotypes that hold it back.”

Thirteen North premieres Connected at St Luke’s, Glasgow, 29 June, see www.stlukesglasgow.com

Thirteen North: New ensemble seeks to stamp out classical stereotypes