Musicians young and old bring Tartan Day to life at Auckland Museum
Auckland’s young fiddlers (and young cellist) are sounding amazing and were a huge hit at the Museum’s Tartan Day event on 27 June 2026.
Just last April, Kristan Harvey, Ronan Martin and Rachel Campbell made the long journey from Orkney, Skye, and Oban in Scotland to teach NZ musicians in the true Scottish style for a full week at the beautiful Bella Rakha retreat. Thanks to the generous help from the Walker Traditional Folk Music Trust, our young musicians were able to attend this life changing event at a much reduced price.
It was great to have tutors from all walks of the Scottish music scene share their experiences and wisdom, and the many stories about with us. It was especially special to have them share their music collections from home and the amazing stories behind the tunes.
The classes were amazing. Learning by ear is such a rewarding experience - to learn a new set of tunes and to then have it all eventually click into place just before the concert is very satisfying. In the classes, it was great to hear ideas bounce back and forth in the group work class, learning to sing and play fiddle at the same time, trying out new techniques in fiddle classes, and there were a few instrument exchanges in the accompaniment class for a laugh. The best part of the classes is there's a class pace for every learner.
A big highlight this year was the return of the New Zealand Scottish fiddle competition. On the Thursday evening, the students gave it their all to play a medley of tunes and were judged by this year's tutors. It was great to see how many people that gave it a go and the variety of tunes on display. There was a lot of approving feedback from the tutors, showing that the Scottish music tradition is still alive and well in New Zealand, and is being passed on to the next generation.
