© 2025 - The Walker Traditional Folk Music Trust. All right reserved.
Keeping it Scottish
ScotStringNZ 2025 was held at the Bella Rakha Retreat in West Auckland from the 19th to the 26thof April, made possible by the support of the Walker Trust and Creative NZ. Bringing three tutors from Scotland is our main expense; our tutors were Grant McFarlane from Paisley, Jenna Reid from Shetland and Sarah von Racknitz (Naylor)from Uig on the Isle of Skye.
Many Scottish tunes can be learned in an hour or so but making them sound Scottish is the work of a lifetime. Sheet music is no help at all; the ornaments and expressions need to be learned by ear. ScotStringNZ is our one opportunity each year to spend a full week away from home, learning from people who grew up immersed in the tradition and are taking the music to new heights today.
Scottish music has been part of New Zealand life since the first immigrants arrived, and our mission at ScotStringNZ is to keep the music Scottish. One sign of our success was that on the Friday morning, many of our young musicians donned their kilts and went to support Anzac Day ceremonies across the upper North Island. A new generation of musicians is carrying the Scottish tradition forward and we could not be more proud of them.
