Hamish Napier & Jordan Neil

HAMISH NAPIER is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist and composer from Grantown-on-Spey. He is inspired by the heritage and nature of his native landscape of Strathspey.

His album The Woods explores the flora and fauna of Scotland’s native forests. It won Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards and is the third album in his Strathspey Pentalogy – an ambitious project to produce 5-albums in celebration of his homeland, following on from the first two in the series, The River (for the river Spey) and The Railway (for the old Speyside railway line).

In this concert Hamish will also share a few of the new pieces from forthcoming album no.4, The Hill. Humorous, engaging and heart-warming, Hamish’s performances often incorporate poems and stories about nature, folklore and communities.

JORDAN NEIL is an acclaimed bagpiper and guitarist from Aviemore, Scotland. Similarly to Hamish he attended Fèis Spè in his youth, and is very much in-demand as a musician in his native Badenoch & Strathspey, and the Inverness area.

Jordan has worked alongside the Cairngorm Ceilidh Band and regularly plays in his folk duo Làirig. He attained a bachelor’s degree in Applied Music at the University of the Highlands & Islands, studying under professional musicians Simon Bradley, Iain MacDonald (Glenuig), Matheu Watson and Anna-Wendy Stevenson. Jordan has a passion for the great outdoors and hillwalking and is a keen amateur landscape photographer.

Scottish-born Kirsten Allstaff is one of the founders and directors of The Online Academy of Irish Music. She is an acclaimed flute and tin-whistle player and has played music throughout Ireland, Europe, North America and Asia with various Irish dance shows and groups.

Now living in the traditional music heartland of County Clare, Kirsten will be joined on stage by her son, up and coming concertina player Maitiú Curley.