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Here are the 6 finalists and full list of 12 semi-finalists for the Young Trad 2025.

All 12 performed 10 minute sets at the semi-finals which took place at the Â鶹Éç at Pacific Quay in Glasgow on Sunday 13 October. The semi-finals will be available on Sounds on Â鶹Éç Radio Scotland's Travelling Folk and on iPlayer on Â鶹Éç Alba.

All six finalists will perform at the Â鶹Éç Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2025 Finals on 2 February 2025 at the City Halls in Glasgow. This is part of the Celtic Connections festival. It will be broadcast live on Â鶹Éç Radio Scotland and on Â鶹Éç Alba from 5.00pm.

The Finalists for 2025 are:

I was introduced to the clarsach at primary school when I attended the Gaelic school in Edinburgh. I also attended RCS Juniors which showed me that being a successful traditional musician was a viable option for me, and I was introduced to other like-minded musicians. I went on to study on the BMus Traditional Music course at the Royal Conservatoire.
Throughout the last four years I have been immersed in tradition and inspired by musicians from around the world, as well as working with classical and jazz musicians.

I have performed at festivals including Celtic Connections and The Scots Fiddle Festival, and played in venues such as the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. My recent projects involved performing and recording with singer Beth Malcolm, as well as forming a Gaelic song band called Duan. Most recently, I formed an all-female band with fellow students at the RCS, called Dàna.

I have just graduated from the BMus Traditional Music course at RCS. Before that, I completed my first undergraduate degree on classical guitar performance at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, in my home country, Portugal.

There are several reasons for my interest in Traditional music. Tradition is in a constant symbiotic relationship with time, people and place. Its survival requires the nurturing of its past, realising its place in the present and its importance for the future. Being able to contribute to this provides me with a deep sense of belonging. Traditional music has been one of the means through which I have, over the course of 10 years developed my musicianship and creativity through working in solo and collaborative scenarios.

My way of playing ebbs and flows between soloist and accompanist. Techniques like strumming, flatpicking and fingerpicking are at the core of my musicality and are combined with influences from classcial, traditional, jazz and contemporary sound realms.

I first learned traditional music through listening to recordings and trying to pick up the tunes by ear and joining in sessions on Skye, Glasgow and in my hometown in France. I went on to study at the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton and at Juniors at RCS before joining the degree course there.

I have received many opportunities through Plockton and RCS as well as other projects like Gordon Duncan Experience and the Feis Rois and Argyll Ceilidh Trails. I was commissioned to write a piece for the National Youth Pipe Band for Piping Live 2022. At Celtic Connections 2023, I was part of John Somerville’s Strands Project.

I performed at Eden Festival with a Skye based 4-piece band in 2019. More recently I formed a Clarinet and Accordion duo with Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul and we were awarded a Danny Kyle Award and performed at the Edinburgh TradFest Spotlight showcase.

I’ve been immersed in traditional music from an early age when my Grandad would often play his two row button box to me. Traditional music has remained a firm feature within the Shand family household ever since. Music became a major part of my life when I began accordion lessons at the age of eight under the guidance of music teacher Keith Dickson, where I learnt a variety of different genres including Scottish, Irish & French traditional music.

Along with my younger brother & sister, I formed a band called ‘The Shands’ and we have been kept busy playing at various gigs throughout the country including Â鶹Éç Radio Scotland’s Take The Floor and performing at the All Scotland Accordion & Fiddle Championships. A particular highlight for ‘The Shands’ was being awarded the Up & Coming Artist of the year at the 2023 MG ALBA Music Awards. I am currently studying on the BEd Music Course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

I first fell in love with trad music aged 11 at Alasdair Fraser’s fiddle camp at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye. After that, I started going to fiddle classes at the Glasgow Folk Workshop, and then at the RCS juniors where I studied with Lauren MacColl, Rua Macmillan and many others. I later studied Classical violin and became the first ever violinist to study on the RCS’s Jazz Department, finishing my masters there last year.

Most of my time these days is divided up between my main musical projects including my duo Roo & Neil, my Americana trio Awkward Family Portraits, freelance work with orchestras in Scotland and Ireland, my new duo with Spanish Guitarist Hugo Franco, Celtic Rock outfit Jonny Mac and the Faithful (who have recently been touring with Rod Stewart, supporting him at his concerts in areas across Europe), recent touring in Australia with Dallahan, and many more!

Hailing from outside the small village of Rothienorman in the North-East of Scotland, Ellie Beaton is one of Scotland’s most exciting award-winning singers. Having been brought up immersed in the deeply rooted traditions of the North-East of Scotland, she is well acquainted with the rich and vibrant Aberdeenshire styles of singing.

During her studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Ellie became the youngest recipient of the MG Alba Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year in 2021.

Her music has taken her across the UK and Europe performing at festivals such as Celtic Connections and Festival Interceltique de Lorient and she performed her first international tour in 2023 across Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
Recently graduating from Classical Vocal Studies, she plans on releasing her debut album in 2025 whilst working towards a Masters degree.

Anna Robertson – Fiddle
Annie Lennox – Song
Ariana Black – Fiddle
Chloë Bryce - Fiddle
Clelland Shand – Accordion
Ellie Beaton – Song
Eoin Cumming – Accordion
Finn Macpherson – Pipes/Whistles
Laura Penman – Harp
Miguel Girão – Guitar
Noah Scott – Piano
Roo Geddes – Fiddle