News / Trad trio’s Falkirk success
A TRIO of young Shetland traditional musicians have returned to the isles laden with silverware following an annual event in Falkirk at the weekend.
The group, consisting of Anya Johnston, 12, Jodie Smith, 13, and Mike Laurenson, 13, were taking part in the National Association of Accordion and Fiddle Club’s annual competition.
The day-long competition began in the morning with Anya, the youngest competitor in her fiddle class, scooping a silver medal in the Strathspey and reel category and a bronze medal in the slow air section.
More good news followed when Mike collected the sought-after accolade of the competition’s accordion player showing the greatest potential.
The success story didn’t end there. Following a hard-fought open duet competition in the afternoon, Anya and Jodie achieved a well-deserved first place following a note-perfect performance of their challenging musical piece.
In the final section of the day competing as Fjanna (Shetland dialect for ‘peerie foy’), the youngsters took part in the open trio section – up against traditional musical icons such as Tom Orr, Marie Fielding and Craig Paton.
The group – playing with Jodie on fiddle, Mike on accordion and Anya on piano – gave it their all and collected an admirable third place for what judges described as a set that “really got the crowd going”.
Credit is also due to tutors Eunice Henderson and Violet Tulloch.
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