Tammy Anderson Tribute Concert

To help commemorate the 100th year since his birth, the Tammy Anderson Tribute Concert will unite musicians from Shetland and Norway, all of whom have a direct connection with this legendary musician, composer and traditionalist.

Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham Former student Aly Bain often regarded as Scotland’s supreme fiddler, will return to Shetland with his world famous side-kick Phil Cunningham on accordion.  Having toured and recorded together since 1988, Aly and Phil always guarantee an enthralling and entertaining performance. 

Also travelling home will be one of “Tammy’s Peerie Angels”, Catriona Macdonald who was a founding member of Shetland’s Young Heritage in 1981.  A star pupil of Tammy’s, Catriona’s superb playing and great charisma have established her a worldwide reputation.  She has already performed with groups such as Blazin Fiddlers and the String Sisters, an outfit uniting six of the most exciting female fiddle players in the world. 

Annbjørg Lien One of these sisters is  from Norway, also appearing.  Touring as a top performer of world music as well as Norwegian folk music for over 25 years, Annbjørg studied Hardanger fiddle with Hauk Buen of Telemark, a close friend of Tom’s who performed at the very first Shetland Folk Festival in 1981. The Buen family name is extremely important in the Norwegian traditional music scene and it is an honour that the family will be represented at the concert by Per Anders Buen Garnås, nephew of Knut and Hauk, and one of the finest young Hardanger fiddle players in Norway today.

The concert will also showcase performances by the two fiddle groups founded by Dr Anderson, both of which are still going strong today.  Having removed all references to “young” or “angels”, the younger of the groups to perform will be Shetland’s Heritage Fiddlers, now representing 9 fiddlers who were all at one point taught by Tom.  The more senior grouping is the Shetland Fiddlers Society, originally conceived to perform at the first Shetland Hamefarin in 1960 as well as to meet Tom’s aspiration of uniting local fiddlers who were still performing to the “true” Shetland style. Their 50th Anniversary celebrations will add a special dimension to this unique tribute concert, which amongst other things will also include poetry readings by Mary Blance.

This event is organised by Shetland Folk Festival Society.

To buy tickets, please contact Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, King Harald Street, Lerwick, tel + 44 (0) 1595 745555 or call along in person.

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