https://www.stevenblake.music/home daily 1.0 2020-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595604279255-33A4ZU29OS1K7HGJP6XC/P1650847.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595603874600-KGEP1V7SIGX4MG3N8Z90/Rura14.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595604811408-A98P1ECT6Z28J3XAQG6P/RURA-small.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595604842995-QFY6H01DHHMLONWVAVRK/Tryst.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595604871946-VDS4ZZD122ZSOHSIFUJ4/national-youth-pipe-band-of-scotland-lst177775.jpg Home https://www.stevenblake.music/about daily 0.75 2020-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595594623790-DHLW05TJQ3YRSZ3XOXZL/steven-blake-headshot.jpg About - Musician, Composer, Musical Director. Considered one of the most talented young musicians in Scotland, Steven Blake is equally at home with traditional piping, contemporary folk music and composition and possesses a unique style of playing which sets him apart from his peers. Perhaps best known for his work with RURA, over the last few years Steven has taken to the stage across the globe from Japan,to the U.S.,Canada and all around Europe-including extensively touring the UK playing combinations of whistle, bagpipes and piano across line-ups from within traditional music and beyond.This has included big line-ups such as The Unusual Suspects and appearances with Judy Collins to intimate solo spots in chamber concerts. From his beginnings as a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2008 Steven went on to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerlyRSAMD) where he developed his playing style across all 3 instruments, studying piano mainly under Mary Macarthy and James Ross. Steven’s main project RURA released their debut album with Greentrax in March 2012 , won “Up and Coming Act of the Year” at the MG Alba Traditional Music Awards 2012, nominees for ‘Folk Band of the Year‘ 2013 and nominees in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for the coveted ‘Horizon‘ award. and winners of ‘Live Act of the Year’ at the MG Alba Traditional Music Awards 2015. Steven’s recent solo work includes a mixture of performing and composition projects including the collaborative Tryst project amongst some of Scotland’s leading creative pipers. From a commission as part of Creative Scotland’s 20for14 project to appearing in the TV series ‘Outlander’. He has also taken the stage as a soloist with quite a few orchestral line-ups including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Royal Northern College of Music’s Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. Recent recording highlights include appearing as a featured artist on the opening music for the 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as on AdamHolmes’ debut album ‘Airs and Graces’ with John Wood, the producer behind celebrated albums from John Martyn and Nick Drake. He even features on Susan Boyle’s latest album. “Steven is a very competent and adaptable musician who I look forward to working with again.” John Wood https://www.stevenblake.music/contact daily 0.75 2020-07-24 https://www.stevenblake.music/projects daily 0.75 2020-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595595209076-O07PBF4CH8FK8WE3N6H0/RURA-small.jpg Projects - RURA RURA are a multi award-winning act and one of Scotland’s most sought-after folk bands. With three heralded albums, RURA affirm their position as one of Scotland’s leading instrumental groups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595604726586-ACFD9TLK0X2UUUTILIWM/national-youth-pipe-band-of-scotland-lst177775.jpg Projects - National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland As the new Director of the NYPBoS, Steven brings his wealth of performance, composition and recording experience to this challenging role. Appointed in July 2020, he is ready to explore the creative potential of a concert piping and drumming ensemble with such a fantastic group of gifted players https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595598625645-JCL5XM1MTAD6G6W5P3G1/Tryst.jpg Projects - Tryst Comprising ten top contemporary pipers/composers, Tryst first performed at Celtic Connections 2017, showcasing new music inspired by the piobaireachd tradition and exploring the possibilities of a piping ensemble. Featuring John Mulhearn, Finlay MacDonald, Ross Ainslie, Calum MacCrimmon, Rory Campbell, Ali Hutton, Steven Blake, Lorne MacDougall, James Duncan Mackenzie and Mairearad Green. “Utterly compelling majesty…at once viscerally primal, and stunningly sophisticated.” The Scotsman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595598816137-89N2CIPP3EMJA5UDTXBJ/GDE.jpg Projects - The Gordon Duncan Experience Steven is the Musical Director of The Gordon Duncan Experience (GDE), a Celtic big band for young people playing a mixture of Scottish traditional and jazz music, and accepting all instruments from fiddles and pipes to saxophones and French horns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595598415607-TDUBVPBISZ8LMC42R187/unnamed.jpg Projects - Love Music Choir Renowned piper Steven Blake and City of Edinburgh organist John Kitchen joined the Love Music community of 450 singers of all ages. Steven wrote a piece for the choir, featuring polyphonic Canntaireachd - utilising an ancient monophonic vocable tradition with modern choral textures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595599710079-2MVFK85O917IK7NYNM5N/IMG_2661.jpeg Projects https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595602049590-50827RSTG0789DEYGAT8/Bystander+cover.jpg Projects - Bystander As one of Creative Scotland’s ‘20for14’ commissions, Steven travelled around the country to see the impact the Commonwealth Games had throughout Scotland; before, during and after the event. Capturing five images of the Games in Scotland from the perspective of an onlooker, and incorporating research into Debussy’s music, this project experimented with the concept of capturing a particular moment and/or ‘image’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595608016960-TDZC7X01R6U809GG9BLI/Distil_logo.jpg Projects - Distil Distil allows musicians to work with experienced practitioners from other music worlds: jazz, orchestral, contemporary, in a mutual exchange of ideas and experience. Steven took part in 2012, working with George Duthie to adapt pibroch form and structure by adapting the theme in MacCrimmon’s Lament for piano. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595601353478-FZQ6X8EUY7H6FYM4WJL6/Silent+Night.jpg Projects - Opera North Steven was the featured piper in Opera North’s UK premiere production of Silent Night, with cinematic Pulitzer Prize-winning score by American composer Kevin Puts. “…the lone piper ultimately delivers an incredibly plangent motif as the combatants use the last hours of the truce to bury their dead.” The Guardian https://www.stevenblake.music/merch daily 0.75 2020-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595603365807-W1WBUJRZZPY8G9Y5JTLP/Bystander.jpg Merch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595603340069-QOWVJ962I8ZHZ3BPRZKB/live%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bold%2Bfruitmarket.jpg Merch https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f19d303be85d31826a739c7/1595603313082-KJDO4287HNEG2KI43AKW/inpraiseofhome.jpg Merch https://www.stevenblake.music/link1 daily 0.75 2020-07-24 https://www.stevenblake.music/link2 daily 0.75 2020-07-24