Nicola Benedetti meets Aly Bain

July 4, 2013 at 07:45 PM · This is fun to watch, not only for the music from these wonderful two, but also for the little trip to Scotland!

July 4, 2013 at 10:27 PM · Laurie - thanks for embedding the videos - I should have done it myself!

Aly is a national institution in Scotland - he used to play sessions in my local pub so I've been watching him since I came of age. There's an ease to his playing that's rather rare and special.

You've already interviewed Nicola, I think. Apart from being the best classical player we've produced for a generation, she really is as nice a person as she seems. My stepmother runs a charity that promotes classical music to kids, and she says that Nicola has been unfailingly generous with her time and support. This isn't the kind of work that gets her PR - she's just genuinely committed to helping.

If you don't know Scotland it's a wonderful holiday destination. As you'll know, the fiddle is our national instrument (more than the pipes, if the truth were known). There's wonderful landscape, Edinburgh is an exciting and beautiful city (with the best Festival in the world IMHO), and you don't have to look far to find fine traditional music. Just don't come in August like so many tourists do (rain and midges)!

July 5, 2013 at 01:55 PM · VERY cool. Such mutual respect, and two fine, characteristic musicians.

Thanks for posting this.

July 5, 2013 at 02:24 PM · So Geoff, if one were to visit Scotland (with fiddle in tow, natch), what time of year do you recommend? I've always wanted to go, and it might be fun to do some day.

July 5, 2013 at 11:20 PM · Indeed, I've spoken with her a few times, and saw her play when she was in LA. Wonderful playing! Here are some of those interviews if anyone is interested:

February 2013: The Silver Violin

January 2009: Baroque "Italia" and El Sistema Scotland

July 5, 2013 at 11:20 PM · Indeed, I've spoken with her a few times, and saw her play when she was in LA. Wonderful playing! Here are some of those interviews if anyone is interested:

February 2013: The Silver Violin

January 2009: Baroque "Italia" and El Sistema Scotland

March 2011: Tchaikovsky and Bruch

July 6, 2013 at 08:55 AM · Hi Krista

I see that you live in a county called Midlothian. As you may know, this is the area around Edinburgh, so you community was probably founded by Scots!

As for when to visit, it depends what you're planning to do. For the cities it probably doesn't matter that much, though August does tend to be wet.

For walking, May - July are my personal preference. You do have to be prepared for rain and midges though, at any point in the summer. Midges are similar to your no-see-ums.

If you're into traditional music, there's no shortage of festivals. They vary hugely in quality and atmosphere, though. I prefer the rural ones. There are also many Fiddle workshops and weekends like this one. Can't find a list - you'll have to google. And there are sessions pretty much everyhere you go.

And we've plenty of classical festivals, although the Edinburgh Festival is on another dimension. There's the Official Festival, with the best of classical music and theatre. The huge and rambling Fring - hundreds of performances a day with companies from all over the world. It's quite something. It also overlaps with a major international film festival, and a pretty decent jazz festival...

For walking, the highlight is the highlands and islands of the West Coast. Very special combination of mountains, lochs and quite fabulous empty beaches. If you drop me an email about what you're looking for, I'll try and point you to the right places.

July 9, 2013 at 05:55 AM · Thanks very much, Geoff! I am a member of San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers and its leader is Alasdair Fraser, who teaches fiddle at a Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. If I were to head to Scotland with my fiddle, that's where I'd go.

July 9, 2013 at 12:06 PM · Thanks Geoff! My community was founded by two Scots in the 18th century, the Wooldridge brothers. They opened a coal-mining operation and the town grew up around it.

The list of festivals you mention is enticing. When I go to Europe again, I will definitely put Scotland on the list. There is so much to do!