HOT 100s

I've decided to blog to add to the volume of wittering and writing about classical music in Scotland  Can't ever be too much, I think, so here goes. I am learning on the job, so pictures, links and similar glamorousness will have to follow in the long run....  

THIS WEEK, I was really delighted to see Karen Cargill there in The List's Hot 100 - specially so high up the list (No.28). Love her, and she deserves every word of praise that is heaped upon her. 

But then, trawling the lists looking for recognition of any other classical musicians or activists I was seriously disappointed to see that she was pretty much the only classical Scot in the full 100. Really? No one else worth mentioning? Of course not: so I gave myself 45 minutes to collate a hot 100 of just the classical Scots with these rules: 

1.They have to be good (according to me – it’s my list. Make your own if you disagree) 

2. They must be attracting wider critical praise

3. They can be on the rise or super famous, don’t mind, but they have to have an  international dimension to their careers. They should include backroom folk and the kind of people the media rarely acknowledges but without whom little would happen: just individuals who are making a difference.

4. They have to be active right now

5. They can be Scots resident or abroad or honorary Scots of other nationalities living here. 

6. They should be in alphabetical order, not hotness.

It's an interesting exercise. In 45 mins I ended up with 102 names, a formidable A-Z from Armstrong to Zekulin. I am all the more impressed and proud of the scale of Scotland’s classical music. I know that this list will be the tip of the iceberg as I was against the clock and in any case, it reflects my limited horizons, the people I work with a lot and all that.

Here's to them all: life would be all the poorer without them. [And please don't beat me up if I haven't got you in here....] 

  

Craig Armstrong, composer

Paul Baxter, record producer

Sally Beamish, composer

Alasdair Beatson, piano / festival director

Christopher Bell, choral director

Nicola Benedetti, violin

Lee Bisset, soprano

Dougie Boyd, conductor

Ian Burnside, piano / broadcaster

John Butt, organ / music director

Jay Capperauld, composer

Karen Cargill, mezzo

James Clapperton, composer / piano

William Conway, cello/artistic director

Colin Currie, percussion

Ruth Davie, producer

Peter Maxwell Davies, composer

Timothy Dean, conductor/teacher/coach

Stephen Deazley, composer/conductor/educationalist

Scott Dickinson, viola

James Dillon, composer

Dave Fennessy, composer

John Fisher, artistic director

Michael Foyle, vioiin

Alec Frank-Gemmill, horn

Yann Ghiro, clarinet

Evelyn Glennie, percussion

Donald Grant, violin

Helen Grime, composer

Ian Hamilton, composer

John Harris, composer

Philip Higham, cello

Philip Hobbs, record producer

David Horne, composer / piano

Robert Irvine, cello/artistic director

John Kenney, trombone / composer

Steve King, violist/composer/ educationalist

John Kitchen, organ

Oliver Knussen, composer/conductor

Mhairi Lawson, soprano

Alfonso Leal, violist/chief executive

Su-a Lee, cello

Andrew Logan, artist manager

Rory MacDonald, conductor

Jamie MacDougall, tenor/broadcaster

John MacLeod, composer

Pat MacMahon, singer/teacher

James MacMillan, composer

Stuart Macrae, composer

Edward Maguire, composer

Maxmiliano Martin, clarinet

Jennifer Martin, chief executive

Malcom Martineau, piano

Roy McEwan, chief executive

Robert McFall, violin

Alison McGillivray , cello

David McGuinness, keyboards/research

Anna Meredith, composer

Lisa Milne, soprano

Alison Mitchell, flute

Gillian Moore, artistic director

Philip Moore, piano

Ruth Morley, flute

Thea Musgrave, composer

Allan Neave, guitar

Alasdair Nicolson, composer / performer / artistic director

Steven Osborne, piano

Iain Paterson, bass-baritone

Lindsay Pell, radio producer

Gavin Reid, chief executive

Paul Rissman, composer / educationalist

Maxine Robertson, artist manager

Fiona Robertson, festival director

Donald Runnicles, conductor

Andy Saunders, horn/entrepreneur

Brian Schiele, violist/arranger

Aaron Schorr, pianist/teacher

Tom Service, broadcaster

Sean Shibe, guitar

Nicky Spence, tenor

Pete Stollery, composer/academic

Matthew Studdert-Kennedy, artistic director

Martin Suckling, composer

William Sweeney, composer

Alasdair Tait, cello/artistic director

Shirley Thomson, artist manager

Thomas Walker, tenor

Garry Walker, conductor

John Wallace, trumpet

Neil Wallace, artistic director

Judith Walsh, producer

James Waters, artistic director

David Watkin, cellist / teacher

Ian Watt, guitar

Judith Weir, composer

Peter Whelan, bassoon/ artistic director

Matthew Whiteside, composer

Nicolas Zekulin, artistic director

Astrid Quartet, string quartet

Aurea Quartet , quartet

Maxwell Quartet , quartet

Pure Brass , brass ensemble