John Mason
John M. Mason, MBE Music in general and Scottish music in particular have been the lifelong interests of this lawyer from Troon in Ayrshire, whose fiddling stems from his Orcadian roots followed by his later upbringing in Wigtownshire. The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is largely his creation and he has been its Director of Music and Principal Conductor since the first performance in 1980. With few exceptions, the orchestral arrangements, both instrumental and vocal, have been penned by John and these now approach some 400 items! He maintains that he could wallpaper his house with all the handwritten parts but it would be a bit boring. In 1987 John’s efforts both in music and in and raising of charity monies through music were recognised in his being awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace which is a day he will never forget. It is generally accepted in Scottish musical circles that John has been very much responsible for the “popularising” of Scottish fiddle music over the last thirty years and he has seen the change of teaching attitude towards such music from being the “poor relation” in violin teaching to the vibrant force the “ fiddle” presently enjoys.
Musical Director
