Iain Fraser & Joanna Stark
Iain Fraser - Bandcamp ~ Instagram
Joanna Stark - Facebook ~ Instagram ~ SoundCloud
Showcase: Saturday 21
‘Matthew Hardie 200’ - 2pm in the Quaker Studio
Join Iain Fraser and Joanna Stark for their showcase Matthew Hardie 200.
This year marks 200 years since the death of the Jedburgh and Edinburgh violin maker Matthew Hardie. Popularly known as the `Scottish Stradivari ́, Hardie was a remarkably talented luthier whose impact on Scottish violin making cannot be underestimated. This recital by Iain Fraser and Joanne Stark will be performed on two of Hardie’s finest instruments in conjunction with Edinburgh violin dealers Tim Wright Violins.
Hardie was born in the Borders town of Jedburgh in 1754 and was baptised in the Associate Church there on the 27th of November that year. His father, Stephen, was a clockmaker in the town and young Matthew trained as a joiner before joining the South Fencible Regiment in 1778. He married the next year and left the regiment in 1782. Sadly, life was not kind to him and his family: constant financial trouble, alcoholism and the death of first wife and son within a few months of each other all took their toll. Despite these hardships, he is now considered to be the most important Scottish violin maker to have lived.
He died in 1826, having been imprisoned as a debtor in the notorious Calton Hill jail and then admitted to the Edinburgh Charity Workhouse some time afterward. In this bicentennial year of his death, his instruments live on and Iain and Joanna’s recital will aim to showcase two of his finest examples while also offering a programme of pieces he would have been familiar with from Edinburgh and the Borders.
Iain Fraser is fascinated by the fiddle’s rhythmic and emotional capabilities. He draws upon an extensive repertoire ranging from 18thC. Scottish tunes to new compositions, and from the multiple regional music styles of the British Isles to those of North America and Europe. He has performed and taught widely over the past 40 years, most notably, he was principal fiddle teacher in the Scottish Music Department of the RCS between 1995-2005 before being appointed Head of Instrumental Music for the Scottish Borders until 2011. His Album credits include ‘Touchwood’ in 2002, ‘Gneiss’, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Fèis Rois’s annual adult teaching festival in 2022 and ‘Kōterana’, celebrating the multiple 19th C. migrations of Rev Norman McLeodand his followers from Clachtoll to Waipu in 2023. His publications include ‘Scottish Fiddle Tunes – 60 Traditional Pieces for Violin” 2006, “Canadian Fiddle Tunes – 60 Traditional Pieces” in 2015 – both for the Schott World Music Series. Iain currently teaches with the Scots Music Group and tours with Selkirk based HotTrod Theatre in their current production ‘The Wars of Patie Crichton’.
Joanna Stark is an eclectic musician and step dancer from North-East Fife, currently based in Glasgow. She recently obtained her MMus in Cello Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). Drawing from her roots in Scottish traditional music, Joanna loves blending genres and disciplines together as a performer, composer and improviser. This shines through in her cello-fiddle folk duo Vágr, who release their debut EP in November with support from Creative Scotland, showcasing historical and original Scottish music within contemporary arrangements. She also regularly performs with No Borders String Trio across the UK and France in partnership with Live Music Now Scotland and Chamber Music Scotland, specializing in performing new music with links to health and wellbeing. Over recent years Joanna’s creative and collaborative approach has invited opportunities to work with numerous folk and indie artists such as Isla Ratcliffe and Outi Karhu, and to premiere new works by numerous Scottish composers such as Erland Cooper and Tree Burton. A passionate community musician, Joanna enjoys tutoring privately, and working with a variety of youth/community music organisations such as Glasgow Folk Workshop and Beatroute Arts. A recent collaboration with Mish Mash Productions saw her co-write a music-theatre show for school children, bringing elements of French and Scottish music/folklore to schools across the UK. Joanna plays on a 2026 cello by Linus Andersson, modelled on a Guadagnini ‘Simpson’.