Concert Fin Moore, Hamish Moore and Sarah Hoy

A concert this afternoon in Piazza Angelio of traditional Scottish music by Fin Moore and Sarah Moy. The couple have played recent concerts in New York, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong and now Barga. They were invited here as guests of Hamish Moore, artist in residence 2008 and it is no coincidence that both Hamish and Fin share the same surname as they are in fact – father and son.

Both are makers and accomplished players of the Scottish small pipes and border pipes

Fin Moore and Sarah Hoy started playing as an exciting duo 2 years ago, after leading sessions in Birnam, a hot-bed of Scots music in the heartlands of Perthshire. They quickly became in demand for other session work and concert performances further afield, and have since performed together all over Scotland, at festivals in England, and at festivals and schools in the USA. They recently pulled off a first place in competition at the Edinburgh and Lowlands Piping Festival.

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The pipes and fiddle together produce a pure, timeless, and perfectly balanced sound. In the hands of this pair, they can turn out music from the most heart-achingly beautiful slow air, to a set of reels that would have your granny spinning round the floor.

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Fin Moore is a piper, born & bred. He plays the Highland pipes, Border pipes and Scottish Small Pipes. For five years, he played in the Vale of Atholl Juvenile Band and is now a partner with his father, Hamish, (articles here) as very successful pipemakers.

Fin is gaining a great reputation as a teacher of pipes, having completed four summer seasons teaching at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton. He has also taught at the Lowland and Border Pipers Society annual teaching weekend in Melrose and at Piper Gathering North Hero, Vermont and other schools around the world.

He has now performed at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, the Edinburgh International Festival and the William Kennedy Piping Festival, Armagh. He has played solo and with bands including, Dannsa who are gaining great respect in Scotland and abroad for their traditional and innovating dancing, the internationally renowned Cape Breton band, Slainte Mhath, and Back of the Moon, winners at the traditional music awards 2003.

“this boy was born to play a reel and when he did so on the Scottish Small Pipes, stamping both feet to produce a step dance rhythm section…….. living precariously with his own exciting variations, he was magic” Alastair Clark, The Scotsman

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Sarah Hoy was born into a family steeped in musical tradition. She took up the fiddle aged eight, learning from her father Derek, fiddler with classic Scots band, Jock Tamson’s Bairns, and later with Mairi Campbell, well-known fiddler, singer and step dancer.

Having been an enthusiastic learner at music events in her teens, it was natural for Sarah to turn to helping pass on the music and dancing to a new generation. She has now established her own school for young fiddlers in her area, and has taught round Scotland, in England and the USA.

Sarah plays with a dance band, the Trows, and sits in with her dad in Bella McNab’s Dance Band. She has performed at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Edinburgh International Festival, and played for step dancing at Ceolas summer school on South Uist. Sarah taught and performed at Edinburgh Fiddle Festival and featured on ‘Heat The Hoose 2′, a compilation of top Scottish fiddlers at the festival.

“Her upbeat style is immensely likeable, and her compositions immediately caught my attention.” Cheryl Turner, Rambles