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mother tongues
mother tongues is a 6-piece string ensemble that plays folk and roots music from around the world. We hail from all over the globe: Finland, Argentina, the USA, Scotland, and England, and each of us brings a unique musical background to the band. United by a deep respect for our roots, a love of a good tune, and classical training, mother tongues creates a unique and dazzling landscape of harmony, texture, and rhythm that is both intricately constructed and passionately intuitive.
COMING FROM
Scotland,
Argentina,
Finland,
Luxembourg,
England
& the USA
based in GLASGOW
where it all started...
Established at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in the spring of 2024, mother tongues is made up of current students and recent graduates of the conservatoire. Our Classical training has a big influence on our style of arranging and rehearsing, giving us a unique approach to folk music.
our philosophy...
Based on ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók's principal of using folk music as a 'mother tongue' with which to create a new compositional palette, our band sees reconstruction and synthesis of different folk (and classical!) modalities as vital to creating a living tradition which connects musicians and audiences to what we play.
who are mother tongues?
Lee Young
Rhona MacDonald
Double Bass
Scotland |
Thea Wilson
Violin / Mandolin / Piano
| England / Scotland
Santiago Gil Duarte
Cello / Piano
| Argentina
Lee Young
Violin
| Finland / Luxembourg / UK
Isla Hallewell
Harp / Voice
| England
Eldon Bradfield
Violin / Viola
| USA
get in touch
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