Shona MacFadyen

Shona started playing violin at the age of 8 at school and then moved to private lessons at the age of 12, latterly receiving lessons from Douglas Lawrence. Shona has had success in various solo, trio and band competitions with her sister Susan and other musicians.

Shona joined her sisters' band in 2003 and since then has performed all over the Scotland, the UK, Europe, America and Australia, from Shetland in the North to London in the south of the UK. She has also performed in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Germany for Scottish country dancing events. Along with her sister Susan, Shona has broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland's "Take the Floor" Scottish dance music programme on numerous occasions with her sisters’ band and Nicol McLaren & the Glencraig Band and was privileged to be part of the first all-female band to broadcast on the programme in celebration of International Woman's Day in 2024. The highlight for the band was winning the Scottish Dance Band of the year category at the 2018 Scots Trad Music Awards and then going on to perform at the awards ceremony in 2019 which was broadcast on the BBC Alba television channel. Shona has also travelled to Bahrain for the last 8 years to play for St Andrews night along with the Glencraig band.

Shona is a regular musician at the RSCDS Summer School in St Andrews and lead the musician ensemble course along with her sister, Susan in 2023. Shona has been combining her love for music and dancing for the last 2 ½ years as a member of the Youth Services Committee of the RSCDS and comes off the committee at this year’s AGM in November.