The wild landscapes of Scotland share many similarities with those of the Trentino mountains—this must have crossed the mind of Alasdair Fraser, a violinist from Clackmannan, a small county town in the Lowlands north of Edinburgh, when he accepted the invitation to perform at I Suoni delle Dolomiti.
The violin often features in the concert lineups of I Suoni, but while in continental Europe it is now mostly played in classical or chamber music contexts, in the British Isles it has remained deeply rooted in its folk origins. There, it frequently appears at celebrations and gatherings where marches, jigs, and reels are played, often alongside bagpipes and other traditional instruments. Fraser’s style—though he now resides in the United States—draws from the Shetland tradition, which is known for its lively energy, partly due to the use of ringing strings, a technique where two strings are played simultaneously, above and below the melody line.
Fraser boasts a 30-year career filled with concerts, awards, appearances on TV and radio programs, and contributions to film soundtracks, including James Cameron’s Titanic and Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans. In 2011, he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
