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The Herald Scotland

Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year announced

First place in the 2025 Solo Performer of the Year was awarded to Dunfermline High School student Inver Shand, who took up the accordion at the age of six. He performed two pieces as part of his seven-minute submission: the first was Carnevale, a challenging, Latin-influenced contemporary arrangement by Italian jazz musician and composer Renzo Ruggieri; the second piece was his own take on Phil Cunningham's much-loved and hugely atmospheric Loch Katrine's Lady. Inver drew praise for the speed and intricacy of his playing. (Image: Ian Georgeson) Hailing from a hugely musical family, in recent years Shand has performed in both France and Portugal, and has also collected numerous other awards. With his older brother Clelland and sister Blythe, he is part of 'The Shands' – a musical group recognised as Up and Coming Artist of the Year in 2023, and which was invited to perform during King Charles' visit to Dunfermline Abbey. Last year, Shand also won Senior All Scotland Accordion Championships despite being just sixteen years old, which is the lower age limit for the competition. Runner-up positions for Solo Performer of the Year were awarded to James Rippiner from Aberdeenshire and Aeronwy Gault from East Dunbartonshire. Violinist James Rippiner was an overall runner up and the winner of the strings category (Image: Ian Georgeson) Fourteen-year-old Rippiner of Banchory Academy was recognised following an impeccable violin performance featuring two pieces: Nocturne in C-sharp minor by Frederic Chopin and It Ain't Necessarily So from the opera Porgy and Bess. READ MORE In the other runner-up slot, fifteen-year-old Gault earned praise for a controlled, dynamic, and hugely expressive performance of La Cathedrale Engloutie from Claude Debussy's Preludes Book 1. A student at the Music School of Douglas Academy, she also plays both the violin and the harpsichord and is about to perform her first Keyboard Concerto. Aeronwy Gault's performance of a Debussy prelude earned her a runner up spot (Image: Ian Georgeson) The national final marked the culmination of a programme that, for the first time, included entrants from state schools in every local authority across the country. Each council area, as well as the independent schools sector, submitted a regional winner, all of whom then had the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience in the Stevenson Hall of the RCS. Alan Kerr, Chair of Scottish Young Musicians, said: 'Today marks an important milestone in Scottish Young Musicians history. From a standing start only four years ago, SYM has grown at a remarkable speed, and for the first time will have a talented finalist from all of Scotland's 32 local authority areas performing in the Solo Final. 'This represents the finale of an incredible year which saw our Festival of Music Competitions being offered to every secondary school. The brass and open ensemble competition have come of age to have their very own electrifying live final. 'Overall, hundreds of individual events included thousands of students from all backgrounds and levels of ability, making SYM the largest music education charity in the country. 'I am extremely grateful to the team that made this possible, and we are all energised to start again next year with the ambition to grow SYM even more, bringing opportunities and experiences to young people everywhere in Scotland.'