UHI North, West and Hebrides student is finalist in BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year

Best of luck to UHI North, West and Hebrides student Gregor Niven, whose incredible accordion talent has earned him a spot in the final of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2026!

A well-known accordion player, Gregor is currently studying a BA Applied Music at UHI North, West and Hebrides, and is already making his mark on the Celtic music scene across Scotland. He has recently formed a new band, The Way North.
 
Following a competitive semi-final concert at BBC Pacific Quay, on Sunday 12th October, the six finalists were announced. The Grand Final will take place at the prestigious Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow on 1st February 2026  where the Winner will be crowned the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2026.
 
The winner will also receive an additional recording session with BBC Radio Scotland, a performance at the Scots Trad Music Awards, a concert at HebCelt 2026, and one-year’s membership of Musicians' Union.

Gregor started playing the accordion when he was seven and attended the Royal Conservatoire Juniors and the Douglas Academy Music School in Milngavie. Under the tutelage of Megan MacDonald, he took part in the Ceilidh Trail at Fèis Fhiort. A regular on the Glasgow session scene, he is currently taught by Andrew Waite.
 
Speaking ahead of next year’s finals, Gregor said:

“I'm thrilled to get through, it really gives me something to strive towards, which really helps with motivation for practicing. It helped a lot that the semi-finals were towards the start of the term as the workload hadn't really picked up yet, but I was spending almost every spare moment practicing so it was difficult squeezing everything in!

I felt that it was very difficult to portray myself in the semi-finals as we had such little time for the performance, so one thing that I'm striving for is to make sure that I can represent myself as a musician, which is more important to me than doing really well or winning.”

Dr Corin Anderson, Programme Leader, BA (Hons) Applied Music, said:

"We on the Applied Music programme are all very proud of Gregor's incredible achievement. Gregor is a brilliant performer and is well deserving of a place in the finals. On behalf of all Applied Music staff and students, I'd like to wish Gregor the best of luck - we're all rooting for you!"

All the very best Gregor!

To find out more about studying music at UHI, please visit: BA (Hons) Applied Music course