BORDERER Eryn Rae is through to the semi-final stage of BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2022.

Eryn who was brought up in the village of Lanton near Jedburgh started learning the fiddle at the age of seven under the tuition of renowned Shetland fiddler, Catriona Macdonald.

Now based in Glasgow, Eryn is about to embark on her final year studying Traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

The semi-final will be broadcast on BBC ALBA this Sunday, October 3, in addition to its regular broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.

This is the first time the semi-final will have been broadcast simultaneously on TV and radio since the competition’s inception in 2001.

Gaelic broadcaster Joy Dunlop and Travelling Folk’s Bruce MacGregor introduce coverage from the semi-finals, with twelve talented young musicians competing to make it through to the prestigious live final.

Each semi-finalist will be accompanied by the talented house band consisting of Mhairi Hall (piano) and Michael Bryant (guitar).

The final will take place in February as part of the Celtic Connections festival, where the top six semi-finalists will perform live on both BBC Radio Scotland and BBC ALBA.

Simon Thoumire, Creative Director at Hands Up For Trad, who organise the competition, said: “It’s amazing that the semi-finals of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award will be simulcast on BBC ALBA and BBC Radio Scotland for the first time.

“We’ve been very lucky to have the Finals broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC ALBA in the past few years but this is a great opportunity for the young musicians to get their first taste of performing on TV and to be heard by a much wider audience.”

Margaret Cameron, Commissioning Editor and Head of Creative Partnerships at MG ALBA, who operate BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said: “BBC ALBA is delighted to work with BBC Radio Scotland to broadcast the competition semi-final and bring top, fresh talent to our audience -and pave the way for a great live final early in 2022.”

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year – Semi Final will be broadcast on both BBC ALBA and BBC Radio Scotland at 7.05pm and available again on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds afterwards.