About
Georgina MacDonell Finlayson is a Scottish musician, composer, sound artist and community arts practitioner. She enjoys a varied portfolio of composing, performing and teaching in both classical and traditional styles, and has a particular interest in collaborative, cross-genre and multi-disciplinary performance. Raised in a remote glen in the North East of Scotland, her creative work is often influenced by her experiences of landscape, nature and traditional culture. She is fascinated by the ways in which traditional music and culture are so deeply connected with landscape and language, but also how this connection can be found in the fusion of classical and traditional music across the world. This fascination is a strong research and artistic thread in her creative practice, but in particular, how music can bring us closer to landscape and nature and address our urgent need to live sustainably.
Georgina is experienced as both a chamber musician and an orchestral player, performing an extensive range of repertoire, with a particular interest in contemporary music, folk inspired repertoire and cross-genre ensembles. She has performed with orchestras and ensembles across Scotland, including Nevis Ensemble, NYOS and Kellie Consort. She is also a performer and composer of traditional music, often working with live storytelling and theatre, appearing at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and the Audacious Women Festival. As a composer, her works have previously been played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Red Note Ensemble and Any Enemy, performed at Aberdeen’s soundfestival and broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 New Music Show. Her work explores everything from traditional and contemporary classical styles, to sound design, theatre scores, spoken word and electroacoustic composition.
Georgina has a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Edinburgh. She has extensive experience as an instrumental teacher, workshop leader and community arts practitioner, and feels strongly about making music and the arts accessible to everyone. Previous work and collaborations have included theatre, puppetry, dance, storytelling, exhibition curation, installation and archival research. She also takes great interest in Scottish history, ethnomusicology, ecomusicology, cultural geography, and is currently learning Scottish Gaelic.
