Alison McNeill

Lead Vocals, fiddle & singer songwriter

Alison McNeill graduated with a Masters in Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2013 with scholarships from the RCS Trust and ABRSM. She has performed as a soloist all over the UK, Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Japan, Pakistan, America and Mexico and has been broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and Spanish, Pakistani and Mexican TV.

As a freelance portfolio musician, Alison enjoys a busy and varied career as a Classical lyric soprano performing as a soloist in top venues including Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Minami Aizu Concert Hall (Japan) and the National Auditorium of Galicia (Spain). As gifted recitalist, Alison formed the McNeill Savaloni Duo with Classical guitarist Sasha Savaloni which has seen the pair broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s Classics Unwrapped and become the 2015-2017 Artists in Residence for Enterprise Music Scotland‘s Chamber Music Project.

As a Traditional Musician, she is fiddler and singer in the award-winning Folk Rock band Reely Jiggered who won the 02 abc SoundWave Music competition in 2014 launching them to release their second album Kaleidoscope. They perform in many International Folk Festivals, most recently returning from a tour of Pakistan. This year they released their third album Tricky Terrain to critical acclaim. As one half of the McNeill Sisters Duo, Alison has performed at the Scottish Parliament, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, Radio 4 and Celtic Connections.

Described by the Herald as having "a succinct conduct style, commanding undivided attention.." Alison is Director of the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland Junior Choir and National Boys Choir, the National Youth Choir of Scotland NationalBoys Choir, Associate Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Youth Choruses and Director of Voices of Argyll, a chamber choir performing for rural audiences on beaches, ferries, piers, forests and castles. Alison is in demand as a workshop leader working for Scottish Opera has given culture and heritage workshops in the UK, Mexico, Pakistan and Japan. Alison has her own private teaching studio .

Her entrepreneurial skills are shown by her successful funding bids to deliver Scottish Heritage and Culture Workshops in schools and launch Folk for Folk Festival showcasing Scottish talent and sharing world folk music workshops for young people and adults in the stunning setting of the West-Coast of Scotland.