Bruce MacGregor is a Scottish fiddler and broadcaster who founded

Blazin' Fiddles Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish fiddle band from the Highlands and Islands. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards L ...

in 1998, and currently presents ''Travelling Folk'' on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

. Bruce MacGregor was born in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

in 1970. MacGregor is the current director for Bogbain Farm and a director of MacGregor's Bar in Inverness. He is also a co-director of the 'Spirit of the North' festival. MacGregor was a pupil of Donald Riddell CBE, who also taught fellow fiddlers Highland Duncan Chisholm and Iain MacFarlane, who both joined MacGregor in the first Blazin' Fiddles line-up.

Biography

Educated at

Inverness Royal Academy Inverness Royal Academy is a comprehensive secondary school in the city of Inverness in the Highland area of Scotland. A former grammar school with a history dating back to the 13th century, the Academy became a comprehensive in the mid-1970 ...

, MacGregor studied history at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

followed by a post-graduate Business Diploma in Business Administration from

Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

MacGregor started working at

in 1994 as a researcher before becoming a producer and presenter. He produced and presented ''The Strathspey King'' in 2000 and ''The Captain's Collection'' 1999; both shows won Golden Torque awards at the International Celtic Media Awards. ''The Strathspey King'' was toured as a play produced by Dogstar Theatre.

“…a colourful roller coaster of huge successes and dramatic failures…Billy Riddoch brought the character alive in a vibrant and sympathetic fashion, fuelled by Hamish MacDonald’s sensitive and often very funny script……Scott Skinner’s music was also in good hands. Fiddler Bruce MacGregor and cellist Christine Hanson performed his tunes live throughout, and were worth the admission money on their own…This was a piece of imaginative and beautifully realised music theatre honouring a flawed genius of Scottish music".

MacGregor played amateur

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, captaining Inverness-based Highland Rugby Club] MacGregor was also captain of Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club, Edinburgh University Rugby Club, winning the Scottish Universities Cup in 1992, touring

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in 1990 and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

in 1992. MacGregor also represented Scottish Universities (1991 &92) and Scottish students (1991) Bruce is married to

Jo de Sylva Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

co-director and Chairman of

Visit Inverness Loch Ness Visit refer as go to see and spend time with socially. Visit may refer to: * State visit, a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country *Conjugal visit, in which a prisoner is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visi ...

Albums

* Blazin Fiddles – Fire on! (2000) * Blazin Fiddles – The Old Style (2004) * Blazin Fiddles – Magnificent Seven (2005) * Blazin Fiddles – Live (2007) * Blazin Fiddles – Thursday Night at the Caley (2011) * Blazin Fiddles – Six (2014) * Blazin Fiddles – Solo (2014) * Blazin Fiddles – North (2015) * Cliar – Cliar * Cliar Gun Tamh * Cliar Laiser Dhe * Bruce MacGregor – 101 Reasons to do nothing * Bruce MacGregor – Loch Ness * Bruce MacGregor & Christine Hanson – Kissin is the best of 'A * Bruce MacGregor, Duncan Chisholm & Iain MacFarlane – Portrait of a Highland Fiddler

References

External links

''Travelling Folk''Bogbain FarmMacGregor's BarInverness whisky and gin festivalHighland Rugby Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGregor, Bruce BBC Radio Scotland presenters Scottish fiddlers British male violinists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Blazin' Fiddles members 21st-century violinists 21st-century British male musicians