Steve Gwyn Davies

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STEVE GWYN DAVIES has Welsh and Irish origins and was born in SW England.  He studied music at Bristol Cathedral School and York University (jazz, composition, world music, etc), where he transferred some of his saxophone techniques onto the recorder.  Moving to the Isle of Skye, he studied bagpipes and Gaelic song, absorbing these into his whistle and recorder style.  He also initiated the first major collection of Skye Gaelic song, "Orain an Eilein", published by Taigh na Teud in 2001.

Steve performs mainly with Sabine Barnes Rauch (keyboards). As well as giving recorder workshops with Sabine, and teaching "Celtic recorder" and whistle, he is also involved in creative music and singing with people who have learning disabilities.

"Essentially my way of playing is inspirational - it's not really something I was taught. It first showed itself in improvisation. And even when I'm playing other peoples' material, the music is always being transformed in some way.

What I love is the beauty of the single melodic line; anything else in the music is just there to bring out that line with all its subtleties of phrasing, its microtones, grace-notes, etc. Probably I'm most influenced by singers - Welsh, Gaelic, Arabic  Jewish, singers like Jussi Bjorling, Julio Iglesias... I play as if I was singing, and so for me the music has to have deep feeling to it.  

The dance music too, which I play but haven't yet recorded, has to have a very special excitement.

Another thing is: the music takes me to places (whether "actual" places or inner worlds). And listeners experience this as well."

SABINE BARNES-RAUCH 

Sabine was born in Arnsberg, Germany, her parents being from Galicia, now part of the Ukraine. She studied music at Cologne University, specialising in recorder, and was a member of the Edinburgh Recorder Consort before moving to Skye. As a founder member of Sound Company, she is involved in creative music workshops here and throughout the Highlands, and also teaches piano and recorder.