Musicians

Combining a decades-long love of Scottish country dance and its rich and evolving musical traditions, Matthew Robertson is on a permanent musical mission to give Scottish dancers tuneful support for their exploits on the social dance floor. With many musical miles behind him, he brings an informed and caring eye-and-ear for Scottish music in its dance context.

He teaches Scottish country dancing at the Box Hill Scottish Society SCD group in Melbourne, and as one of this country’s busiest Scottish fiddlers co-anchors live music for SCD in Melbourne with musical friends David South (accordion), Julia Arnold (piano) and skilled associate musicians in various ensemble sizes for SCD, ceilidhs and weddings, Burns and clan events, and for corporate, festival and concert gigs.

Matthew was musical director for the successful 2019 RSCDS Australian Winter School, and is saddling up again in the role for Melbourne’s hosting of the 2026 Winter School.

In the meantime, Matthew and David, with Duncan Smith (piano), will draw on an amazing repertoire of jigs, Strathspeys and reels to get you into the dancing groove at this year’s Southern Fling / Southern Fringe gathering.

Duncan Smith began playing piano in the Scottish idiom since 1980 in his native Boston, USA as the founding pianist in Barbara McOwen’s Scottish dance band “Tullochgorum”. He has recorded five CDs of Scottish Country Dance Music – three as part of David South and his Band, and one each with fiddlers Susan Worland and Catherine Fraser. Duncan also released three listening CDs with Catherine, and was co-director with her of the Southern Hemisphere International School of Scottish Fiddle (SHISSF) for eleven years, where he taught the accompaniment class.

A Scottish country dancer since childhood and an RSCDS certificated teacher since 1976, he has taught, played, and danced at classes, weekends and workshops in the USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. Duncan is also active as a dancer, teacher, and musician for English country and New England contra dancing.

David South grew up in a Scottish Country Dancing family, despite not having any Scottish heritage.  His mother took up the activity as a teenage hobby before she married, making her debut at the Clan McKenzie Charity Ball in Brisbane.  She met David's father on the boat trip to Scotland to attend the RSCDS St. Andrew's Summer School and after marrying, he followed in her footsteps in learning how to dance, despite being an Englishman!

David gained experience playing first piano, then accordion for his mother's dance class in Brisbane in the 1970s and 1980s, before relocating to Victoria in the mid-1990s.  He met his future wife Kim at an RSCDS Australian Winter School, where he was one of the staff musicians.

Since then, David has been part of the very successful band formed in Victoria.  He has also had the opportunity to travel to Scotland three times.  Some of the highlights include being interviewed by the late Robbie Shepherd on the BBC Radio programme "Take the Floor", as well as sitting in on gigs with the bands of Nicol McLaren, Colin Dewar and Iain MacPhail.  Meeting one of his heroes, Jimmy Shand Jnr, exploring the vibrant Accordion & Fiddle Club scene before it was decimated by Covid, and attending the Accordion & Fiddle Festival in Shetland are also highlights.

David plays, arranges and composes and is steeped in the history of Scottish Dance Music, as is evident from his large collection of Scottish Dance recordings, which along with his sheet music library, are a valuable resource for the band.