Muriel Johnstone
Muriel Johnstone (born 1 June 1947, in West Hartlepool, England to Scottish parents) is a Scottish pianist and composer. She was raised and schooled in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland. Johnstone operates the Scotscores label. She has performed and taught in many countries: UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.  Qualified in the study of classical music (BMus and LRAM) and adept in various Scottish idioms, she has become sought after as a performer, accompanist (especially for dance) and teacher , bringing into prominence the role of piano in traditional music. Johnstone lives in Perthshire, Scotland with her husband Bill Zobel. Early life. Johnstone started learning to play the piano at the age of seven and the violin at the age of eight. She attended Ardrossan Academy in Ayrshire where she was Dux of music in 1965 and started composing while at school. Johnstone's earliest composition is published in book "Three Score and Four". She studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated BMus in 1968. She then completed a year's teacher training at Moray House College of Education , Edinburgh. Career. Throughout her life, Johnstone has been involved in Scottish traditional music in particular playing for dancing. She was invited to play at the annual Summer school of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) starting in 1975 and was the youngest ever accompanist at that stage.  For a number of years Johnstone was Director of Music with the RSCDS; and arranger of music for over 20 of their publications. She is still involved in RSCDS and in 2002, for her outstanding contribution to this society, she was awarded their highest merit, the Scroll of Honour. In 1998, Johnstone  was invited to accompany a demonstration of Scottish Country dancing at the RSCDS 75th Anniversary reception in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen as Patron of the RSCDS. Johnstone has traveled extensively worldwide both teaching, playing, recording and broadcasting in the field of Scottish traditional music and has also been interviewed on her expertise in this area. Compositions. Johnstone has composed over 800 pieces of music in the Scottish genre many of which are for dancing. Many of her pieces are commissioned to celebrate events, festivals and to complement newly devised dances. Her Scottish dance music includes reels, jigs , strathspeys, pastoral airs and waltzes while her additional repertoire encompasses other forms of music inspired variously by landscape, nature or the written word. She is currently working on music to accompany a Scottish historical documentary. In 2004, Johnstone composed and arranged music for The Scotia Suite of Scottish Country Dances devised by Roy Goldring. This commission from The Royal Scottish Geographical Society was to honour the achievements of William Speirs Bruce commemorating the voyage of the Scotia, the research vessel of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 1902–1904. Some of Johnstone's pieces were later performed on two separate occasions at  the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Discography. Unless stated otherwise, released under Scotscores label.