Aberdeenshire born, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s most sought-after young folksingers, rooted in the traditions of the North East. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Iona became the first singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. A two-time winner of Scots Singer of the Year, Iona performs traditional repertoire, protest music and self-penned songs in the Scots and English language.
Just as much at home performing unaccompanied in the back rooms of folk clubs as she is singing with trio or full band outfit on concert hall stages, Iona has toured extensively with sell-out shows across the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK and Australia. Iona has twice featured in The List Hot 100 of top Scottish cultural contributors, and in was celebrated in the Young Women’s Movement 30 Under 30 list of 2026. Championing a unique yet globally recognised Scots song tradition, Iona has had her repertoire archived in the British Library and has contributed to the American Folklife Center archive at the The Library of Congress.
Described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer” (Global-Music.de), Iona has appeared at major international festivals including Austin Celtic Festival (USA), Sidmouth Folk Festival (England), Celtic Connections (Scotland), Hebridean Celtic Festival (Scotland), Luke Kelly Festival (Ireland), Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany) and Australian Celtic Festival (NSW). Performing at Interceltique Festival De Lorient in France, she was described as “a Scottish folksinger, magical and charismatic” (Rolling Stone, France).
“A folk star” – The Guardian
Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language, leading a successful campaign to pressure Spotify into recognising Scots and add it to its list of languages. Honoured at the Scots Language Awards with the title of Speaker of the Year in 2021, Iona has been featured in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, The Sunday Post, The Financial Times, and The Herald. A finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2026, Iona has achieved sell-out shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Regarded as leading exponent of Scots song and language, Iona has delivered lectures, masterclasses and interactive singing workshops at institutions including The Linen Hall Library (Belfast), the University of Duisberg-Essen (Germany), University of Aberdeen (Scotland), Old Town School of Folk Music (USA), Johannes Gutenburg University (Germany), TradMad Pinewoods Camp (USA) and the Celtic Arts Center (USA).
Iona has made musical appearances on several television broadcasts including Landward (BBC Scotland), Great Canal Journeys (Channel 4) Secret Scotland with Susan Calman (Channel 5), Binneas Na Trads (BBC ALBA), Under Canvas (BBC ALBA), Hame (BBC Northern Ireland) and Great Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo (BBC Two).
Her music has received airplay and has been performed in session on radio shows such as Music Planet (BBC Radio 3), The Thistle and Shamrock (NPR), The Folk Show (BBC Radio 2) The Afternoon Show, Take The Floor and Travelling Folk (BBC Radio Scotland).
Iona has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as part of the World Premiere of Disney Pixar’s Brave in Concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. In 2024, Iona was entrusted as Musical Director of Scots Women, a stage show held at Glasgow City Halls as part of Celtic Connections, which The Scotsman described as an “evening of outstanding traditional song”. ★★★★
A three-time Official Showcase selected artist at Folk Alliance International, Iona was also selected as a Showcase Artist at Your Roots Are Showing, Irelands premier folk music conference.
Iona studied at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduated with a first-class honours degree in Traditional Music and holds an FLCM from London College of Music.
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Activism
In 2024, Iona became the youngest elected Rector of the University of Aberdeen in its six-hundred-year history, following in the footsteps of other Scottish University Rectors such as Gordon Brown and Sir Winston Churchill.
Iona is a Patron of the Music Venue Trust, a charity which acts to protect, secure and improve Grassroots Music Venues in the United Kingdom.
Iona has twice featured in The List Hot 100 of top Scottish cultural contributors, and in was celebrated in the Young Women’s Movement 30 Under 30 list of 2026. In 2023, Iona was named in the Saltire Society’s inaugural 40 Under 40 list.
Iona is an elected member of the Musicians’ Union’s Scotland and Northern Ireland committee and serves as Deputy Chair. She also represents Scotland and Northern Ireland at the Musicians’ Union Members’ Assembly. In 2023
She serves as a director of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland. Iona served as a Director of Folk Alliance International from 2022 to 2025.
Iona champions equality in the arts sector and has spoken out about several issues pertaining to the music industry. Iona was awarded the STUC Equality Award in 2022 for her work raising awareness and campaigning against sexual harassment in the industry.
Iona has also discussed fair pay for music streaming and the effect of Brexit on live touring. Iona appeared on BBC News, interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire about implications that Brexit has caused for touring musicians.
In 2021, Iona changed policy at Spotify, when she lobbied the company to add Scots to its list of languages on the back end of the platform.
In 2020, Iona helped to found Oor Vyce, the campaign group dedicated to securing official recognition of the Scots Language. The group was instrumental in gaining legal recognition of the Scots language – a language that over 1.5m people speak. (2011 census). In 2025, the Scottish Languages Bill passed, which put Scots, Gaelic, English and British Sign Language on equal footing, and for the first time, recognised Scots as an Official Language of Scotland.
Inspiration
Growing up within the Traditional Music and Song Association movement, Iona met many revivalist singers such as Jimmie Hutchison, Joe Aitken and Carole Prior who influenced her ballad and bothy ballad style. Attending singarounds, ceilidhs and competitions from 5 years of age, Iona learnt her repertoire mainly through oral transmission and is still a regular within the competitive ballad circuit.
Iona’s debut album Away From My Window was held to critical acclaim and received nationwide airplay on programmes such as BBC Radio 2 The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio Scotland’s Travelling Folk, Take The Floor and BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal. An exploration of her unique style and songwriting voice, Away From My Window features archive material of singers such as Stanley Robertson and Lizzie Higgins whilst drawing on the work of more recent songmakers such as Michael Marra and Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap). “Away From My Window” was premiered at a sold out Celtic Connections performance featuring a larger musical ensemble and live on-stage sampling of source singers.
“Describing Iona Fyfe as a Scottish folksinger is probably doing her an injustice, as the versatility displayed on her new, EP release, Dark Turn of Mind, reflects her grasp and understanding of jazz, Americana and much more.” – RnR Magazine
“Poignant and well delivered. Singing well within herself, Iona’s voice, at times reminiscent of Cara Dillon, is well suited to the ballads recorded on this album.” – Scottish Field
★★★★ Maverick ★★★★ RnR Magazine
