The Sydney Scottish Fiddlers was formed in mid 1997. The Canberra National Folk Festival, in March ’97, provided the impetus for a group of Sydney fiddlers of varying abilities to get together to practise tunes. Up to March 2014, the group was led by Trish Barker and based loosely on a number of other fiddle groups, such as the Los Angeles Fiddlers and the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club. The latter group, led by Judy Turner, often plays at the National Festival in Canberra, as do the Sydney Scottish Fiddlers. A number of other fiddlers who had previously attended Valley of the Moon 1996 (Trish Barker, Chris Duncan, Matthew Robertson and Bob McIness) joined the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club in their concerts at the National. In addition a number of Sydney based fiddlers attended Chris Duncan’s workshop on techniques.
After deciding that there was sufficient interest in Sydney for a regular group a few initial meetings were held to set an agenda. The group met twice monthly on the 1st and 3rd Sunday in the Hall of the New Church, Roseville.
With Trish moving to Brisbane, the group now meets monthly at the Gaelic Club in Surry Hills, led by James Gastineau-Hills.