Martyn Bennett

Martyn Bennett February 17 1971 – January 30 2005 Was A Scottish Musician Who Was Born In St. John's Newfoundland Canada. He Was Extremely Influential In The Evolution Of Modern Celtic Fusion A Blending Of Traditional Celtic And Modern Music. He And His Family Moved To Kingussie Speyside Scotland When He Was 10. One Of His Teachers Introduced Him To The Great Highland Bagpipe. Within Two Years Martyn Was Winning Prizes In Many Of The Junior Piping Competitions Around Scotland. He Then Took Up Violin Piano And Composing At The Age Of 15 At The City Of Edinburgh Music School Continuing His Studies At The Royal Scottish Academy Of Music And Drama In 1990. In 1993 Just Before Graduating He Was Diagnosed With Testicular Cancer Which He Related To The Suffocating And Stressful Environment Of The Classical World Where "enjoyment Of The Music ... Was Out-Weighed By The Pressure To Succeed" 1 . In 1994 He Began To Spend More Time With His First Musical Love Folk And Traditional And It Was Not Much Later That He Started To Experiment With Electronica. He Performed At The World Premiere Party For The Film Braveheart. In 1996 He Released His First Self-Titled Album On Eclectic Records. In 1998 He Released Bothy Culture His Most Successful Album. In 2000 Just A Few Months After A Highly Acclaimed Headlining Set At The Cambridge Folk Festival He Was Diagnosed With Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He Died On January 30 2005 Following A Long Struggle With Cancer. read less