And Other Interesting Things

Fiona Ritchie

Awards:

*New York International Radio Festivals:
2013 Finalist: Best Interview/Craft
2013 Finalist: Best Music Special/Entertainment
2011 Bronze Award: Information/Documentary Culture & the Arts
2011 Silver Award: Best Regularly Scheduled Music Program
2009 Finalist: Best Regularly Scheduled Music Program
(New York Festivals awards in previous years include four Bronze, Silver and Gold World Medals and five Finalist Awards).
*Honorary Doctorate, St. Andrews University in North Carolina
*Citation from Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
*Ambassador of Music Award, Charlotte Folk Society.
*Master Music Maker, Swannanoa Gathering & Warren Wilson College.
*City of Charlotte Proclamation 'The Thistle & Shamrock® Day'.
*Irish America Magazine 'Top 100.'
*Flora Macdonald Award, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian College.

*In 2000, President Bill Clinton invited producers of NPR Music programs, including Ritchie, to the White House to receive the National Medal of Arts.

And other interesting things:

Fiona Ritchie MBE is a Scottish radio broadcaster who has created one of the most widely heard weekly music programs on NPR; in June 2013, she marked 30 years as producer and host of The Thistle & Shamrock®. Ritchie has also presented numerous programs for BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 2, launching the Radio Scotland world music series “Celtic Connections” in 1993, and presenting the first live radio broadcasts from the renowned Celtic Connections Festival. She has produced and presented many live concert performances and broadcasts, including a musical event for HRH Prince Charles in 2001 at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, and has acted in an advisory capacity for arts organizations in the U.S. and U.K., including serving on the Scottish advisory committee for the British Council. In 2003 Ritchie acted as advisor to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage honored her for “creating an on-air community, serving as a musical ambassador, and connecting listeners with the best of traditional and contemporary artistry.” 2003 also saw Ritchie offer NPR’s first mp3 free music download in a specially commissioned recording, and in 2006 she launched “Thistlepod,” an NPR podcast. In 2009, Ritchie and NPR began offering online streams of her radio shows and in 2012, Ritchie and NPR Music launched ThistleRadio, a 24-hour, web-based music channel devoted to new and classic music from Celtic roots. She has also produced several CD compilations, and authored a volume on Celtic music for the NPR Curious Listener’s Guide book series, published in 2005 by Perigree Books. Ritchie is a trustee of the community song charity Just Singin’ and also of the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, promoting traditional music among young people in Scotland.

Fiona Ritchie was appointed MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and Scottish Traditional Music.

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