Dorothy Ferguson, a former Inverurie Academy music instructor who founded Garioch Fiddlers, has died aged 83.
She taught at the school for 30 years and it is calculated she taught violin and viola to about 1500 pupils.
Dorothy formed Garioch Fiddlers in the early 1980s and also served as leader and conductor until her retiral in 2011.
But she was a classical violinist at heart and had played with Aberdeen Sinfonietta, Aberdeen Choral Society, and the Inverurie Orchestra.
Dorothy was born in Dundee in June 1941 to Harold Tarn, a clerk with a meat importing business, and his wife, Alice, a housewife who also taught piano. Harold was also a pianist.
School days
She was educated at primary and secondary level at Morgan Academy, Dundee, but also attended Dundee Music School from an early age where she learnt to play violin. Her late brother, Ronald, was a violin and viola player and maker, and her sister, Sylvia, was an accomplished piano player.
When she left school, Dorothy began work as an insurance clerk then became a clerk with the engineering department of the GPO.
She met her future husband, Wilson, through church youth fellowships and they married in Dundee in August 1964.
Wilson worked in insurance before becoming a probation officer, social worker and then senior inspector of adult care homes.
In 1964, the couple moved from Dundee to Perth because of Wilson’s work as a probation officer. Daughter Shona, who sadly died in 2022, was born in 1967 followed by Craig in 1968.
Move to Inverurie
In 1971 Wilson’s work took the family to Inverurie and, when children were in upper primary school, Dorothy volunteered to help out the overstretched violin teacher at Inverurie Academy who recognised her ability and persuaded her to become a full-time instructor.
Her son, Craig, said: “She was loved by her pupils, her fellow fiddlers, and her orchestral colleagues for her gentle, unassuming manner that encouraged and supported individuals to be as excellent as they could be.
“She particularly loved watching her primary-aged players learn and grow all the way to secondary age, and then to hear of them join university/college/amateur orchestras and groups as young adults.”
Dorothy encouraged Garioch Fiddlers to a level of excellence that saw them frequently invited to play on television shows. They also made CDs, performed at the annual fiddlers’ rally in Inverurie and entertained throughout the north-east.
Craig, who works in the National Trust for Scotland’s people department in Inverness, said: “My mother had been a classical violinist and played from an early age with orchestras in Dundee and Perth before moving to Inverurie in the 1970s and playing classically in the north-east.
“She will be particularly fondly remembered as a patient and kind violin and viola teacher for Inverurie Academy and its feeder primary schools.”
Outside interests
Away from music, Dorothy enjoyed cooking and baking and was a founding member of Garioch Indoor Bowling Club in Inverurie.
Craig said: “Sadly, surgery after breast cancer about 13 years ago meant she lost strength and stamina in her arms and shoulders which meant she had to retire from playing in orchestras and conducting the Garioch Fiddlers.”
Dorothy’s funeral will take place at Eric P Massie’s chapel, Inverurie, on Friday March 1 at 1.30pm.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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