An islander, fiddle player and Manx Gaelic speaker

Isla Callister is a fiddle player and Manx Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Man. Raised on the rich culture and music from the island, her music reflects a strong connection to her family roots. A graduate from Glasgow’s prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Isla has made Scotland her home and is a familiar face on the traditional music scene where she plays with lauded Scottish bands TRIP and Heisk.

As an in demand musician, Isla has performed and toured at internationally acclaimed festivals and venues across the UK and Europe including much loved Celtic Connections, the Edinburgh fringe, Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, Germany, Estonia and Switzerland. Her music has also taken her further afield to Australia and the Sydney Coliseum Theatre, Canada to the Celtic Colours festival and a tour of America in 2023.  

She has collaborated with world renowned artists and companies such as Donald Shaw, Brìghde Chaimbeul and the Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT). Her recent ‘Moving Cloud’ collaboration with TRIP and SDT saw her travel to Colombia for a run of sold out performances last year. Isla has also released a number of studio albums with her bands, which have garnered nominations for BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards and MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Album of the Year and Folk Band of the Year.