[2] Former winners include Hannah Rarity, Mohsen Amini, Robyn Stapleton, Shona Mooney and Emily Smith.
[3] The competition was started in 2000 by Simon Thoumire, together with fiddler Clare McLaughlin and Elspeth Cowie, national organiser of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA), and was first awarded at the 2001 Celtic Connections festival.
[1][5] The usual format of the award is a residential weekend in October at Wiston Lodge, South Lanarkshire for twelve semi-finalists.
[2] Since 2007, the final concert has been held in Glasgow City Halls on the last day of the Celtic Connections festival, and broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland.
From 2020 the final concert was again televised on BBC Alba with Joy Dunlop giving Gaelic commentary alongside MacGregor.