Person Muriel A Johnstone 1502

A long interview with Muriel was included in the first issue of the Society magazine, The Scottish country dancer, in the Autumn of 2005. The introduction to that article reads:

Muriel Johnstone, the most prolific composer of Scottish country dance music ever, and one of the Society’s best-loved musicians, grew up in the Ayrshire port of Ardrossan in a family steeped in country dancing and country dance music. Both her parents were dancers. Her mother, Dorothy Johnstone, the well-known class musician, played at Summer School for many years. Muriel started ballet at the age of three, but from the age of eight till she went to university, she attended the branch children’s class, taught by Ann Hughes.

Her branch was North West Ayrshire, founded by Alastair Aitkenhead as a young man straight out of Jordanhill. Muriel then studied music at Edinburgh University, dancing with New Scotland. She then trained as a teacher at Moray House College of Education. While there she took her preliminary Certificate, but it was not till 1990 that she took her Full Certificate. From 1977 till 2002 Muriel was responsible for arranging the Society’s music. After living in the States for some years, she and her husband and fellow teacher, Bill Zobel, moved to Canada. In 2011, Muriel and Bill returned to Scotland and now reside in Pitlochry, Perthshire.

Note April 2020: Muriel and Bill have the website https://scotscores.com, where more information is available