Liz Clark - Champion of Celtic Culture.
- Isobel Arden
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
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Meet Liz Clark.
In this interview, Mark invited Liz to create her own fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions where there are no wrong answers. Enjoy her journey below.
Liz Clark is one of Scotland’s most enduring champions of emerging musical talent.
For more than four decades, she has played a pivotal role in nurturing, promoting and advocating for new artists across the folk and traditional music community. As Director, Producer and Presenter of the Danny Kyle Open Stage (DKOS), Liz has dedicated her career to ensuring that up-and-coming performers have access to the kind of opportunities, visibility and mentorship that can transform artistic futures.
DKOS was founded in 1999 by Colin Hynd, then Director of Celtic Connections, in memory of the late Danny Kyle – the renowned musician, presenter and tireless supporter of new talent.
With Liz and the late Gibb Todd at the helm, DKOS quickly became a flagship platform at Celtic Connections and has since expanded its reach to additional festivals. Under Liz’s stewardship, DKOS has grown into a year-round initiative dedicated to presenting, promoting and informing audiences about exceptional emerging artists.
Over the past 26 years, Liz has put more than 5,000 artists on the DKOS stage, offering performers exposure through live public showcases, social media features, a dedicated website (dkos.co.uk) and extensive radio support.
Her commitment extends far beyond the festival season: DKOS now works 24/7, 365 days a year to elevate new voices, encourage active citizenship within the music community, and connect artists with audiences, industry professionals and potential work opportunities they may never otherwise have accessed.
Liz is also a Director, Company Secretary, Producer and Presenter at Celtic Music Radio, which she brought into DKOS in 2008 to broadcast the stage live.
Since then, she has fronted two long-running weekly programmes, and in 2013 was voted onto the station’s board, where she continues to contribute to its strategic direction and artistic development.
In early 2024, recognising the need to safeguard the future of the platform she has tirelessly built, Liz registered DKOS as a charity. She appointed colleagues Iain Copeland and Isla Duncan as trustees, securing the organisation’s ability to continue championing emerging talent, while also supporting the growing family of established DKOS alumni as they progress in their careers.
Beyond DKOS and Celtic Music Radio, Liz has served the Scottish music community for more than 40 years through committee and board roles across multiple festivals and cultural organisations. Her contributions include significant service to the TMSA (Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland) at both branch and national levels, Performing Rights Glasgow, the Strategic Music Forum, Celtic Music Radio, and the Friends of Possilpark Greenspace.
Liz Clark’s dedication has helped shape Scotland’s musical landscape, ensuring that thousands of artists have had the encouragement, exposure and support they needed at a critical moment in their careers. Her work continues to embody the spirit of Danny Kyle himself: generous, passionate and unwaveringly committed to the next generation of musicians.
Liz's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and time machine to hand.
Mark and Liz imagined a year-long cultural adventure centred around Celtic music.
The idea was that Liz would receive funding from a Scottish family foundation to travel the world, accompanied by a TV crew and eventually producing a book and lecture series. In the end, Liz chose to dedicate the year to traditional Scottish music—starting her journey in Beijing, where she’d explore local dance performances.
Around the World in Culture and Sport
They then went on a playful tour of global cultural and sporting experiences—from dramatic Chinese “water margin” performances, to pony polo in Nepal, to a VR art gallery in Maui. Along the way, they chatted about the “true” taste of local cuisines and what makes each cultural moment feel authentic.
Dream Week in London
They imagined a dream cultural week in London:
A Segovia concert
Shakespeare at The Globe
A West End musical
An opera with the Three Tenors
And a classic film starring Gene Krupa
This sparked personal memories—Mark meeting Buddy Rich at age 9, Liz seeing Segovia at 6. The session ended with Liz agreeing to research and rank the best Celtic music venues. Mark promised to send her off in style—with lunch at a 3-Michelin star Chinese fusion restaurant.
Dinner Party Fantasy
Finally, they played the “dinner guest” game. Liz chose Manny Shinwell, the Scottish politician, and decided he would invite Karl Marx for a lively political debate.
Explore more about Liz below:
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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