Vicky Swan & John Dipper run an afternoon Community Folk Orchestra workshop, December 2023 Credit EATMT
Back in December, EATMT had a stall alongside Rod Ward Violins and Jackie Sparrow’s Fiddle Daemons at a Community Folk Orchestra Workshop day in Bungay, Suffolk organised by Jo Poole and supported by Mardles with workshops run by Vicki Swan and John Dipper. It was a wonderful day and we were really delighted to have been invited along to this popular and friendly event.
EATMT stall
Fiddle Daemons & Rod Ward Violins stall
During the lunch break, there was a break out session and from this wonderful hour of music making The East Suffolk Folk Orchestra has been born. The first session will take place on Saturday 27th January from 10am-12pm at the Bungay Community Centre (NR35 1PU) with a second session on Saturday 24th February (10am-12pm) already scheduled in.
The East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra will be open to any instrument, and to both experienced and less experienced players. Initially it will be just for adults, but once the community folk orchestra is confidently established younger players will be welcome to join.
The New Community Centre is situated on Old Grammar Lane, Bungay, between the medical centre and the fire station, adjacent to the playing field and skate park.
The event that led to the creation of this new venture was attended by musicians who were keen to share, help and were a very warm crowd so if you’re nervous about going alone, don’t be!
If you would like to join, or find out more, please contact: jopoole@protonmail.com / 07814 110784.
Vicky Swan & John Dipper run an afternoon Community Folk Orchestra workshop, December 2023 Credit EATMT
Back in December, EATMT had a stall alongside Rod Ward Violins and Jackie Sparrow’s Fiddle Daemons at a Community Folk Orchestra Workshop day in Bungay, Suffolk organised by Jo Poole and supported by Mardles with workshops run by Vicki Swan and John Dipper. It was a wonderful day and we were really delighted to have been invited along to this popular and friendly event.
EATMT stall
Fiddle Daemons & Rod Ward Violins stall
During the lunch break, there was a break out session and from this wonderful hour of music making The East Suffolk Folk Orchestra has been born. The first session took place on Saturday 27th January from 10am-12pm at the Bungay Community Centre (NR35 1PU) and the next session will be on Saturday 24th February (10am-12pm). With over 30 musicians on a wonderful array of instruments, of varying levels of experience, the first session was a great success. If you’re thinking about seeing what this new venture is all about, you’ll be sure of a warm welcome!
February’s meet up
The East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra is open to any instrument, and to both experienced and less experienced players. Initially it will be just for adults, but once the community folk orchestra is confidently established younger players will be welcome to join.The New Community Centre is situated on Old Grammar Lane, Bungay, between the medical centre and the fire station, adjacent to the playing field and skate park.
The event that led to the creation of this new venture was attended by musicians who were keen to share, help and were a very warm crowd so if you’re nervous about going alone, don’t be!
If you would like to join, or find out more, please contact: jopoole@protonmail.com / 07814 110784.
Did you know there are over 300 known versions of ‘While Shepherds Watched’ out there?! In days gone by, the words of this carol (among many others) were put to existing folk tunes, often with different villages or regions becoming associated with a particular version.
There is so much fascinating lore and history surrounding both the carols that are still known today and, even more so, amongst many of the much older, largely forgotten, ones. Those that most of us older generations are still familiar with from our own childhoods tend to be Victorian, stemming very much from within the Church, and tell the religious story of the birth and nativity of Christ.
Outside of this, is a huge wealth of ancient carols, much more ‘folky’ in genre – describing winter scenes, and the coming together to feast, drink and make merry at the dark time of the year when company and good cheer was the heart and soul of rural life. These songs would have been sung around the village streets and farmsteads, connecting neighbour to neighbour. They would have been sung in cottage and in pub, around a fire, or by candle-light.
There is a strong tradition of folk carol singing still alive and well today, particularly in Northern England. Certain Sheffield pubs, for example, are renowned for the lusty, hearty singing of these old tunes, often in glorious harmony.
So it’s something of this passion, and joy, and earthy celebration that we would love to create together at this one-day singing workshop. We are attempting to promote and revive old and forgotten Christmas carols in Norfolk.
When: 2nd December, 10.30am-4pm Where: Weybourne village hall (near Sheringham) Cost: £30 Contact: natasha@natashahood.com to book or for further info
Rich Hatton, a Suffolk/Norfolk based musician and music educator tells EATMT about his project which he is currently working on playing contemporary music in a Folk style.
When it comes to getting young people involved, folk music has somewhat of an image problem. Whilst folk instruments themselves have an aesthetic that can easily inspire a young musician, the associated repertoire doesn’t often enjoy the same appeal; this is not to say that traditional folk repertoire is lacking. Rather, young people naturally gravitate towards playing music that they listen to or hear on a regular basis!
Sometimes all it takes is a foot in the door, to get started on an instrument and explore familiar repertoire before moving further into the folk world. This ongoing project (Adapting Contemporary Repertoire to the Folk Aesthetic) aims to encourage exactly that, currently covering popular music from Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden & Kurt Cobain, game soundtracks including Age Of Empires II and Stardew Valley, film soundtracks including The Last Of The Mohicans (itself heavily influenced by a Scottish folk tune), and some classical music too, with an ambition to extend into new territory.
As a music educator, working in schools in Ipswich, I’ve already had great success in getting students interested in the accordion, banjo, ocarina and harp through this material, and that is hopefully just the beginning. Through guided discovery of folk instruments we can help students discover a life-long love for folk music and the brilliant folk music communities around the country. As folk music enthusiasts we should be careful to respect and maintain our core traditions, but also remember to respect the ever changing nature of what constitutes ‘folk’ music, encouraging young people to get involved and bring their own values and influences into the mix!
The first published performance part of this project is a Folk version of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’:
If any instrumentalists (or vocalists!) would like to get involved, model their skills as folk musicians, and help invoke the spirit of folk music in the younger generation, please do get in contact at withoutahatton@gmail.com or @richspectrumsounds on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.
