A weekend of concerts, workshops and impromptu performances given by choirs and vocal ensembles, loosely themed on peace, love and understanding: 100 years on from the end of the 1st World War. (PLEASE NOTE: Saturday's events are at The Birchcliffe Centre, Sunday's at Wainsgate Chapel)
Recital of contemporary pieces for solo marimba “A superb performance from an amazing young musician” Hebden Bridge Arts Festival 2011Andrew Thomas: Merlin
Joseph Schwanter: Velocities
Paul Lansky: Three Moves for Marimba
Steven Mackey: See Ya Thursday
David Lang: String Of Pearls
Philippe Hurel: Loops IV
Joe has performed all over the UK and abroad in a huge array of musical contexts; ranging from work as a contemporary solo artist, to that of an orchestral, chamber and West End musician. He has appeared with numerous ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Sinfonietta, frequently featuring on national radio and television.
Haydn: Quartet Op 33 no 2
Shostakovich: Quartet no 8Interval
Dvorak: ‘American‘ Quartet
Alexandra Stemp- First Violin
Alex studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with David Takeno and John Glickman. After freelancing with several major UK orchestras she took a first Violin post in the Halle for eight years. She now freelances with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle and Northern Chamber orchestra, takes part in recording sessions in Manchester and teaches from home in East Lancashire.
Susan Voss - Second Violin
Sue studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno, and then continued her studies for many years with Howard Davis of the Alberni Quartet. She spent 2 years in the Sadlers’ Wells Royal Ballet orchestra in the first violins followed by five years in the BBC Radio Orchestra in London. Then followed nine years in the firsts of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales followed by five years as principal Second of the English String/Symphony Orchestra. Since moving to the Halifax she has freelanced - mostly with the Halle, but also with the RLPO, Opera North and the BBC Philharmonic.
Jayne Coyle - Viola
Jayne studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Vicci Wardman. Based in Manchester she freelances with the Halle, RLPO, Opera North and Manchester Camerata. She also manages and plays in The Solo Players String Quartet - a group of musicians providing live music for commercial and corporate events.
Esther Harriot- Cello
Esther studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Moray Welsh, Marius May and Antonio Lysy. She was a member of the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra and now performs regularly with orchestras in the north of England including the Halle and the RLPO. Her orchestral career has been augmented by numerous chamber ensembles, including a tango band!
Andy Greaves: vocals, mandolin, guitar
Les Gillon: guitar
Jen Rhiannon Trott: iddle, vocals
Ghost School is a new musical ensemble based largely around the original songs of Calderdale musician Andy Greaves (vocals, mandolin and guitar), a heavy dose of traditional material and, here and there, some very odd poetry. The band features urbane master of the guitar Les (Fez) Gillon and the talented Jen Rhiannon Trott (fiddle and vocals). Expect strong melodies, mystery and mayhem with subjects ranging from murderous cheese thievery in early nineteenth century Cheshire, a heartfelt eulogy to a globe artichoke and the exploits of a cunning, grimly humorous owl.
Kerry Andrew: voice, keyboard, ukulele, synthesiser and loop station.
Alternative folk artist performing a collection of original songs and bold arrangements of traditional ones.
‘A hydrosonic revelation… full of surreality, wit and melodies melting on the water…totally compelling and totally immersive’ - BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction
“English avant-folk at its finest” – The Guardian
“Her voice is a thing of beauty and clarity… [she is] reconfiguring British folk as a music not only of the past, but of the present and future” – Prog
Helen Thatcher: cello Neil Darwent: guitar
‘velvety tone she achieves in the frequent moments when the cello soars from the texture.’ Catherine Nelson, The Strad
Programme:
Burgmueller: 3 Nocturnes
Gnattali: Sonata
Zenamon: Reflexoes no 6
Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras no 5Interval
Paganini: 3 Sonatas
Piazzolla: Cafe 1930, Oblivion and Libertango
Nin: Suite Espagnole
Granados: Danzas Espanolas No.5: Andaluza
Original and transcribed music for guitar and cello. This is an eclectic mix of music that will transport the listener to different regions of the world – especially to Spain and to Latin America.
Music by Burgmüller and Piazzolla, plus contemporary works by Brazilian composer Radamés Gnattali and Bolivian composer Jaime Mirtenbaum Zenamon
Experienced chamber musicians, Helen Thatcher and Neil Darwent, have now set about exploring the musical possibilities for combining cello and guitar.
Helen, founding member of the renowned Sorrel Quartet and the Erringden Ensemble, has toured the world, made numerous CDs and broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3. The recordings of the complete Britten and Shostakovich Quartets have received wide-spread critical acclaim. Helen has performed at all the major chamber music venues: Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh, Brandon Hill Bristol, Snape Aldeburgh, Spitalfields, St John’s Smith Square, Edinburgh Festival. In demand as principal cello, she has played in Opera North, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and BBC Philharmonic.
Neil Darwent teaches at Huddersfield University and Rishworth School. His knowledge of guitar chamber music is extensive. He enjoys playing with the Pennine Chamber Ensemble as well as performing solo recitals in intimate settings. Neil is passionate about his teaching hence his involvement with music services in Oldham, Calderdale, Kirklees and Barnsley.
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Helen Bytheway: Keyboards, Vocals
Paul Bytheway: Guitar, Vocals
Influenced heavily by contemporary folk, 50s rock n roll and especially pop and soul music from the 60s, Manchester-based quintet The Retrosettes are the quintessential “big in Europe” band - for example touring Germany with Simply Red and playing to huge crowds there. They went back on tour around Europe in March 2017 and released their debut album ‘1, 2, Yes, Go!’ which was album of the week on several major radio stations in Germany.
For their Wainsgate gig, lead singers Paul and Helen Bytheway will appear as an acoustic duo performing intimate versions of their album tracks, some quirky covers and some exclusive new songs never performed by the full band. Their laid-back, feel-good vibes and their individual style captures and entrances their audiences, especially in live concerts.
The Retrosettes inject contemporary music with a retro flavour and revive the past within a modern landscape. Their music has been described as combining modernity and vintage in a cool, elegant mix of sounds from 1960s Pop, Northern Soul and Disco. It seamlessly echoes the era of The Beatles but nonetheless blends perfectly into the present day.
The Breath is Stuart McCallum (former guitarist of The Cinematic Orchestra), Irish singer Ríoghnach (pron. REE uh nah) Connolly and McCallum’s fellow Cinematic alumni, pianist John Ellis and drummer Luke Flowers. Born out of Manchester’s fertile music scene they mix Irish folk influences with mesmerizing guitar riffs, anthemic themes and powerful hooks. Connolly’s soulful vocals are interwoven into the electronic fabric of McCallum’s distinctive soundworld. In turns hypnotic, lush, powerfully raw and raucously punchy, their songs entrance, uplift and break your heart as The Breath conjure a kaleidoscope of sound that perfectly frames Connolly’s raw songs and soul cleansing vocals.
Drawing on the influences of traditional Irish folk song, Connolly’s original lyrics pour forth from her own life in a torrent of meaning. She sings songs of birth and death, woman’s rights, first love, the call of motherhood, the death of men at sea and post-colonial wrongs. All delivered with compelling emotional honesty and a raw urgency as McCallum, Ellis and Flowers delve deeply into the spaces between rock, ambient, folk and jazz to deliver a powerfully hypnotic accompaniment that moves from chilled soundscapes to rocking anthems. Recorded in Manchester and at Real World Studios and mixed by sound guru Tchad Blake, The Breath’s debut album ‘Carry Your Kin’ is released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records in July 2016.
Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests are a three piece band from Ulverston and Lancaster, featuring songwriter Paddy on guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonium and piano; Ben McCabe on drums, french horn and backing vocals: and Darren Leadsom on bass and backing vocals.
The band’s music is best described as alt-folk/rock. Story songs with great melodies, occasional wig outs and pleasant squawks. Sea monsters, James Joyce, the afterlife, Dad’s Army, the stoned freaks in the town centre and the universe blues are just some of what awaits the listener, set to a deftly musical soundtrack of runaway grunge, barreling (or barrelhousing) rock’n’roll, mandolin dub, melodious folk and epic guitar heroics.
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals/Guitar/Mandolin
Darren Leadsom - Bass/Backing Vocals
Ben McCabe - Drums/Backing Vocals
REVIEWS OF DEBUT ALBUM ‘I JUMPED SHIP’
“Absolutely awesome record, been singing it for days.” - Tom Robinson (BBC6 Music) on ‘Sea Monsters’, played on his BBC6 Introducing and Saturday night show
"Bonkers but amiable three piece from the far north of England take two years plus to produce a debut which has some trouser-bursting brass and lots of chutzpah. Mandolin ska folk psychedelia doesn’t even make a halfway decent description. Off the wall and up the alley." fRoots Magazine
Join an artist as he journeys through the euphoric highs and the self-destructive lows of his creative cycles. Folktronic singer-songwriter Minute Taker and animation artist Ana Stefaniak have created a haunting, modern fable told through projected film and live piano songs, brimming with ethereal harmonies, fizzing synthesisers and orchestral twists.
Frances M Lynch sings spectacular stories, highlighting outstanding achievements by pioneering UK female scientists. An Edinburgh Fringe 2016 award-winning show, with music ancient and modern, specially commissioned from some of the UK’s leading female composers.
Charlie Carr: vocals
Dave Nelson: piano
Teal Bain-Roben: drums
Remo Ciofani: bass
Charlie Carr and jazz pianist Dave Nelson have worked as a duo since 2014 and as well as writing several songs together, have also produced some unusual and fascinating arrangements of tunes not normally found in the jazz repertoire. These include songs originally sung by REM, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and many more.
Earlier this year Dave and Charlie expanded the line up to include the excellent Hebden Bridge-based rhythm section of Teal Bain-Roben and Remo Ciofani.
With a track record for being intensely intimate and seriously fun-filled, allotment-swing-acoustic trio The Magic Beans have an ear for a quirky cover and the imagination to take it in a completely new direction. Their rootsy originals draw influence from folk, jazz and world music traditions and sit comfortably alongside the eclectic songs that they cover and their unique way of reimagining them.
“The Magic Beans trade in transformation. That is, they distill the essence of unlikely pop songs with just a supple string bass (Matt Owens, the best in the business) and lyrical acoustic guitar (the tasteful Ulrich Elbracht). The pair interweave seamlessly, and, most important of all, leave lots of room for singer Zoe Kyoti. In this environment, Zoe blossoms like an exotic bloom, and is relaxed, confident and, not to put too fine a point on it, divine.” (Mike Butler – Dyverse Music)
“Blues, roots, Ratpack-style swing and theatre…An album that shows not only raw musical talent across the genres and innovation in lyrics and melody…as fun and upbeat as it is solemn and sultry.” (Nickie Shobeiry – Music Muso)
“Uli Elbracht & Matt Owens are self-effacing accompanists: they provide minimal velvet for the jewel of Zoe Kyoti’s voice, which is magical in its smoothness, nuance and tenderness” (MEN)