Folkestra, formerly known as FolkESTRA North is The Sage Gateshead’s youth folk ensemble, formed in 2001. It is led by their Musical Director Ian Stephenson, a multi-instrumentalist playing folk and traditional music from Northumbria and Scandinavia. The former Musical Director was Kathryn Tickell, one of England's premiere folk musicians.
They have performed at a wide range of concerts, recorded and published their self entitled album, "FolkESTRA North", and taken part in festivals including the National Festival of Youth Music, Sidmouth International Festival and Towersey Village Festival.
In Easter of 2005, Folkestra took part in a UK tour called "The Road to the North" to celebrate the rich traditional music of the North East of England. They performed here alongside The Kathryn Tickell Band, Alistair Anderson, Louis Killen, and the Old Rope String Band. With two successful CDs and a growing national reputation, Folkestra have performed at many concerts and festivals across the country, and also at the BBC Proms first ever Folk Day at the Royal Albert Hall. In the summer of 2012, Folkestra are to perform at Traflgar Square in the River of Music festival.
Folkestra's 15 band members play a wide variety of instruments, including fiddles, an accordion, a melodeon, a whistle, a flute, guitars, a saxophone, northumbrian pipes, double bass, voices, and foot percussion.
Much has been learned about early music in Norway from physical artifacts found during archaeological digs. These include instruments such as the lur. Viking and medieval sagas also describe musical activity, as do the accounts of priests and pilgrims from all over Europe coming to visit St Olav's grave in Trondheim.
Music of Kazakhstan refers to a wide range of musical styles and genres deriving from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kazakh National Opera and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra. The folk instrument orchestra was named after Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly, a well-known composer and dombra player from the 19th century.
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Northumberland have had an official piper for over 250 years. The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded in 1928, to encourage the playing of the instrument and its music; Although there were so few players at times during the last century that some feared the tradition would die out, there are many players and makers of the instrument nowadays, and the Society has played a large role in this revival. In more recent times the Mayor of Gateshead and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle have both established a tradition of appointing official Northumbrian pipers.
The country of Costa Rica has many kinds of music.
Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle.
The music of the Virgin Islands reflects long-standing West Indian cultural ties to the island nations to the south, the islands' African heritage and European colonial history, as well as recent North American influences. Though the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they maintain close cultural ties. From its neighbors, the Virgin Islands has imported various pan-Caribbean genres of music, including calypso music and soca music from Trinidad and reggae from Jamaica.
Here Northumbria is defined as Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. According to 'World Music: The Rough Guide', "nowhere is the English living tradition more in evidence than the border lands of Northumbria, the one part of England to rival the counties of the west of Ireland for a rich unbroken tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipes and also a strong fiddle tradition in the region that was already well established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants.
Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. It is home to many types of music.
Budapest has long been an important part of the music of Hungary. Its music history has included the composers Franz Liszt, Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók and the opera composer Ferenc Erkel.
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk, roots and world music artists. The festival is produced and promoted by Glasgow Life. Donald Shaw, a founding member of Capercaillie, was appointed Celtic Connections Artistic Director in 2006.
Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into much more traditional territory and were in the mid-1970s something of a northern counterpart to bands like Fairport Convention. They have also been seen as part of an important roots movement, rediscovering traditional Northumbrian music.
The Nottingham Youth Orchestra is a youth orchestra that was founded in 1985 by Derek Williams and the late Stephen Fairlie. The main aim of the orchestra is to promote the musical development of young local musicians in full time education. The orchestra has gained a reputation for its high standards of performance and has received praise and acclaim both in the UK and on tours abroad.
Folkworks is a non-profit organisation based at The Sage Gateshead and a part of the North Music Trust. It runs many workshops, summer schools and festivals to promote and encourage the furtherance of folk music. It was begun in 1988 by Alistair Anderson and Ros Rigby and became part of the North Music Trust and The Sage Gateshead in 2002. As such, Folkworks no longer continues to exist as a separate entity, as it is now a part of the North Music Trust and based in The Sage Gateshead.
Karen Tweed is a piano accordionist from London, England.
The Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra is a Northern Irish band of musicians who perform music from the Ulster-Scots tradition. Formed in 2000, the USFO are part of a wider revival of interest in Ulster Scots dialect and culture that developed during the 1990s. They draw on long established practices of community music-making, including gospel-singing, fiddling, piping, flute and accordion bands, drumming and fifing. Combining these traditions in innovative ways, they produce sounds that are both new and distinctive. Their focus on the local is complemented by the creative use of related traditions in Scotland, Ireland and the Scotch-Irish diaspora in North America.
TradFest Temple Bar is an annual music and culture festival that takes place in late January in Dublin, Ireland. Founded by the Temple Bar Company, a not-for-profit organisation who work on behalf of businesses in the cultural quarter of Temple Bar, Dublin, it celebrates traditional Irish and folk music and cultural offerings and was launched in 2005. One of the few independent events of its type in Ireland, it has become a major draw for international audiences travelling from the US, UK and Europe - attracting almost 25,000 visitors in 2017. Ticket prices are kept to a minimum price to ensure value for money for those attending. The festival has established its reputation by attracting some of the biggest names internationally in folk and traditional Irish music such as Billy Bragg, Donovan, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Martin Carthy, Maria McKee, Fairport Convention, Eddi Reader, Sarah Jarosz, Ralph McTell, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Steeleye Span and Levellers. Notable Irish acts who have performed include Glen Hansard, Aoife O’Donovan, Damien Dempsey, Declan O’Rourke, Paul Brady, Mundy, Mick Flannery, Maura O’Connell, Finbar Furey, The Dublin Legends, Clannad, Altan, Beoga, Martin Hayes, Kila and Stockton's Wing.
Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
The Wilson Family is an English folk music group from Billingham, County Durham, North East England. They have been singing and performing a cappella folk songs since 1974. They consist of sister Pat and five brothers: Tom, Chris, Steve, Ken and Mike.
Mariam Rezaei is a composer, writer, performer, DJ and improviser. Mariam works predominantly with turntables, piano, vocals and electronics. She was formerly producer of TOPH, a producing mixed arts space in Newcastle, and is now Artistic Director of TUSK Festival.
Bob Davenport is an English traditional folk singer who has been a leading and influential voice in the British folk revival since the early 1960s.