Community Projects

Tyneside Fiddle Alliance

The Tyneside Fiddle Alliance is a community of fiddlers resident in the North East of England, established in celebration of a new “golden age” of fiddle music in that region. In an area renowned for its fiddling tradition, this gathering of fiddlers is the fruit of decades of toil by key individuals within the local folk community. The huge efforts they have made have resulted in a flourishing musical environment which is now experienced on a daily basis in the concert halls and sessions of Tyneside and the surrounding area. Operating an “open door” policy, the Tyneside Fiddle Alliance welcomes fiddlers of all abilities, promoting a friendly, inclusive atmosphere in which musicians build a shared repertoire of local tunes and explore traditions from further afield. With support from Gateshead council, the Tyneside Fiddle Alliance is housed in St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Gateshead, and meets on the first and third Thursday of the month.

Tyneside Fiddle Alliance was founded by Stewart Hardy and Hinny Pawsey with taster sessions in the autumn of 2010. From January 2011 with all four members of Bottle Bank Band leading the meetings, Stewart Hardy, Hinny Pawsey, Sophy Ball and David Jones kicked TFA off to a fantastic start. When Hinny moved away and Chloe Jones joined Bottle Band Band she also become a strong leader at TFA. Eventually Sophy had to step back from being a regular leader at TFA due to her multitude of performance and teaching commitments, but she remains a strong supporter and occasional guest tutor. In June of 2017 it had become apparent that a fourth leader at TFA would be a great help to relieve some of the pressure on the other three, and Ali Say, a TFA member since 2015, joined the team.

January 2020 marks our 10th Birthday, so watch out for extra celebratory events.