School Presentations
- – The Holly and The Ivy Winter Roadshow
- – Fiddles in Harmony with Sophy Ball
- – Winter Warmers with Laura Connolly
The Holly and The Ivy
– A Midwinter Roadshow for Schools
A concert lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, presenting songs, stories, dances and customs associated with Midwinter, Christmas and the New Year. It’s lively, informal, participative and highly professional. It includes both Christian and secular material – or rather it doesn’t distinguish between the two – all of it traditional in both content and style. There are some moments for quiet listening, and lots of opportunities for children to join in the singing, and to dance and/or join the band. As well as being a lively and enjoyable concert, the roadshow helps children and teachers to gain deeper insights into the significance of many of our midwinter customs and traditions. Schools receive a detailed preparatory letter and teachers’ notes, giving background information and words and music for some of the material. The schools roadshow is both highly entertaining and genuinely educational – lively, serious and fun. Though originally designed for upper primary or middle school age-groups, it has proven suitable for a wide range of ages, both Primary and Secondary, and is even performed to whole-school audiences. It is performed acoustically, and up to three performances per day can be given.
View and download the Promotional Flyer.
Fiddles in Harmony with Sophy Ball
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A concert programme explaining the difference between violins and fiddles, with demonstrations of well known tunes and traditional fiddle tunes from the North East. Children are encouraged to listen for different styles of accompaniment, with harmony between the fiddles and counter melodies. Alternative ways to play the fiddle and their effects are also explored, including bowing techniques and pizzicato.
- – A workshop that introduces the children to ceilidh dancing with they learn carefully selected community dances from the folk repertoire. Succinct instructions encourage the children to participate and they quickly learn to listen to the music for each part of the dance. Boys and girls of all ages engage in the social and physical aspect of the dancing, which increases their self-esteem.
Winter Warmers with Laura Connolly
– A concert features clog dances, tunes, songs and stories with a winter theme.
- – The workshop introduces the children to clog dancing from scratch (clogs provided).
Recordings
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Upcoming Events
Feb28Fri7:00 pm Feb/March Workshops 2025: Play-a... @ Online - on ZoomFeb/March Workshops 2025: Play-a... @ Online - on ZoomFeb 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pmFeb/March Workshops 2025 Play-along Session in Harmony for Mixed Instruments This will be a Zoom call open to intermediate players (and above) of any instrument. Notation will be provided in advance for all the tunes,...Mar1Sat10:00 am Feb/March Workshops 2025: Fiddle... @ Online - on ZoomFeb/March Workshops 2025: Fiddle... @ Online - on ZoomMar 1 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmFeb/March Workshops 2025 Fiddle Workshop 1 Zoom Workshop Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing....2:00 pm Feb/March Workshops 2025: Fiddle... @ Online - on ZoomFeb/March Workshops 2025: Fiddle... @ Online - on ZoomMar 1 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pmFeb/March Workshops 2025 Fiddle Workshop 2 Zoom Workshop Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing....Mar21Friall-day JSArts Fiddle Technique @ Rydal HallJSArts Fiddle Technique @ Rydal HallMar 21 – Mar 23 all-dayJSArts Fiddle Technique 21st – 23rd March 2025 Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX 3.00 pm start and finish time. £402 fully inclusive (except bar drinks) Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in... Facebook Feed
4 days ago
Many thanks to Maurice and Marina at Phoenix Folk Ltd. for inviting me along last Sunday for one of their ‘An Evening With…” events. Many thanks as well to all the lovely people who came along to support and then have a few tunes all together. The final set in my solo spot started with a favourite James Hill hornpipe, The Omnibus. Here it is for The Tune Vault.The Omnibus [The Stage] (James Hill) | The Tune Vault
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The Omnibus [The Stage] (James Hill)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyAnother cracking hornpipe from the ‘Paganini of Gateshead’, James Hill, and one that ha...Stewart Hardy Music is attending an event.1 week ago
🎧🎻🎹 The next set of Zoom workshops will be on Friday 28th Feb and Saturday 1st March. Each workshop can be booked individually, and all will be available on-demand after the weekend. Book now on the website!There will be lots of favourite tunes with harmonies and chords provided for the Friday evening play-along session. All instruments are welcome, and alternate clefs or keys for transposing instruments can be provided on request.
Then we will have two great tunes for our fiddle workshops on The Saturday. On this occasion, I am focusing on two fabulous, contemporary tunesmiths of the North East. For a Northumbrian piper and multi-instrumentalist Andy May writes a wonderful fiddle tune! His beautiful march dedicated to Fred Picknell is quite rightly enjoying a great deal of attention. Before he became a guru of the border pipes, Matt Seattle was very active as a fiddler in the north east of England. In the afternoon we will tackle his excellent rant, Yeavering Bell, which is one of my all time favourite tunes.
All workshops include full resources and lifetime access to the Zoom call recording, so you can go over anything as many times as you wish. You can even sign up if you can't attend the workshops live! 😃 ... See MoreSee Less
2 weeks ago
Really looking forward to being with Marina and Maurice in their studio on Sunday evening. Join us on Zoom for a short performance and lots of tunes! 🎻 ... See MoreSee LessThis content isn't available at the moment
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30 Years Collection Bill Elliot Bottle Bank Band CD Launch Community Strings Fiddle Day Frank McLaughlin George Welch Graham Dixon Halsway Manor HISS Holly & Ivy James Hill Jimmy's Fiddle JSArts Maddison's Thread Mick West Trio Minstrelsy Morpeth Gathering North East Fiddle School Northumbrian Session Shop Solo TFA The Tune Vault Tyneside Fiddle Alliance