Apr
21
Fri
The Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering is celebrating its big 50th Anniversary this year and there is lots planned. On the Friday night there will be the Golden Gala Concert in the Methodist Church, in which I will be playing with Bottle Band Band, Tyneside Fiddle Alliance and leading the Morpeth Community Strings group in their debut performance. On the Saturday there will be the usual competitions, and I will be supporting family and friends in the fiddle classes, and might even be persuaded to enter the instrumental duos! The Tyneside Fiddle Alliance plan to defend their title in the Concert Band category and there will be many other great things going on. Do come along and support this wonderful celebration of Northumbrian traditional music, song and dance.
“An exciting three-day annual festival of street entertainment, indoor events, music, dance, craft, dialect, heritage and traditional fun – held the weekend after Easter in the medieval market town of Morpeth, 14 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The festival is a true gathering of people who come together to enjoy the traditional culture of Northumberland and the wider NE region. It features concerts, dance, crafts, battle re-enactments, dialect, stories, drama, workshops, sessions, singarounds, competitions, stalls, bellringing, orienteering, tours, walks, talks and street performances which include a young people’s pageant as part of the Saturday morning Border Cavalcade.”
Mar
15
Fri
‘Music for a Spring Evening’
A programme of music from light classics to folk and swing, with the fiddles of Alan Edwards, Stewart Hardy & Bryan Jackson
Creighton Hall, Embleton 7.30 p.m. Tickets £10 at door, raising money for Creighton Hall funds.
Nov
2
Sat
Geordie Music Night 2019
Saturday 2nd November
Seaton Sluice Community Centre NE26 4QX
7.30 pm (Doors 7.00 pm)
Featuring Jim Mageean, Stu Luckley, Stewart Hardy, George Welch, Barry & Ingrid Temple and Laura Connolly
£10 Adults. Please book tickets in advance.
Tickets available online via the shop
Tickets are also available to reserve by phone on 0191 298 0323 or 0191 237 1136.
Funds raised will support restoration of the Village Bell.
Nov
25
Fri
Nov 25 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
I’m so pleased this is happening again! Returning after an enforced rest since 2019, the team are hoping to raise your spirits with the honey-toned voices of Benny Graham, Jim Mageean and Barry and Ingrid Temple. Laura Connolly and I will be taking time out from our Holly and Ivy preparations to give the stage a good rattling with some clog dancing (provided by Laura – for everybody’s safety it’s better I stick to the fiddle). Finally, I am so pleased that the irrepressible George Welch is able to join us again. He is such a favourite of the village and… well, basically, he is my pal and it is always a delight to share the stage with him. In the past tickets have sold out for these nights so if you fancy coming, please do contact the numbers below and book your ticket in advance.
Tickets £12.50. To book, ring 0191 2980323 or 0191 2371136
Jan
7
Sat
Join us for our first NEFS Virtual Winter Workout – a day of fully online fiddle tuition on Zoom
There will be live fiddle workshops, fiddle technique sessions, play-along tune sessions with spots from our tutors, plus a chat event and video tutorials. Events will be aimed at all abilities of fiddle player from competent beginner through to advanced, led by guest tutors Kevin Lees and Grace Smith, alongside our regular tutor Stewart Hardy for the weekend, and an exclusive video tutorial from Melissa Whitehead.
Plenty of breaks are scheduled, drop in and out of the workshops as you choose during the day, and there are some chat events to break up the day! Call recordings of the workshops will be available after the event if you miss anything on the day.
The evening before, Friday 6th January, Stewart will host an evening play-along session for all instruments, with harmony lines and chord suggestions provided. This will be available as a separate event, as well as part of the Virtual Winter Workout.
Jul
8
Sat
Jul 8 @ 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
Jul 8 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
Jul
9
Sun
Jul 9 @ 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
Dec
1
Fri
NEFS Winter Residential Weekend
Full details from the NEFS website:
http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/nefs-winter-res-2023/
- Saturday 2nd December: Block 6 Saturday workshop, in-person with tuition from Melissa and Stewart
- Extend your visit with Friday evening dinner and a session, dinner on Saturday followed by an informal concert and session, and a workshop with Stewart to finish with coffee on Sunday morning.
- Day guest and residential packages available
Saturday workshop is £50 including lunch and all refreshments, and the full weekend residential (2 nights B&B and all meals & refreshments except bar drinks) is £295.
*Just a couple of places left
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Happy May Day!Looking back, April had some very lovely moments...
At the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering illustrating Amélie Addison's wonderful talk on William Shield and with cracking performances by Tyneside Fiddle Alliance, our April Workshops on Zoom, a trip to see the amazing Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, a duo gig with Ali Say at the Phoenix Folk Ltd. Spring Thing, the start of Block 3 at North East Fiddle School, and our JSArts Advanced Fiddle course at Rydal Hall. Happy Spring everyone 🎻
We had a wonderful weekend at Rydal Hall with the JSArts Advanced Fiddle course! Thanks to all who came for your excellent company, hard work and fabulous playing of some rather lovely tunes! 😊Hope you enjoyed yourselves, and that we see you again soon 🎻
NEFS Block 3 starts this week!Sign up now 🎻We have a new block starting on Zoom this week!
Join us for our five weekly Wednesday evening Zoom sessions starting on 24th April with video tutorials on demand, and/or our in-person workshop in Wylam on Saturday 11th May. Bookings now open!
www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/shop/
More details are available on the Classes page of the NEFS website. Get in touch with Ali if you have any questions 😊
🎶 This block we have two more fabulous video tutorials, both English jigs collected in the middle of the nineteenth century from “Wheelwright Robinson” of Abbots Bromley, Flaxley Green Dance from Stewart Hardy Music and, of course, The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, this one from Kevin Lees - Music. Grace Smith Music will be teaching alongside Stewart on our Zoom calls, and will be introducing a lovely Shetland jig as our new live tune.
We are also delighted to announce that Chris Meredith will be teaching with Stewart on our Saturday Workshop in Wylam on 11th May. Chris is a wonderful player and teacher, and was the force behind FiddleTutor.com with some wonderful online tutorials.
📣 Sign up now!