Stewart Hardy

Holly & Ivy Roadshow at the Festive Gathering 2019

Sunday 15 December, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Cecil Sharp House, London

Christmas concert with a folk twist.

This year special guests Holly & Ivy will bring their festive magic from the North East of England.  Performers Stewart Hardy, David Oliver and Laura Connolly will join Cecil Sharp House Choir on a lively and exciting journey through the midwinter customs and traditions of Britain. Join us for our annual yuletide celebration crammed with song, dance, music and good cheer.

Arrangement Techniques (Mixed Instruments)

28th Feb – 1st Mar 2020
Ushaw College, Durham
3.00 pm start & finish time.

Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Ushaw College in Durham for a weekend workshop exploring arrangement techniques for mixed instrument ensemble. Courses are open to players of any instrument (including transposing instruments) and are aimed at a broad range of abilities from intermediate to advanced. Workshops focus on techniques for arranging tunes for the combination of instruments to hand, using tools such as tempo, texture, dynamics and harmonic structure to create a musical narrative. To enjoy the full benefits of these courses, participants should be able to read notation or confidently and quickly pick up tunes and musical ideas by ear. We will aim to create well-mixed groups by monitoring the instrumentation as participants sign up for the course.

The workshops typically take between 8 and 12 people from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The residential weekend fee of £335 covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and overnight single occupancy, en suite accommodation. The non-residential rate is £250 and includes everything except bed & breakfast. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, and recordings of arrangements created during the course are sent on to you afterwards.

For further information or to book your place on this course, please email Ali (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)

Arrangement Techniques (Mixed Instruments)

9th – 11th October 2020
Parcevall Hall, Appletreewick, Skipton, N. Yorks BD23 6DG
5.00 pm start & finish time.

Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Parcevall Hall near Skipton for a weekend workshop exploring arrangement techniques for mixed instrument ensembles. Courses are open to players of any instrument (including transposing instruments) and are aimed at a broad range of abilities from intermediate to advanced. Workshops focus on techniques for arranging tunes for the combination of instruments to hand, using tools such as tempo, texture, dynamics and harmonic structure to create a musical narrative. To enjoy the full benefits of these courses, participants should be able to read notation or confidently and quickly pick up tunes and musical ideas by ear. We will aim to create well-mixed groups by monitoring the instrumentation as participants sign up for the course.

The workshops typically take between 8 and 12 people from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The residential weekend fee of £335 covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and two nights single occupancy accommodation, some of which is en suite (for medical reasons, then first come first served). The non-residential rate is £250 and includes everything except bed & breakfast. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, and recordings of arrangements created during the course are sent on to you afterwards.

For further information or to book your place on this course, please email Ali (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)

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

Holly & Ivy Roadshow at Beamish

Christmas Evenings at Beamish

* ALL EVENINGS NOW SOLD OUT *

Travel back into an enchanting Christmas past, as you join in celebrations from Georgian times up to the 1950s exhibits. Enjoy merry music, delightful decorations and delicious festive treats as you make Christmas memories with your loved ones.

Holly & Ivy Roadshow at Beamish

Christmas Evenings at Beamish

* ALL EVENINGS NOW SOLD OUT *

Travel back into an enchanting Christmas past, as you join in celebrations from Georgian times up to the 1950s exhibits. Enjoy merry music, delightful decorations and delicious festive treats as you make Christmas memories with your loved ones.

WILLIAM SHIELD: Northumbrian Fiddler and Piper??

Presentation by Dr Amélie Addison with Stewart Hardy (fiddle)

My friend, Dr Amélie Addison, will be giving a presentation at The Chantry Bagpipe Museum as part of the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering on 6th April. She is the leading authority on local composer William Shield, a man with close ties to the fiddling and piping traditions of the North East, and I am delighted to be illustrating her talk with some tunes on the fiddle.

Tickets £5 adult / £2 school-age