Jul
23
Fri
Join us again for another Virtual Summer School – fully online tuition on Zoom and in Video Tutorials.
There will be live fiddle workshops, exclusive video tutorials, sessions, concerts and guided fiddle practice. 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 tutors Melissa Whitehead and Stewart Hardy.
The weekend will be a mix of Live events on Zoom and exclusive Video Tutorials recorded for the Summer School, and each tutor will share their expertise with different ability levels. There will be suggested times over the weekend for several video tutorials, but you will have access to those purchased for 6 months with all supporting materials available to download.
For full details, see the Virtual Summer School page
Standard Price £60
Pay More (£70), Pay Less (£50) and Sponsorship (£100) options available, with donations gratefully received.
Bookings now open!
Aug
16
Mon
The Historically Informed Summer School is a unique international residential course exploring the common ground & connections between early music and folk & traditional music. The course covers all aspects of early music and folk & traditional music and is suitable for students of all ages and experience from elementary to advanced.
This year it will be going ahead in-person with full Covid-secure measures in place.
This will be our delayed 10th anniversary year of enjoyable and spontaneous music making!
Apr
13
Wed
George and I will be returning to the fabulous Cramlington Folk Club again this year, on Weds 13th April. Join us for some more of George’s moving songs and hilarious stories. I’ll be doing my best to keep up! This is the postponed gig from 23rd February due to storm damage at the venue. Please note the new venue for Cramlington Folk Club, and keep an eye on their website and Facebook page for any updates.
Once you have heard George perform his songs, accompanied by his guitar playing with Stewart’s fiddle, there is no doubt that the success of this highly entertaining duo is built on solid musical foundations
Oct
21
Fri
Oct 21 @ 7:30 pm
Northumbrian Pipers’ Society and Tyneside Fiddle Alliance
Annual Concert: Friday 21st October, 7.30 pm
The Northumbrian Pipers’ Society and the Tyneside Fiddle Alliance are teaming up to bring you some fantastic performers for an evening of Northumbrian music featuring pipes, fiddles and more! I will be joined by a friend or two to play a few tunes in the first half, and the TFA will be finishing the concert with a wonderful set.
7.30pm on Friday 21st October, in-person at King’s Hall or Zoom livestream.
Tickets £12. Early bird ticket price of £10 until 10th October.
Make sure to select the correct option for venue attendance or livestream! There’s also an option to ‘pay bit more’ when selecting your ticket(s) if you wish.
Oct
23
Sun
Oct 23 @ 7:30 pm
George and I will be heading to South Shields Folk Club for a relaxed Sunday evening on 23rd October. Join us for some more of George’s moving songs and hilarious stories and, as always, I’ll be doing my best to keep up!
Once you have heard George perform his songs, accompanied by his guitar playing with Stewart’s fiddle, there is no doubt that the success of this highly entertaining duo is built on solid musical foundations
Oct
26
Wed
Frank McLaughlin and I have really been enjoying getting back into rehearsals recently. We are delighted to have been invited to play at the Edinburgh Folk Club during half term on Wednesday October 26th. If you are anywhere near, do come along or if you know someone in the Edinburgh area, please encourage them to step through the door.
8.00 pm start, doors/bar open from 7.30 pm
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.
Feb
12
Sun
I had so much fun playing with Maurice and Marina this time last year on one of their “An Evening With…” sessions, so I was very pleased when I was asked to join them again this month. Once again, I’ll be playing a short solo set and then the three of us will play a selection from the extensive Phoenix Online Session tunebook together for viewers to either join in with, or sit back and enjoy.
An Evening With… Stewart Hardy – Sun 12th Feb, 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Feb
22
Wed
What a joy to be playing once again with the irrepressible George Welch at the wonderful Cramlington Folk Club, which rightly boasts such a great audience and terrific residents. George and I have been playing there together off and on for over twenty years and it is always a pleasure to go back. It would be great if you could join us for a fun night of George’s surreal stories and gorgeous songs – we might even fit in a few tunes!
Doors 7.30 pm fpr 8.00 pm
Once you have heard George perform his songs, accompanied by his guitar playing with Stewart’s fiddle, there is no doubt that the success of this highly entertaining duo is built on solid musical foundations
Recordings
Facebook Feed
Less than a month to go to our Arrangement Techniques course for mixed instruments, which will be my 100th residential JSArts course!* 🥳There is just one place left if you would like to join us. Get in touch quickly, so we can book you in with the venue - the beautiful Shepherds Dene near Riding Mill in Northumberland.
We will be learning a lovely selection of tunes, and choosing which to work on - exploring options for introductions & endings, varying instrumentation, creating harmony lines and different ways of accompanying the tune to produce alternate soundscapes and narratives. With a limited number of participants, there will be plenty of time to explore ideas from everyone. All instruments are welcome, and if you require notation in different keys or clefs, that can be provided. Dots and audio files are provided in advance, and any recordings from the weekend are sent on afterwards.
*There will be cake! 🎂😊
This content isn't available at the moment
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.
Finally, a new tune for The Tune Vault, and to pick up where we left off, here’s another sparkling tune by Tyneside fiddle supremo, James Hill in the key of "F for vescence" 🤣Tykeside (James Hill) | The Tune Vault
youtu.be
Tykeside (James Hill)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyThis enigmatically titled reel in F major is another gem by Tyneside fiddling legend James Hill. No tr...
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 🎻