Patrick Rimes, Lisa Jen Brown, Georgia Ruth Williams, James Findlay, Lucy Ward, Archie Churchill-Moss: Beyond Borders

For:

Research and development of new work exploring the folk archives of Wales and England

Commissioned by:

trac: Music Traditions Wales and the English Folk Dance and Song Society

Event date:

May 2015

This joint commission between trac: Music Traditions Wales and the English Folk Dance and Song Society will bring six young traditional musicians together to explore the folk archives of Wales and England.

Through their own personal experience and expertise, as well as research days at The National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth), The National History Museum of Wales (Cardiff) and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (London), the musicians will create and perform a concert piece that will highlight the similarities and embrace the differences between the two neighboring traditional cultures.

The six musicians selected to take part in this project are Patrick Rimes, Lisa Jen Brown, Georgia Ruth Williams from Wales, and James Findlay, Lucy Ward, Archie Churchill-Moss from England.

As part of the week-long process, the artists will take part in a short residential writing retreat at Ty Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales, to create and rehearse a new show using the material, songs and information discovered during their time in the archives.

Following the residential, the artists will perform three concerts to public audiences at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth on Saturday 2nd May, the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on Sunday 3rd May, and Cecil Sharp House, London on Monday 4th May 2015.

Both trac and EFDSS are dedicated to the development of traditional music, in Wales and England respectively. Both organisations have a history of leading successful creative collaborative projects, but this is the first time for the two organisations to come together.