Upcoming Workshop on Running a Youth Folk Ensemble

National Youth Folk Ensemble at Halsway Manor (photo: Camilla Greenwell)

Upcoming Workshop on Running a Youth Folk Ensemble

National Youth Folk Ensemble workshop takes place in Exeter; Sam Partridge announced as Ensemble's next Artistic Director.

The National Youth Folk Ensemble will host a free professional development day for music educators with an interest in running youth folk groups on Friday 18 January in Exeter.

‘Running a Youth Folk Ensemble’ will take place at the Exeter Phoenix, and is aimed at musicians who are leading folk groups with young people, music hub staff and music teachers.

Led by current NYFE Artistic Director Sam Sweeney (fiddle) and tutors Rob Harbron (concertina) and Miranda Rutter (viola), the training day will focus on folk-music learning methods, and tools for teaching folk-specific techniques and skills. It will also feature presentations from organisations on successful youth folk activities. Participants are encouraged to bring instruments to take part in music-making sessions.

Attendance at the event is free, but registration is required. 

New Artistic Director
The NYFE is a programme run by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) for instrumentalists aged 14–18 living in England. Participants take part in four weeks of residential courses and receive tuition and mentoring from leading folk musicians. The Ensemble also performs at fesivals and venues during the year of the programme. The final concert for the current group will take place on 11 April 2019 at Cecil Sharpe House in London. Applications for the 2019–2020 programme will open in early 2019. 

The EFDSS recently announced the appointment of flute-player and composer Sam Partridge as Artistic Director of the National Youth Folk Ensemble from October 2019. Partridge studied at Newcastle University and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick, and has taught on the Sage Gateshead Folkworks programme and summer school. He has also taught at a number of National Youth Folk Ensemble residential courses. 

For more on EFDDS events and initiatives, visit www.efdss.org.

Published on 17 December 2018

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