The English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Creative Bursary and Residency Programme, now in its tenth year, supports artists in exploring new creative ideas inspired by and sourced from traditional English folk music, without the pressure of a final product.
Alan James, a former Chair of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, died suddenly in April 2019. We now name these Creative Bursaries in his honour. In the spirit of Alan’s eclectic musical tastes and his ability to foster exciting artistic collaborations, we have encouraged applications which explore English folk music in the context of cross-genre or cross-art form collaborations and explorations.
Four creative bursaries have been awarded, all of which are funded through the PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development Partner scheme. They come under the umbrella of our Artists’ Development Programme, which provides professional development support, both creative and business, to artists at all levels of their career.
Each bursary is worth up to £2,000, and supports artists’ creative research and development together with use of rehearsal space at Cecil Sharp House and access to the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
Bursaries for 2022 have been awarded to:
Tamsin Elliott & Tarek Elazhary
Tamsin is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and filmmaker based in Bristol, UK, collaborating with Egyptian educator and composer Tarek Elazhary, who seeks to preserve the musical heritage of the Middle East, while exploring its place within a contemporary context.
Exploring the parallels and celebrating the idiosyncrasies of both Egyptian and English folk traditions, Elliott and Elazhary aim to find commonality, foster cross-cultural connection and help to heal the scars of a colonial past through meaningful and conscious collaboration.
Lisa Knapp
Lisa is a London-based singer, fiddle player/multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, who has previously received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award and appeared at the BBC Electric Proms celebration.
Lisa plans to develop new work which looks at the current environmental crises and urgent climate collapse via historic references and content in traditional song, folklore and music.
Lunatraktors
Lunatraktors are choreographer and percussionist Carli Jefferson (she/her), and vocalist and researcher Clair Le Couteur (they/them).
The bursary from EFDSS will help with the R&D for their project, using folk music and dance to tell uplifting queer feminist stories to empower cross-genre dance music that fosters unity and solidarity across sexes, genders, generations, and nations and ethnicities.
Photo credit: Hazard-Bears
Hazel Askew
Hazel Askew is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer from London. She is a respected performer on the folk scene, most notably with BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominated trio Lady Maisery and traditional duo The Askew Sisters.
Hazel has been awarded a bursary to work with theatre director, devisor Kath Burlinson, and researcher and composer David Francis on R&D for a new solo show.
Photo credit: Somhairle MacDonald
Read more about EFDSS bursaries
Katy Spicer, EFDSS Chief Executive and Artistic Director, said: ‘Our bursaries are designed to kick-start projects, giving artists time to bring their ideas to life. We are delighted to pay tribute to Alan James with these six exciting and eclectic projects and very grateful to the PRS Foundation for their continued support.’
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About the English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) is the national development agency for the folk arts. EFDSS aims to place the traditional arts of England at the heart of our cultural life - preserving, protecting, disseminating and promoting English traditional folk arts. EFDSS delivers a dynamic national and local education programme, enabling and increasing access to the folk arts alongside celebrating diversity and promoting equality. It runs the acclaimed National Youth Folk Ensemble. It supports folk artists through a flourishing artists development programme. It manages the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library – England’s national folk music library and archive – which contains a vast collection of books, manuscripts, films and audio-visual materials. The national custom-built headquarters of EFDSS is Cecil Sharp House, a busy arts centre situated just north of Regent’s Park in central London. efdss.org
About PRS Foundation
PRS Foundation supports organisations from across the UK which have been selected as PRS Foundation Talent Development Partners. These organisations are working at the frontline of talent development in the UK, supporting a broad range of individual music creators across different music genres and UK regions. This reflects PRS Foundation’s commitment to supporting composers and songwriters of all backgrounds either through direct investment or by helping organisations which nurture music creators and promote their music to audiences at home and overseas. prsfoundation.com
