The EFDSS Creative Bursary and Residency Programme, now in its twelfth year, aims to support artists in exploring new creative ideas inspired by and sourced from traditional folk music relating to England. This programme provides artists with an opportunity to undertake creative exploration without the pressure of a final product.
This year we are delighted to be partnering with Black Lives in Music, Drake Music, and the Glasshouse International Centre for Music (Gateshead).
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.
Five 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 2024 have been awarded to:
Lucy and Hazel
Lucy and Hazel are a Sheffield-based queer folk duo charming audiences with self-penned folk laced with humour, harmonies and heartache. They believe in creating music with a clear message of justice and equality, which balances honest lyricism with complex harmony and intricate instrumentation.
The bursary will support research and development of compositions for a concept album of music about land justice. This incorporates themes such as the climate crisis, the Right to Roam movement and the housing crisis.
Amy Hollinrake
Inspired by English and Appalachian folk blended with alternative pop music, Amy Hollinrake draws on women’s stories within folklore and mythology and fuses them with a contemporary sound placing her at the forefront of the new era of feminist neo-folk.
The Alan James Creative Bursary will support Amy to write new songs inspired by different female archetypes. She aims to explore connections between medieval uses of ballad form, historical practices of female storytelling, moralities in myth and modern context.
Remorae
Remorae (Florence Brady, Lauren Spiceley, Martha Wiltshire, Joseph Woods and Denis Wouters) is an interdisciplinary collective of artists brought together by the Folkatron Sessions recording project (featured by Songlines Magazine, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 2, 6 Music, Soho Radio, and Folk Radio UK). Exploring traditional musics through experimental processes.
The bursary will support the development of new work that takes as its starting point the themes of worker's rights, the mechanisation of labour, and the complex relationships between developing technologies and traditional musics.
Photo credit: Bruno Guastalla
Emily Portman
Emily Portman is an award-winning singer and songwriter with a passion for traditional songs. She has toured widely for over 15 years as a band leader, in a duo with Rob Harbron and with the renowned alt-folk song band The Furrow Collective. Emily was awarded a BBC Folk Award for ‘Best Original Song’ and has released three critically-acclaimed albums of original songs inspired by ballads and fairytales.
This burasry will support research and developement to enable Emily to complete and develop new original songs inspired by themes of finding magic in the everyday, with new accompanists guitarist Louis Campbell and cellist Lucy Revi.
Photo credit: Camilla Greenwell
Randolph Matthews
Randolph Matthews is a celebrated jazz vocal artist, composer, producer, and singer with a career spanning over 25 years. Known for his exceptional talent and versatility, Randolph has toured over 30 countries and collaborated with musical luminaries like Richard Bona, Bill Frisell, and Herbie Hancock. His performances have graced prestigious venues including Buckingham Palace and the Royal Albert Hall. Randolph's unique blend of vocal improvisation and jazz influences continues to captivate audiences worldwide.
This bursary will allow the time to explore the contributions of sailors from the African diaspora to the British maritime industry, focusing on the cultural and musical influences of sea shanties.
Read more about the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s bursaries
Katy Spicer, 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.’
Recent English Folk Dance and Song Society creative bursaries have kick-started ground-breaking and far-reaching projects such as Angeline Morrison’s The Sorrow Songs, Sophie Crawford and George Sansome’s Queer Folk, Stick in the Wheel’s Perspectives on Tradition, Rowan Rheingans’ Dispatches on the Red Dress, and many more.
For further media information please contact Sammie Squire (Director of Marketing and Communications): [email protected]
About the English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society is the national development agency for the folk arts. It aims to place the traditional arts of England at the heart of our cultural life – preserving, protecting, disseminating and promoting English traditional folk arts. It 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
