The English Folk Dance and Song Society’s (EFDSS) Creative Bursary and Residency Programme aims to support artists 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
We will be awarding three bursaries and this year we are delighted to be partnering again with the Glasshouse International Centre for Music (Gateshead) to offer residency space for one project in Gateshead.
The award offers
● a bursary of up to £2,000
● research facilities at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (online and in person)
● up to five days of rehearsal space at Cecil Sharp House, London or the Glasshouse International, Gateshead. Applicants that wish to work elsewhere will be considered but no additional funding for space hire will be available.
● additional funding for Access needs.
Alan James (pictured above) was a former Chair of EFDSS who died suddenly in April 2019. In the spirit of Alan’s eclectic musical tastes and his ability to foster exciting artistic collaborations, we are particularly interested in receiving applications which explore folk music in the context of cross-genre or cross-art form collaborations.
The award is aimed at artists with a track-record as professional creative artists. An application can be from one artist or a group of artists, and from existing groups/bands or new collaborations. While applications can be for cross-genre or cross-art form projects, the primary art form must be music and the project should be taking its inspiration from folk music.
Previous bursary awardees have gone on to develop their R & D work further to produce material for recording and performance. Recent examples are albums from You Are Wolf ‘Hare//Hunter//Moth//Ghost’; Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhary ‘So Far We Have Come’; and Angeline Morrisons ‘The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience’.
Past bursary recipients
Some recent bursary stories
Access
Additional funding will be available for Disabled artists led projects with additional access needs.
Closing date for applications: 15 June 2025, midnight
More information on how to apply
Partners
Funders
These bursaries are funded by individual donations, and grants from
