2022/23
The seventh year of the Ensemble was the final cohort with Artistic Director Sam Partridge.
The Ensemble performed in Sunderland in February 2023, at Cecil Sharp House in London in April 2023, and in the summer at Saltburn Folk Festival and King’s Cross Summer Sounds.
Ensemble alumni joined incoming Artistic Director Jo Freya for Open Days in May and June 2023.
We also said farewell and a huge thank-you to Sarah Jones, who managed the Ensemble for eight years – from planning its very first activities until May 2023.
2021/22
The sixth year of the Ensemble started under Covid restrictions.
In February 2022 the Ensemble performed at York Centre for Early Music, and then in April at Cecil Sharp House in London.
By Summer 2022 the Ensemble were able to perform live at festivals, delighting audiences at Folk East and Purbeck Valley Folk Festival in Dorset.
This was a stunning event on a number of levels:
• It was lovely music, beautifully played
• It was wonderful to see the new generation engaging with our traditions and making them their own
• It was exemplary practise in giving young people their own artistic voice.
I shall be using this as a template for engaging young people in Croydon with sharing their diverse cultural heritage – and I shall be sharing my cultural heritage too!
– Graeme Smith, Head of Croydon Music and Arts, April 2022
2020/21
The Ensemble produced extraordinary results in their fifth year, despite being significantly affected by Covid restrictions.
We were finally able to meet in three sub-groups in April 2021: at Cecil Sharp House in London, the Cygnet Theatre in Exeter, and National Centre for Early Music in York.
In August 2021 the Ensemble met as a full group for the first time since February 2020, and for the first time as the 2020/21 cohort, for a residential week in Dorset. They went on to perform live at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival and in a live-stream from Cecil Sharp House.
2019/20
The fourth year the National Youth Folk Ensemble was our inaugural cohort under the Artistic Direction of Sam Partridge.
2018/19
Talented young folk musicians from across England were the third cohort of the Ensemble, and the final year-group to work with the Ensemble’s inaugural Artistic Director, Sam Sweeney.
National Youth Folk Ensemble live in 2019
- Richard Whiteley Theatre, Settle: 21 February and live online at connectresound.live
- Cecil Sharp House, London: 11 April
- Festival Place, Basingstoke: 1 August
- Wickham Festival: 2 August
- Sidmouth Folk Festival: 4 August gig at The Ham and 5 August workshop
The standard was excellent – their musicianship, stage presence, performance skills and enthusiasm made it an evening to remember for a long time Songlines, June 2018
2017/18
Many talented musicians applied for the second cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble and 18 players were selected to form the 2017–18 Ensemble.
The Ensemble met for residential courses in different parts of England (Somerset, Northumberland, Kent and Norfolk) and they gave performances at Sage Gateshead, Cecil Sharp House, Cambridge Folk Festival, Sidmouth Folk Week, and on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.
The future of folk music could look a lot like them
Folking.com
National Youth Folk Ensemble members talk about their love of the folk world as they get set to play Cambridge Folk Festival
Big Issue North
The National Youth Folk Ensemble were a joy, a hugely talented bunch of musicians... it was intoxicating stuff
walkerwords.com
2016/17
The first cohort of the National Youth Folk Ensemble was made up of 17 talented young folk musicians who play fiddle, flute, accordion, melodeon, cello, viola, guitar, harp and uilleann pipes.
Between October 2016 and August they took part in four intensive residential courses, led by Artistic Director Sam Sweeney, and gave public performances at The Met in Bury, Cecil Sharp House in London, Guildhall Theatre in Derby, Whitby Folk Week and Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
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