Our Summer Fiddle Weekend is dedicated to developing your fiddle playing through a range of repertoire and a deep dive into fiddle technique. We want you to go home with ideas and skills that you can implement into your playing for years to come!
We’re delighted to welcome back Tom Kitching with Bridget Slater to work with any player who considers themself to be working at an intermediate or advanced level.
If you are a beginner or an improver, check out our Beginners and Improvers Course instead – same dates, same place.
Workshops will touch on or explore technique, expression and some repertoire. You’re also welcome to use our extensive folk library to discover tunes that you’d like to work on. There will be plenty of time to play together on this intensive weekend of workshops for fiddle players who can play folk dance tunes up to tempo either from the music provided, or by ear.
Who is it for?
This is an intensive weekend for adult fiddle players who consider themselves to be at Level 3 or 4 in their playing journey. Check our Fiddle Playing Levels if you’re not sure whether that’s you.
The Team
Tom Kitching is a fiddle player and author, who has worked with numerous singers and bands, including Pilgrims’ Way, Gavin Davenport, Jon Loomes, Gren Bartley, Zoe Mulford, the James Kerry band, and Albireo. He has tutored at various Summer Schools, and has lead numerous workshops around the country. Heavily involved in the dance scene, and veteran of over 2500 gigs, he stands at the leading edge of the English folk scene. His style is English at heart, whilst encompassing elements of many other traditions. It is a unique, vibrant style full of exuberance, energy and wit, yet capable of expressing extraordinary emotional depth.
His current work uses the fiddle to accompany stories drawn from the heart of England itself, be that from his ‘Seasons of Change’ project, 18 months exploring this country from the busking pitch, or ‘Where There’s Brass’, his love letter to the waterways of England. He is often accompanied by Nordic mandola player, Marit Fält.
Bridget Slater sings and dances with her violin. It is her voice, her body, as she moves from storyteller to dance musician and back again, captivating curious ears and tempting listeners to dance with her and with each other. Her playing is a celebration of finding her music again after a ten-year break due to ill health. This second start has given Bridget the freedom to throw off some of the constraints of formal study and to intertwine English dance music with her own musical noodles and compositions. Twisting them into various dances from Lancashire clogging to Swedish Polskas and beyond. The result is a soundworld full of colour and rhythm, a music of many influences and traditions, an improvised tapestry that can be richly layered or tantalisingly sparse. This true passion for music shines through both in Bridget’s performances and in her work inspiring learners in her thriving tuition practice and at Band on the Wall Saturday Music Club, where she is music director. An experienced tutor, Bridget helps musicians find freedom in their music. Expect to explore your creative side.