“You make a great sound and know this material inside out,” and “a varied and entertaining set of three! Thank you!” – just two of the comments from the Professional Music Mentors, following the performance by our Devon Youth Folk Ensemble at the Music for Youth Regional Festival in Truro.
The DYFE performed Norman’s Hornpipe, Devon Broom Dance and Unknown Jig at the festival, and will hear at the end of April if they’re invited to play on the main stage at the National Festival, which is to be held in Birmingham in July.
Earlier in the day, the Ensemble had also played the three pieces in two 45-minute concerts at St Neot Community Primary School and for Coads Green Primary School at their Village Hall. The concerts were organised through our connection with the ASONE Music Hub in Cornwall.
Our professional musician Jon Dyer said: “We had around 20 musicians in the Ensemble on the day, and we hired a coach and had a lovely time. They performed for 100 children in each of the schools, a mixture of traditional tunes from Cornwall and Devon and from other parts of the UK, and some that they’d written themselves. And of course, they did the Broom Dance, which always goes down well.”
The DYFE had previously performed Norman’s Hornpipe, Devon Broom Dance and Unknown Jig at the Sidmouth Folk Festival, and the Professional Music Mentors commented: “The ‘dance’ is often missing in folk music, so well done for integrating this so well.”
Those who are selected for the National Festival might be invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall after the National Festival: “Now that would be an amazing experience,” said Jon. We’ve captured a little bit of the flavour of the day in our short video, filmed by Jon and Hannah.
Following the group’s success in Cornwall, we’re delighted to announce that the Devon Youth Folk Ensemble has been invited to perform at the Music for Youth National Festival in Birmingham – a huge honour and an amazing opportunity to represent Devon on a national stage! We’re raising funds to cover the cost of coach travel so these talented young musicians can attend the festival, find out how to donate here!
