It was a wonderful day of music making with like minded people, in a beautiful setting, which would be hard to improve on.

L Smith, musician

Our third More than Melodeons event, again at Wingfield Barns, took place on Saturday 25th May with great success! This year, we added Dulcimer, Piano Accordion and Song Writing workshops as well as offering 4 different workshops for any instrument. Song, Anglo Concertina and Melodeon workshops were also once again included in the mix.

There were a total of 11 workshops to choose from over 3 set time periods with options to join in for the whole day (including the Tutor Concert) or just a one off workshop.

This year we welcomed Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne who offered workshops on “Anything but the Melody” for any instrument, an Anglo Concertina and a Melodeon workshop.

Local singer, musician and dancer Megan Wisdom offered workshops in Song Writing, Songs from Suffolk and Beyond and Singing Together (the latter group sharing a song in the Tutor Concert).

Erin Brown and Barry Watson – husband and wife duo and members of Stumpy Oak Ceilidh Band joined us for the day with Barry running our first ever Piano Accordion workshop and then two multi-instrumental workshops – one for Dynamic Playing for Ceilidhs and one “Come All Ye Band” workshop.

Richard Blake, multi instrumentalist from North Norfolk but particularly well known for his Dulcimer playing, joined us for our first Beginner Dulcimer workshop. This workshop was limited to 5 places – Richard brought two Dulcimers along for use – one of which he has recently renovated and donated to the Trust for hire (which was then hired out by the keen learner) and the Trust was able to add its 3 dulcimers (all with slightly different tuning). The Bennington Dulcimer (a Trust instrument) was also hired out following the workshop.

Key members of the East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra, formed earlier this year, led a Folk Orchestra workshop. They were joined by some of their own players as well as workshop attendees. The melody lines of several tunes were sent out in advance to the day and the specific harmonies were shared on the day leading to some wonderful music making on a wide number of instruments.

Mike Acott Concertinas and Acorn Instruments, both invaluable supporters of EATMT, set up stalls at the Barns where they offered help, advice and showcased some of their wares! A very familiar instrument to EATMT appeared on the Acorn stall – Steve Dumpleton‘s one row melodeon which he made in Stowmarket as part of an EATMT Melodeon Making course. It brought back fond memories of our lovely friend.

The event is regularly commented on as being a friendly, open and relaxed event and this is only achieved because of the like minded people who join us – tutors, workshoppers, volunteers and the team at Wingfield Barns (under the direction of Anna Fielding-O’Farrell) who look after us for the day.

Lunch for those that chose to partake did not disappoint and was provided by Brooks Cooks. We are grateful to EATMT Trustees Eammon and Linsday for leading the lunchtime music session in the great barn which was balanced expertly and even included some stepping from Fiona Davies who was one of the tutor’s chauffeurs for the day!

Following feedback from our previous years, we decided to bring the Tutor Concert forward to an earlier start and so after our final workshop series and the “Tea and Cake Break” (thank you Wingfield’s Ros!), our 5pm Tutor Concert was kicked off by Trustee Eammon.

The Tutor Concerts are always quite a different affair and in the Barn, it always feels very intimate and special; our audience comes away feeling wowed and humbled. This year was no different. No words really capture how special this part of the day is – if you don’t believe me, make sure you join us next year. You can join us for just the concert or just for the workshops or all…new date coming soon May 2025 …

Thanks

We are hugely grateful for the support of local councillor Lavinia Hadingham via her Mid Suffolk District Council Locality Budget. We are also delighted to have this event sponsored once again by Acorn Instruments. Anna at Wingfield Barns does a remarkable job not only on the day with her team looking after us all, but she does a sterling job over the year helping us achieve our aims of the day. Sonya at Brooks Cooks provided us with a fabulous lunch and Ros from the Barns with cakes. Thank you to Eammon and Judy Andrews for being our wonderful Tutor hosts and chauffeurs and for generally mucking in with all manner of jobs and to Eammon and Lindsay, Trustees for running the lunchtime session and their involvement in the Tutor Concert. We are also grateful to Fiona Davies for chauffeuring. Many thanks go to our wonderful, talented Tutors for creating such well thought out workshops and finally to all of our musicians who joined us for the day and helped deliver some wonderful tunes and songs which filled the Wingfield air throughout the day.