Welcome to the second of three Spring Newsletters this April

Day of Workshops and Evening Tutor Concert

The first Spring 2022 e-newsletter was dedicated to our More Than Melodeons event which is a day of multi instrumental workshops plus evening tutor concert which takes place at Wingfield Barns, Suffolk on Saturday 28th May. For more details and the booking form please see HERE.

This second Spring 2022 e-newsletters brings you updates and news from the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust.

Short Films, Podcasting and Report Writing

The first three months of 2022 were action packed. We started and finished our Suffolk County Council funded project – Covid Continuity Fund for Culture and you can read the final report HERE.

We produced two short films – the Storytelling of the Suffolk Miracle retold by Gordon Phillips and an introduction to Broom Dancing – with dancing from Erin and Lucy Brown, music from Nicky Stockman and an explanation of Broom dancing from Gordon. Both films were filmed and edited by young film maker Katie Haines and they can be found on the Trust’s youtube channel with links from the project report as well as on the Video & Audio menu on the main website.

One of our aims in the project was to reach the local community who don’t have access to the internet – difficult to imagine how isolated without it these last two years must have been. This is how the pop up Traditional Music Cafe idea formed and so Brandon in West Suffolk and Stradbroke in Mid Suffolk were our two chosen locations for these two free afternoon events. We were blown away for both events by the fantastic, receptive audience who all got stuck in – having a go at musical instruments, jig dolls, spoons and who gave our artists such an excellent reception.

The final part of the project involved the creation of the EATMT’s Big Sky Traditions Podcast. Under the skilful direction of Jake Lee Savage, local young sound recordist, we are delighted to have launched into the world of podcasting with 4 episodes. You can reach the podcast page directly from the EATMT website main menu or by clicking HERE.

We hope you enjoy the first four episodes. Jake is very keen to get more episodes recorded and we’ve got lots of ideas but we are also reliant on YOU to make suggestions and get involved. So if you’ve got something you’d like to share in relation to East Anglian Musical Traditions, then please do get in touch.

Gordon Ruddock Bursary news

We are delighted to be able to offer the funding of a place on the forthcoming Burwell Bash Summer School to young musician Poppy Price-Dowhan. Poppy plays flute and whistle and is also deputy Squire for her local Morris side. We hope to be working with Poppy over the year.

We were also delighted to offer young Cambridgeshire based musician Isobel funding for three fiddle lessons with Cambridgeshire based musician Erin Watson.

A bursary will be offered to a young musician/dancer involved in this year’s Youth Folk Moot at FolkEast. We will update you on this final bursary later in the year.

These small bursaries have been made possible by the generous bequest from a long term supporter of EATMT, Gordon Ruddock. You can read more about the scheme HERE.

Instrument Sales

Following our March Book, Music and Instrument Sale here in Stowmarket, we have decided to leave a sales list of remaining musical instruments that are in need of a loving home online. You can find this updated list in the online “shop” or HERE. Some are donated items that the Trust has available to sell and some are being sold on behalf of private sellers for which EATMT receives a commission. Do get in touch if you are interested in any of these sale items. Email: info@eatmt.org.uk or ring 07495 054669.

Archive addition

Whilst on the search for a couple of working reel to reel players to assist with future digitising of reels, EATMT were put in touch with Pam Warren – Essex based folk dance educator who has hung up her dancing shoes after many years (76 to be exact) of teaching and calling for folk dance across the country. Alex visited Pam in February and interviewed her talking about her long and varied life. Pam has passed on her vast collection of dance instructions and recordings to EATMT as well as the Hatfield Peveral’s folk dance club’s scrap books that date back to 1966 to keep safe.

With thanks to Gemma Khawaja and film maker Katie Haines, we are in the process of editing a short instructional film that we hope to show to keen volunteers once we start the process of digitising reels that have found their way into the EATMT vaults.

Thanks to Chris Gill and Eastern Angles for their contribution of equipment to make this next process possible. We have already had volunteers make a start in transcribing reels as well as sourcing technical advice to ensure all equipment is working safely. More to come in due course on this aspect of archiving.

We need your help!

There are lots of ways people help EATMT regularly – our Friends Membership scheme is one easy way to show your support and financially it has proved to be a vital income over the many years the scheme has been in existence. Shirley Harry is our voluntary Friends’ Secretary and we are grateful to her monthly visits to keep up to date with the administration of the scheme. If you’re not a member already, or you’re a lapsed member, do think about joining. Now the events are starting up again, there is an opportunity to purchase tickets at Friends’ Rates in addition to knowing that your annual contribution helps keep us promoting the musical traditions of East Anglia.

We are looking to increase our number of Trustees

As a registered charity, we are governed by a Board of Trustees. We have four Trustees – Ivan Cutting (Artistic Director of Eastern Angles), Miriam Stead (Retired Museums Director), Lindsay Want (Marketing consultant) & Eammon Andrews (Surveyor/Evaluator). Without their voluntary support, EATMT does not exist. Our Board of Trustees is looking for more members. They meet a minimum of 3 times a year. You don’t have to be actively involved in music, song or dance to be a Trustee – but you will likely be a keen follower of the Trust and its aims.

We are looking for people who particularly have a bit more time to give and who might be looking for an active involvement in the running of the Trust.

In the first instance, if you’re interested in finding out a bit more about the role of a Trustee and how the Trust is managed, please email Alex on info@eatmt.org.uk and she will forward any enquiries to the Board of Trustees.

Event Volunteers

We are also very keen to reconnect with volunteers who are interested in helping at events. The biggest event this year that we need volunteer stewards for is September’s East Anglian Traditional Music Day. We already have a number of individuals working hard behind the scenes on various aspects of the day but we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to be involved on the day. Drop us an email: info@eatmt.org.uk

A summer of events

Head to our Current Events page on the website. We are promoting a small number of external events that are coming up as well as our own events.

More than Melodeons – Saturday 28th May – Wingfield Barns

Bookings are coming in for this event and places are limited so act quickly if you’d like to take part in this day of workshops or if you’d like a ticket to the Evening Tutor Concert. This event has been supported by Acorn Instruments, Andrews Survey & Evaluations and Mid Suffolk District Council.

Traditional Music, Song & Stepdancing @Strumpshaw Tree Fair – Saturday 16th July

We are extremely grateful to Chris Holderness for co-ordinating Hushwing and Friends on behalf of EATMT who is organising a showcase of East Anglian Traditional Music, Song and Dance at this wonderful Tree Fair.

If you would like to get involved in this showcase, please do get in touch. We’d be delighted to see you!

Stepdance Day – Sunday 24th July – Chippenham Village Hall, Cambs

For the third and final year, the Instep Research Team are funding this annual event. This funding enables us to cover the costs in running this event and thus keeps it a free event for those attending. The event starts at 12 noon and runs throughout the afternoon. Expect the usual workshops, competitions and session. Please do join us!

FolkEast – 19th-21st August

Come and say hello – we’ll be having a stall again at this super festival and we will be running the 2nd FolkEast Stepdancing Competition. There’s nothing stopping you from being double Stepdancing champions this year if you come along to Stepance Day in July as well!

East Anglian Traditional Music Eve & Day – Friday 9th & Saturday 10th September

The 3rd Spring/April Newsletter will bring you more details about our long awaited Traditional Music Day – we’ve got some wonderful guests lined up taking part at several venues across the town of Stowmarket and we are very grateful to the numerous volunteers who are working closely with the team to bring a wide and varied 24 hours of entertainment. Artistic Director Alan Bearman is still keen to hear from East Anglian based artists who have ideas on how they see this popular day developing. For those that have already contributed ideas, we would like to thank you all. They may not all be taken up – especially in this first year – but every comment is useful to the future planning and growing of this event. If you’d like to be involved – PLEASE make contact!

As ever, the Trust does not exist without the support of regular funding organisations, Friends members, volunteers and Trustees. We are very grateful for everyone who has helped enable EATMT to continue to thrive and move forwards.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if anything in this newsletter has caught your attention and you want more information.

Alex Bartholomew, Administrator
info@eatmt.org.uk