Wales and rural touring in Northumberland, Co Durham and Cumbria

The Kathryn Tickell Band makes a rare foray to the west coast of Wales with visits to Cardigan and Aberystwyth this week, then travelling on to the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-on Avon. Stamford Arts Centre then hosts the band in late November. In late November and early December Kathryn and Peter also tour rural venues in Northumberland, Cumbria and Co Durham. For details of all concerts please see ‘Performances’ section. Some are already sold out, so please check with each venue before setting out.

The band enjoyed very complimentary audiences at a number of full venues over the last month or so, at Ingleton Folk Weekend, Alford Manor, Halesworth Arts Festival and Le Nouveau Pavillon, Nantes. A big thank you to the people involved in putting on great programmes of work and looking after artists so well – always warmly appreciated!

September dates and Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria

The Kathryn Tickell Band will be venturing forth to some beautiful locations this September, including Ripon’s Holy Trinity Church (Ripon International Festival, 13th September) and the wilds of Dumfriesshire at The Hairth festival (21st September), before presenting ‘Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria’ at The Sage Gateshead on 27th September.

‘Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria’ is a personal celebration of family connections, music, song and dance of Northumberland and the Borders. A special element that Kathryn has been introducing to her live work is the use of the spoken word, directly drawn from family reminiscences. In particular, her mother’s stories of a rural Northumbrian childhood are retold by Kathryn. Her mother, Kathleen, grew up on Willow Bog Farm in the Warksburn area of Northumberland back in the 1940s and 50s; her warm memories paint a special picture of life in Northumberland through the eyes of a young girl. The remote location and the connections made through music, dance, song and storytelling forged a lifetime of friendships.

The Sage Gateshead event promises to be a truly family occasion as Kathryn is joined on stage by her father Mike Tickell (Northumbrian song) and by brother Peter (fiddle and guitar).

The full line up for the evening as follows:

• Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian pipes, fiddle, voice
• Peter Tickell – fiddle, guitar
• Julian Sutton – melodeon
• Joss Clapp – acoustic bass, guitar, voice
• Corrina Hewat (Bachue, The Unusual Suspects) — voice & harp
• James Mackintosh (Shooglenifty, Capercaillie) – percussion
• Amy Thatcher — clog dancing, accordion
• Mike Tickell — Northumbrian song

Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria at Hall One of The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 27 September commences at 7.30pm and tickets are priced at £16.50 (concessions are available) and can be purchased by contacting the ticket office on (0191) 443 4661 or via www.thesagegateshead.org

Proms thanks, BBC2, BBC Radio 4, and other media things

Thank you for all the best wishes – and then congratulations – for Kathryn’s new composition at the BBC Proms on 20th July. It was a wonderful afternoon for the North East, with the young players of Folkestra inspiring a great audience response. The Royal Albert Hall resounded to the finale: ‘Another successful fusion came from the Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, with the world premiere of Confluence, a work involving Muzsikás, all the classical players, and the impressive teenage musicians of Folkestra.’ Robin Denselow, The Guardian

If you missed hearing the Proms Folk Day it is still available on ‘audio on demand’ from http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/radio/?q=Proms

Made In England (2008)
BBC 2. Mon 28 Jul, 7:00 pm — 7:30 pm 30mins
National broadcast (previously shown regionally)

Made In England: Courtney Pine
Artists, writers and musicians explore England and explain what their corner of the country means to them. Credited with transforming the face of contemporary jazz, Courtney Pine leaves the hustle and bustle of inner city London to take on the challenge of composing a piece of music inspired by one of the holiest sites in England, Holy Island in Northumberland. Kathryn Tickell is guest artist and manages chat and play in the freezing conditions of a March afternoon on Holy Island.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/madeinengland/courtneypine/index.shtml

BBC Radio 4
Woman’s Hour
Week commencing 11 August (date tbc)

Kathryn is interviewed in advance of Piping Live festival, Glasgow, and talks about working with classical ensembles.

Classic FM, 13 July, available to download. A retrospective listen to Kathryn at Cheltenham Festival earlier this month, talking about her work with Kuljit Bhamra in the ‘Folk From Here’ project for spnm, and other collaborations http://www.classicfm.co.uk/article.asp?id=788149

Premiere at BBC Proms, 20 July

Kathryn’s new work for London Sinfonietta, Muzsikas (Hungary), Folkestra and the London Side by Side Players, will be performed by them all, together with Kathryn, at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 20 July. Full programme details can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2008

This is the first time The Proms has dedicated a day to folk music, though it is a return visit for Kathryn: the Kathryn Tickell Band performed at The Last Night of the Proms in 2001, the first time traditional music had ever been featured. As Kathryn says in her blog this new work, ‘Confluence’, is about an imaginary junction where the River Rede (Northumberland) meets the Thames and the Danube.

The Proms event is free, though ticket booking in advance is advised. You can book via the website or call the box office on 0845 401 5040. The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and will be available as ‘audio on demand’ for the following week.

Check the performances section of this website for full details of festival appearances this summer. Autumn concert dates will be added to this site on July 7th!

Kathryn on TV // Portrait of Kathryn

Sunday 4 May 2008 11:00 Channel 5
Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria.
First broadcast in 2006 this documentary on Kathryn and her creative influences attracted 750,000 viewers, prompting Channel 5 to the commission the current ‘My Music’ series.

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The National Portrait Gallery and Tyne & Wear Museums recently commissioned a photographic portrait of Kathryn, taken on location in Northumberland by leading photographer Julian Germain. Kathryn’s portrait, along with those of stars such as Rowan Atkinson, Sting, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, forms part of the North Face exhibition which is showing simultaneously at ten different venues across the North East from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Middlesbrough. Each venue is displaying a different portrait of a famous personality connected to the area. Kathryn’s portrait is at Lady Waterford Hall until 26 May. For more information go to http://www.ilikemuseums.com/northface/pages/profile9.html

Kathryn Tickell Band performances // Kathryn on television

Kathryn and band’s live dates starting in Keswick 23rd April through to Durham 1st May are mostly nearing capacity or are sold out. Please do book soon to secure your tickets!

23 April 2008 22:40 BBC One (London, North East & Cumbria only)
Made in England
Kathryn joins jazz musician Courtney Pine on Holy Island, Northumberland, as he takes on the challenge of composing a piece of music inspired by the solitude of the location, in contrast to his busy home city of London.

Sunday 4 May 2008 11:00 Channel 5 Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria
First broadcast in 2006 this documentary on Kathryn and her creative influences attracted 750,000 viewers, leading to The Proudfoot Company being commissioned to make the current ‘My Music’ series, featuring Seth Lakeman, Eliza Carthy, Kate Rusby and Athena. Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria is repeated at the end of the series on Sunday 4 May.

‘Beautifully directed by Michael Proudfoot with superb landscape photography and pacey editing this was a fascinating glimpse of the folk music of Northumbria.’ Victor Lewis-Smith, Evening Standard.

‘A visual and aural feast.’ The Times

http://www.fivetvonline.tv/culture

February news

Spring is upon us with a lively series of duo concerts this month. Kathryn and Peter feature at the Customs House, South Shields (13th Feb) going on to Salford Quays, Lichfield, Totnes, Birmingham and Colchester later in the month (see ‘Performances’ section for full details). Several concerts are nearing capacity so do book as soon as you can. The full Kathryn Tickell Band have sneaked in a performance just at the end of February (29th) at Liverpool University. This concert has not been widely publicised but tickets are available to the general public via 0151 794 3266 or email enquiries to [email protected]

Kathryn continues work on spnm’s ‘Folk from Here’ project, with workshops and rehearsals alongside Kuljit Bhamra, Marie Fielding, Jonathan Mayer and Julian Sutton. The project showcases new work by emerging composers and repertoire created by the artists involved. It culminates in selected UK performances during May – July. Full details of live dates have yet to be announced however you can read more about the project at www.spnm.org.uk

Kathryn’s new website

Seasonal greetings to all and warmest wishes for a very happy 2008. We hope you like the new website! There will be further developments and news updates so do check in from time to time. A link to Kathryn’s blog is on the homepage where you can also leave comments.

In late November Kathryn Tickell and Peter Tickell played two great concerts in Avilés and Bilbao, Spain. Follow this link to see atmospheric photos from the Bilbao concert Quickly re-packing suitcases, the Kathryn Tickell Band made off for Italy for concerts in Venice and Brindisi. Home now, for a relaxing Christmas before all the New Year’s activities begin.

New management for Kathryn Tickell

With an ever-increasing touring schedule, as well as composing, lecturing, TV and radio work, Kathryn Tickell has brought Genevieve Martin on board to manage her performance and project work. Genevieve comes from a background of touring, venue programming, and most recently project management for Dance4 and manager of international performance festival nottdance (Nottingham, UK).

The past year or so has seen Kathryn playing to capacity audiences throughout the UK, including a memorable concert attracting a 2000+ crowd at The Sage, Gateshead. Channel 5 broadcast Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbria twice over. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies composed Kettletoft Inn for Kathryn, dedicated to her re-awakening of Northumbria’s musical heritage. In recognition of her exceptional contribution to the region, Kathryn was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Northumbria in July 2007. Lecturing for the University of Newcastle and artistic directorship of the north’s young ensemble Folkestra are all part of her continued investment in young musicians.

2008 sees Kathryn Tickell Band and duo concerts throughout the year and the further development of a spoken-word project with harpist and singer Corinna Hewat (Bachué, The Unusual Suspects) using field recordings and landscape as inspiration. With over 20 years’ touring and composing, Kathryn Tickell continues to captivate and inspire audiences and fellow musicians alike.