Gig: European Folk 2026

Tickets available on the door

Join us for an evening of European folk music with tutors from the Halsway European Weekend, and debut performances of new ensemble pieces created by course participants.

German Diaz is one of the most influential musicians for the revival of the hurdy gurdy in Spain and for it´s place in contemporary music. He feels at home in different genres. German has been playing traditional music, jazz and classical music and his original music has been part of stage plays and films.

It is impossible to stick a label on his compositions. He likes to experiment with sounds and ideas and even plays together with old recordings of heartbeats and with music boxes!

German does also sing and plays percussions and guitar.

Michal Müller is one of the leading zither players today. In the Czech Republic and abroad, where he gives concerts and teaches, he is known primarily for his distinctive expression, unique technique and also for his combination of playing and singing. His genre is somewhere between jazz, blues, classical, folk motifs and free improvisation. His music draws you into pleasant energetic and melancholic moods and rhythms that will appeal to you very deeply and directly. His repertoire also includes compositions from various genres and periods, from the Middle Ages to the present.

In addition to solo concerts, he performs, for example, in theater performances by the FysioArt group (live stage music), or in Ivan Acher's contemporary opera Sternenhoch. He is the author of music for many theater performances, records music for films and audiobooks, and collaborates on various projects of various genres.
Recently, he has been intensively devoted to the traditional music of his region.
More information at www.michal-muller.cz or www.youtube.com/flugzeugrecords

Matthias Branschke is one of the best known pipers in Germany. He is a passionate player and arranger of traditional tunes as well as a composer of catchy new melodies. His play is delicate, expressive, groovy and full of joy.

His specialities in playing and teaching are dance grooves, rhythm and musical tightness.

Merit Zloch  (www.meritzloch.net) is a harpist, composer and music teacher. She sees herself in the tradition of the itinerant harp players of the 19th and early 20th century, travelling with her harp throughout Europe charming people with her original compositions and arrangements of historical dance music.

She has played in bands almost as long as she has played the harp and is constantly fascinated by the interplay between musicians. She likes to arrange und develop pieces together with her band colleagues and to improvise.

Merit Zloch and Matthias Branschke are both researching historical dance manuscripts and organising musicians meetings, bals and instrumental workshop weekends. They both play in a band together (solid ghost) and teach in a team frequently.