Halsway Young Folk Intermediate 2027

Our Intermediate week is a great opportunity for young musicians from the South West and beyond to work with leading folk artists, to develop skills, confidence and creativity, and create a new performance piece leading to performances at Sidmouth Folk Festival.

We’ll be providing an immersive week of music, creativity and fun, in the beautiful and peaceful surroundings of Halsway Manor. It will be intensive and challenging, but also supportive and fun! Young musicians will spend the week working together to learn, arrange and rehearse new repertoire, developing musical skills and performance technique along the way, and will create their own interpretations of traditional material. The group will live, work and play together, with opportunities for informal rehearsals and social gatherings to enrich their experience and understanding of the folk arts.

As always we’ll have our fantastic team of tutors with us, lead by Becki Driscoll, with Archie Churchill-Moss, Matt Norman, and Rosie Butler-Hall. Kerrie Seymour returns as our Pastoral Lead, making everyone feel at home, and taking charge of the annual quiz, evening entertainments, and perhaps, by unpopular demand, Halsway Taskmaster...

The week will end with performances at Sidmouth Folk Festival!
Participants will need to make their own arrangements to get to Sidmouth.

Who is it for?

This is an intensive but fun course for young people aged 13-18. If you are at the end of Year 8 with an August birthday (and aged 12 at the time of the course), or are at the end of Year 13, you will still be eligible for the course.

You’ll need to have attended a Halsway Young Folk Introduction course prior to being accepted into the Intermediate group. Any acoustic instrument is welcome and you should be working at a playing level of at least Grade 4, but we’ll be able to challenge even the most accomplished players! If your main instrument is piano, you’ll need to bring a digital keyboard and stand with you, and be prepared to take it to Sidmouth as well.

We’ll be teaching predominantly by ear, so if you’re used to reading music you’ll need to be happy to give that a go! It’s important that you want to be creative, work collaboratively with others, and have fun creating a performance that everybody can be proud of.

How to Apply

To take part in the 2027 Intermediate course, please complete this application form. Places are limited, and will be allocated based on playing level and experience. If you haven’t been to Halsway before, you’ll need to complete our Young Folk Intro course before applying for a place on Intermediate.

We may be able to offer a small number of partial bursaries to those for whom cost is a barrier to attending. If you wish to discuss this, please contact Crispian Cook on [email protected]