Moonrakers Folk Orchestra

Members of Moonrakers return to Halsway Manor bringing their exciting and dynamic Folk Orchestra event for musicians and singers.

Expect a relaxing, stimulating and engaging multi-instrumental week. Whether you play bowed, fretted or reed instruments, whistles or flutes, or simply like to sing, you are very welcome on this course!

We’ll work on our own arrangements - some written, some improvised - of about 15 folk tunes and songs throughout the week. You don’t need to read music, but some instrumental experience is required.

In the evenings there will be plenty of opportunity to showcase some of your own material.

Who is it for?

This course is aimed at instrumentalists with some experience under their belts. You'll need a good understanding of your instrument and to be open to working in small and larger groups and trying new ways of working.

You'll be able to download resources (sheet music and videos for each tune) for the week in advance of the course. We'll send this material directly to you nearer the time. Don't worry if you've been on the course before, there will be plenty of new material to choose from.

The idea is not to just learn tunes but to look in detail at how we might arrange these within a mixed ensemble of instruments. The video files will provide the skeleton of the tune itself and the beginnings of an arrangement. What we may come up with together as we work with the tune could be quite different. All will be explained on arrival.

The written music will be a mix of traditional tunes and those written by Moonrakers. They'll contain melody, countermelody, bass and chords. During the week we'll develop this further, perhaps with a short introduction, a solo spot or a particular rhythm or strumming pattern. We'll also bring a couple of songs to work on. Please print out the music and bring a music stand and a note book/pencil.

Expect to have quite a relaxed week with opportunities to also have some one-to-one advice on developing your playing or writing. Don’t worry about your skill level, we will accommodate all standards of playing.

The Team

The tutors are two of Moonrakers' members - Jon Bennett (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, ukulele, whistles, vocals) and Jacqui Johnson (cello, fiddle, accordion, vocals). Both tutors have many years’ experience of running enjoyable workshops and folk orchestras across the country.