FESTIVE FOLK: Hearken Quartet// Ouseburn Folk Choir // Ouseburn Folk Band

Join us for a cosy festive evening celebrating our Ouseburn folk community! 

You'll hear glorious harmony singing from Ouseburn Folk Choir, nestled in amongst some unusual Christmas Carols, and songs of strange winter traditions. You'll feel equal parts intrigued and uplifted!

Ouseburn Folk Band have been working on how to play folk music fit for dancing to! Expect some ceilidh classics and some european bal folk with a festive twist.

The whole evening will be headlined by the incredble HEARKEN QUARTET.

Inspired by the lively traditional dance music of Europe, Hearken Quartet are an energetic ensemble of clarinet, uilleann pipes, guitar, piano, and diatonic accordion. Bringing fresh flavours to Euro-bal music, whether it’s the chain dances of Brittany, Scandinavian couple dances, or the bourrée of the French Auvergne, Hearken Quartet delivers delicious arrangements of tunes new and old that will whet the appetites of traditional and contemporary music fans alike.

The project began as a collaboration between Bruce Lambelle-Rudd and Bob Downham in 2017, forming a duo of melodeon and uilleann pipes/low whistle to explore the traditional dance music of continental Europe. In 2022 the band expanded to include music techhead Alex Walters and clarinet powerhouse M Lomas, who brought stomping accompaniment and wistful harmonies, resulting in a rousing atmosphere powered by a wall of sound.