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Dave Townsend is an acknowledged master of the concertina, composer, researcher and collector of musical traditions, who has provided music for theatre, film, television and radio, published books, produced albums, and taught and lectured on many aspects of traditional music. He is the founder and director of The Mellstock Band, with whom he has toured and broadcast worldwide, and organises the successful workshop series Hands On Music.
At Laurieston, Dave will lead sessions featuring the thrilling and wayward harmonies of English west gallery and American shape-note music, as well as an instrumental band exploring music from the Borders and the Lake District. He will also bring some of his own compositions for voices and instruments.
www.mellstockband.com

 
Wendy Stewart's involvement in traditional harp playing stretches back to the 1970s. She has a style of playing that incorporates a great knowledge of the Scottish tradition and an interest in music from Scandinavia to South America. She has toured with the group Ceolbeg and recorded extensively, teaches on the RSAMD Traditional Music degree course in Glasgow and is in great demand as a tutor who can both coax the musician out of the learner and bring fresh harping ideas to the old-timer!
This week Wendy will teach layered arrangements of Scottish melodies and songs for any level, taster workshops for the uninitiated and how to play in a harp section with the big band.
www.wendystewart.co.uk

 
Ali Burns is one of Scotland’s best-loved singing workshop leaders who has built her reputation by teaching her own songs and is known for her transcendent harmonies and inspiring text. You can hear these songs in diverse settings such as public art installations, community theatre, in mainstream and special needs education or in the repertoire and recordings of many choirs around Britain. Ali also spends many hours looking for unusual material in Britain’s song archives. She breathes fresh life into these songs by writing new tunes, amalgamating partial versions, finding missing text and arranging for harmony singing.
During the week Ali will be teaching these and her own songs as well as bringing some material for singers to enjoy with the big house band.
www.aliburns.co.uk