The English Folk Dance and Song Society, is embarking on a short-term consultation exercise to seek the views of people involved, or interested, in folk music education on the desirability and feasibility of working towards creating a national youth folk music ensemble. The consultation is being facilitated by Sound Connections, on behalf of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
The consultation seeks to find out whether people involved in this sector feel that creating a national youth folk music ensemble would be positive for the genre. It also aims to seek views from young people currently involved in folk music (e.g. local or regional ensembles, holiday courses and festival). The consultation will take the form of:
• this online survey – open to anyone interested in completing it
• follow up with a sample of individuals who have completed the questionnaire
• the production of a final summary report that will be shared with respondents and the wider music education sector
The outcome of the consultation will inform further planning and development. The closing date for the online survey is Monday 6 January 2014.
Very few parameters have been set or assumptions made about the nature of a potential national folk music ensemble. There is no fixed view of the outcome or how it would be delivered. However, broadly, we are probably talking about an ensemble that:
• Recruits players from across England
• Focuses mainly on instrumental music
• Has a significant focus on English traditional folk music - but also includes folk music from the wider British Isles and beyond, and includes newly composed music drawing from the tradition
• Aims to complement and build on existing youth folk music provision
• Is very likely to be structured to include some form of outreach programme to help foster the growth of local and regional youth folk music ensembles and courses, and particularly where there is currently little provision
• May include more than one ensemble or group, perhaps catering for different musical levels and/or age groups, that work together in different ways
The questionnaire should take around 20 minutes to complete.
