Folkestra

Folkestra, formerly known as FolkESTRA North is

The Sage Gateshead Sage Gateshead is a concert venue and musical education centre in Gateshead on the south side of the River Tyne in North East England. Opened in 2004 and occupied by North Music Trust it is part of the Gateshead Quays development which include ...

’s youth folk ensemble, formed in 2001. It is led by their Musical Director Ian Stephenson, a multi-instrumentalist playing folk and traditional music from Northumbria and Scandinavia. The former Musical Director was

Kathryn Tickell Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. Music career Early life Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, then in Staffordshire, to parents who originated fro ...

, one of England's premiere folk musicians. They have performed at a wide range of concerts, recorded and published their self entitled album, "FolkESTRA North", and taken part in festivals including the National Festival of Youth Music,

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town h ...

International Festival and

Towersey Village Festival Towersey Festival is an annual festival of folk, world music and traditional dance, previously held in the village of Towersey, now relocated to neighbouring Thame in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place every August bank holiday weeke ...

. In Easter of 2005, Folkestra took part in a UK tour called "The Road to the North" to celebrate the rich traditional music of the North East of England. They performed here alongside The

Band,

Alistair Anderson The High Level Ranters are a Northumbrian traditional musical group founded in 1964, best known for being one of the first bands in the revival of the Northumbrian smallpipes. Name and history The name was chosen as a combination of the locat ...

, Louisa Jo Killen, and the Old Rope String Band. With two successful CDs and a growing national reputation, Folkestra have performed at many concerts and festivals across the country, and also at the BBC Proms first ever Folk Day at the Royal Albert Hall. In the summer of 2012, Folkestra are to perform at Traflgar Square in the River of Music festival. Folkestra's 15 band members play a wide variety of instruments, including fiddles, an accordion, a melodeon, a whistle, a flute,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

northumbrian pipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Nor ...

, double bass, voices, and foot percussion. English folk musical groups Culture in Tyne and Wear {{UK-band-stub