I’m really happy to be working with Sam Partridge on the Live Music Now scheme! It’s been great to meet so many lovely musicians at the training days and I’m looking forward to getting started soon. The link below is to Live Music Now’s website where you can find out about some of the amazing work they do:
Photo by Live Music Now
I’m chuffed to announce that I am a Trinity Laban Learning & Participation (Music) Fellow – 2019! I’m very grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to getting stuck into working on new ideas! The fellowship involves training and mentoring to improve music leadership skills and music education practice.
Link to Trinity Laban website: https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/take-part/for-adults/professional-development/music-professionals/learning-participation-music
I’ve loved the summer of 2018 which has been full of exciting new music, fun festivals and sunshine! Now autumn’s arrived, here are some reflective highlights…
Project Meraki
I absolutely loved working with Grace Alexander (Piano) and Mercedes Phillips (Saxophones) on this one-off project. We gave ourselves a few months to collaborate and create an EP of our own compositions and arrangements and I’m so proud of what we came up with! We recorded the tracks with Ian Stephenson at Simpson Street Studios in June; it was brilliant to work with these inspiring musicians and learn a bit about jazz along the way. The tracks are available to listen to (and buy!) on Bandcamp, so please do check them out:
https://projectmeraki.bandcamp.com/album/project-meraki
North East Fiddle School
As well as new music, this summer was also the final term of my work with North East Fiddle School, now I’ve moved away. It was an absolute privilege to be part of this organisation since the classes started in January 2018 and working alongside Stewart and Ali was a total pleasure. I’ll really miss everyone there and highly recommend these classes to any fiddle players in the North East!
http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/2018/07/27/thank-you-and-farewell-to-grace/
Monster Ceilidh Band
It’s been a very fun summer of gigs with the Monsters including a trip to Austria for the Linz Pflasterspektakel Festival as well as loads of fun festivals including Eden Festival, Kendal Calling, Green Man and Sidmouth Folk Week. We’re working on some new material now so keep an eye out on social media for updates!
Instagram: @monsterceilidhband
Duo with Sam Partridge
Finally, it was brilliant to be chosen as two of the resident artists as part of Sage Gateshead Summer Studios along with Sam Partridge. We spent a week there in August working on new material as a duo, focusing on English repertoire. It was great to arrange lots of new repertoire and we’re really looking forward to continuing to develop this project- you can see us supporting Katie Doherty at Sage Gateshead on January 17th 2019.
Coming soon…
Lots of exciting band and solo news to come over the next few months on this website/social media…
Facebook: @GraceSmithMusic
Events in the High Peak
Come and Try Clog Dancing Workshop – Glossop Labour Club, Sunday 4th November 2018
Christmas Ceilidh Dance with The Waterside Quartet – Crystal Ballroom, Glossop, Saturday 22nd December 2018
Christmas Ceilidh Facebook Event
Thanks for reading 🎻
Hello! Somehow March 2018 has already arrived! So here’s my quick, slightly belated, look back at last year…
Master’s
It was great to embark on research into the musical traditions of Cleveland. I was privileged to receive the Ewan MacColl Memorial Award and loved visiting archives and museums across the country to find new resources, repertoire and inspiration! I recorded some of the tunes on an EP and am looking forward to continuing this project.
http://www.ewanmaccoll.co.uk/ewan-maccoll/ewan-maccoll-memorial-award/
Xiamen
Another highlight at the end of the year was an amazing visit to Xiamen University in China. Along with some fellow postgraduate music students from Newcastle University, it was so fantastic to meet music students in Xiamen, perform at their ‘Newcastle University Day’ and exchange music with the students there.
Gigs
2017 was also full of some great gigs! Starting off the new year with a live session on BBC Radio 3 with Monster Ceilidh Band on New Year’s Eve Eve, then summer festivals and ceilidh fun too! The Rachel Hamer Band also released a debut album, I played in some festive Holly and Ivy Roadshow concerts, weddings and lots of tune-writing.
Teaching
It was brilliant to teach at Folkworks Junior Summer School in July, as well as lots of wonderful pupils and workshops throughout the year.
So… looking forward to more exciting music-making in 2018!
Hello! Welcome to my new website! I’m hoping to keep everyone updated on my performing and teaching here- it’s a work in progress so please keep checking it out and let me know what you think! To start off, here is a photo taken a couple of months ago by the lovely Mercedes Phillips in chilly January Newcastle!
