Concertinas at Witney 2000
By Samantha Boorer (mail@sboorer.demon.co.uk), September 2000
I very much enjoyed Concertinas at Witney which took place on 23rd and 24th
September 2000 and I would definitely go again.
You sign up for two 'classes', one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I signed
up for Chords and Keys for the Anglo with Brian Peters and Playing for Fun
and Dancing with Dave Townsend. Brian's playing style was more from the
John Kirkpatrick than the Noel Hill school of playing, and he gave a
stunning rendition of The Entertainer (among other things) during the
tutors' concert (you would never have suspected he was playing that
"limited", "diatonic" instrument the anglo!). Dave Townsend shared a wealth
of information about learning tunes, recognising their structures, and
playing with other people and in sessions. I am more drawn to that
"English" style of anglo playing, but with hindsight I don't think either of
the courses I chose were right for me as, although I am a relative beginner
concertina player (18 months or so), I am a pretty experienced amateur
musician in other fields and the material covered in both of them was stuff
I am familiar with from my other musical experiences. Other courses
included Playing Irish Anglo, Making the Tune Your Own, The Secret Life of
Hornpipes, Song Accompaniment, Concertina Band/Playing in Parts, Duet
Concertinas (I'm not sure I've remembered them all).
On the Saturday night all the tutors played in a concert. They are all
excellent musicians and it was truly delightful to hear such a wide variety
of music played on the concertina - from Joplin on an Anglo to Bartok on an
English, via Blue Moon on a Duet and, of course, some splendid jigs, reels
etc. The concert was very entertainingly run to time by Dave Townsend to
allow us all to dash to the pub, and the tutors all kindly agreed to allow
private recording so I have a memento of the evening.
Colin and Rosalie Dipper ran a first aid point for concertinas throughout
the weekend, and were very generous with advice and help, and on the second
day there was a trade exhibition with stalls manned by Barleycorn, Marcus
Bros., Hobgoblin and Accordions of London (and others). CDs of tutors and
other players were available for sale throughout the weekend.
The weekend really starts the night before, however, when in a couple of
pre-identified pubs 'sessions' take place. After checking into my hotel I
took my concertina and headed off to one. Coming from the concertina desert
that is Moscow I found it wonderful to walk into a pub and find about thirty
concertina players chatting, playing, drinking! Everyone was very friendly
and welcoming and I found that I could pick up a phrase or two in the tunes
that were being played by the second (or third) time through which, for me,
was good experience. Unfortunately when I plucked up the courage to throw a
tune into the ring no-one else knew it (another consequence of being
self-taught in a concertina desert!) but I wasn't left floundering on my own
for too long, as a couple of people picked it up quickly enough and helped
me out!
The price of Witney covers only the musical bits, so accommodation and food
(apart from coffee and tea in the breaks) is additional, approximately
doubling the cost. You are sent a very long list of accommodation but it
would have been helpful if these had been graded as to distance from the
school where the event itself is held (especially for those who do not
have a street map of Witney handy!).
For further details of next year's C@W (on 29th and 30th September 2001)
contact Dave Townsend at homweekend@aol.com
See you there next year?
|
