The Collectors
Creative Direction / Programming
In the early years of the 20th century, folk tune collectors embarked on a mission to save the sounds of previous generations.
Thousands of tunes were saved, scribbled in notebooks or recorded in the field on wax cylinders. Collectors like Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth used some of their favourite finds as the starting point for their sumptuous orchestral works; others have inspired folk musicians in the generations since - continuing to live on and evolve with each performance.
The Collectors was a collaboration between fiddle-player Sam Sweeney (2015 BBC Folk Awards Musician of the Year), accordionist Rob Harbron, and Sinfonia Smith Square’s 2024 fellowship. It mixed orchestral performances with spontaneous new arrangements of folk tunes, devised and performed by the orchestra’s players, continuing in the footsteps of those intrepid folk tune collectors a century ago.
Workshops saw an exchange of ideas and skillsets, with Sam and Rob building the tools and confidence to re-interpret the core building blocks of so much classical music anew. Alongside improvised ensemble performances, the finale saw the whole orchestra create an unscripted live performance of Bagpipers together.
You can read a blog post written by Jenny Sturt, one of the Sinfonia Smith Square musicians who participated in the project, here.
“A really thrilling evening. It worked both ways - as more of a ‘folkie’ I left determined to hear more live orchestral music too. A brilliant project 👏👏👏”
“So exhilarating to witness a concert in which every member of the orchestra composed and improvised, as well as playing classic rep: bravo @SouthbankSinf for its foray into folk with @sweeneyfiddle @ConcertinaRob and Joy Becker, brilliantly devised by @_MattBelcher #ConcertLab”
“A challenging but rewarding artistic experience for the members of the orchestra. The Collectors pushed many of us – myself definitely included! – out of our comfort zones, providing an opportunity to dive head-first into unfamiliar styles of rehearsing and performing. However, we ended up with a set of varied original arrangements that we were really excited to present, and we definitely widened our creative toolkits as musicians along the way.”
“What moved me the most about this project was the musicianship involved in creating our own folk arrangements. There really is a palpable sense of presence one feels when in the act of playing with other people, remembering the tune, improvising around the melody, and (most important of all) responding to what your fellow performers are doing. Opening my ears to this sense of collaborative freedom and creativity made exploring the history and music surrounding the collectors special and satisfying.”
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First performance date: 2024
My role: Concept, programming, creative direction
Part of Sinfonia Smith Square’s #ConcertLab series
Venue: Smith Square Hall, London
Guest Collaborators: Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron
Leader: Joy Becker
Event photography and film: Sophie Oliver and Matt Belcher
Supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation
With thanks to the English Folk Dance and Song Society for use of the Vaughan William Memorial Library and Cecil Sharp House for workshops
Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron lead a workshop with Sinfonia Smith Square, sharing the skills of folk performance and improvisation
Sinfonia Smith Square musicians uncover folk melodies from the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (English Folk Dance and Song Society)
Chamber groups work on their new arrangements with Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron at Cecil Sharp House, London