Manx musicians invited to collaborate with Welsh and Cornish counterparts

Project announced to mark European Folk Day

A new international music collaboration has been announced by Culture Vannin.

The cultural organisation has joined forces with similar organisations from Wales and Cornwall to present a folk music exchange for European Folk Day, which takes place on Monday 23 September.

Now in its second year, European Folk Day 'highlights the value of the traditional arts, reinforcing that each diverse nation is an essential part of Europe’s rich cultural spectrum

'From grassroots communities to national organisations, and from individual musicians to companies involved in traditional arts at any level, anyone can get involved.'

Development officers Chloë Woolley and Ruth Keggin Gell have teamed up with Jordan Price Williams from the Welsh folk development organisation TRAC Cymru and Jowdy Davey from Cornish cultural organisation Lowender to present a special challenge for singers and musicians.

It will see them learn each other’s folk songs or tunes and interpret them in their own way.

Individuals or groups are then asked to record or film their performances and share them on their own social media channels on 23 September, tagging #europeanfolkday in the caption.

The collaborative project has been named 'Môr / Mooir / Mor', as all three Celtic cousins share a very similar sounding name for the sea in each language: Môr in Welsh, Mooir in Manx and Mor in Cornish.

Culture Vannin's Manx Music Development Officer Chloe Woolley has been telling Howard Caine more:

The Manx song and tune for the project are now online and ready to learn through video tutorials from Manx Gaelic singer Ruth Keggin and traditional fiddle player Laura Rowles.

You can find them here.