Festive Gathering

Advance booking recommended

Cecil Sharp House Choir and guests invite you to our annual yuletide celebration filled with song, dance, music, and good cheer!

Featuring:

Shackleton Trio, with Georgia Shackleton as our soloist

Captivating songwriting and fiery tunes that combine mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo with powerful three part harmonies. The unmistakable sound of The Shackleton Trio brings to life the stories of their native East Anglia, and beyond.
September 2024 sees the band touring a brand new album, as they look ahead to celebrating their 10 year anniversary in 2025. The trio features Georgia Shackleton (fiddle, vocals), Aaren Bennett (guitar) and Nic Zuppardi (mandolin and banjo). Collectively the band draw influence from British, American and Scandinavian folk traditions, whilst Georgia’s flair for sourcing largely unsung material from East Anglia keeps the band firmly rooted in their local tradition.
Almost a decade performing together has seen the band played on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4, BBC 6 Music, RTE 1, BBC Countryfile, press coverage gleaming 5-star reviews, an appearance on Cambridge Folk Festival’s prestigious main stage, a host of UK and European festivals and international tours, and many miles in the Mondeo. This is a band that clearly enjoys playing together, and are not to be missed.

Matthew Crampton - compere and storyteller

Singer and storyteller Matthew Crampton performs folk songs, music hall, stories and monologues. With Paul Hutchinson he appears as one of The Folk Detectives, while his solo show Have a Banana! explores singalong and the mechanics of comic song. As a storyteller, Matthew recently released his version of The Little Prince on Prima Classic. Matthew creates serious shows about migration such as The Transports, broadcast on BBC Radio Three, and Human Cargo, based on his book of the same name. He’s also written books about fishing and making sweets. Previous careers include being a speechwriter, dramaturg, masseur and finance director.

Nickie Dailly - clog dancer, with musician MJ Searle

Step dancer Nickie Dailly is the newly crowned Lancashire & Cheshire Clog Dance Champion! She dances original and traditional routines with flair and playful spontaneity, and for the Festive Gathering joins forces with seasoned dance musician and tunesmith MJ Searle. Their classy combination of captivating tunes and exciting percussive steps is sure to bring colour and vibrant energy to the evening - prepare to be truly impressed!

Latin American Choir of London, with leader Camilo Menjura

The Lolchoir is a ‘non-audition’ community choir that focuses specifically on traditional repertoire from Latin America & Spain mainly in Spanish. The choir based in King’s Cross, started in 2013 and continues to explore old and new tunes from the ever evolving traditional song book of Latin America & Spain.
Under the direction of Colombian musician Camilo Menjura, the choir has done recordings and varied performances from community centres in North London to several Consulates, Winter & Summer Festivals in Central London and even the Tate Modern and the Barbican Centre together with other local choirs.
The choir is a representation of multicultural London with members (and former members) from many corners of the world, together as one big voice, around the love for community singing and Latin American music.

Colombian guitarist, singer, arranger, choir leader and educator based in London. Since his arrival to the UK in 2006, Camilo has been active in the local music scene, initially with Latin American music projects only and gradually growing and getting involved in different projects, doing collaborations and exploring different and contrasting types of repertoire.
In recent years Camilo has been working closely with Community/Group Singing projects, leading a variety of choirs such as the SOAS University "World Music Choir", the Lolchoir (LOL=Landscapes of Latin-America), Stapleton Singers, etc., running workshops in festivals and leading specialised sessions with choirs across the UK. Camilo was one of the lead tutors of the London Folk Youth Ensemble at the 'Cecil Sharp House' (EFDSS) from two years. Currently he sings with the Acappella Quartet “OAKEN”.
In 2018 he launched a solo project called “Loop Explorations” where he creates soundscapes with a cappella structures based on Afro-Latin rhythms. During the 2020 lockdown, he collaborated with a team of artists writing an ARIA for the 12:42 project with the National Opera Studio, and kept busy leading online choirs with new members connecting from different continents up to now.
Camilo has won several Latin UK Awards (LUKAS) for his work in sharing Latin American musical culture through various projects in the UK. He has played with a number of bands visiting stages across Britain as well Europe, Asia, Central & South America. His guitar playing has been featured in films, TV shows, theatre productions and documentaries.

Cecil Sharp House Choir, with director Rose Martin

Cecil Sharp House Choir has folk song at the heart of its repertoire.
Since 2020 the Choir has been directed by inspirational choir leader Rose Martin, who arranges lots of the Choir’s repertoire, often drawing on materials from our library and archives.
Cecil Sharp House Choir has become known for its spirited and moving renditions of traditional songs. The Choir concentrates on singing a Capella folk and traditional songs from Britain and beyond. It is un-auditioned and is for confident singers who are able to hold a tune and are keen to perform.
Cecil Sharp House Choir performs regularly at Cecil Sharp House and at a host of other venues and events. Previous venues and events include Trafalgar Square, King's Cross Summer Sounds at Coal Drops Yard, the British Library, Southbank Centre, the Roundhouse, the National Maritime Museum, Oslo Musikkfest, Sidmouth Folk Festival and the House of Commons.

With firm roots in both the choral and folk traditions, Rose is a passionate believer in the power of singing together and sharing songs to create a strong sense of community and cohesion. Rose grew up in Kent, and later studied at Chetham’s School of Music, and King’s College London, where she cut her teeth as a choral scholar. Over the last ten years Rose has worked as a choral singer, conductor, workshop leader and teacher, and her musical journey has spanned many genres, with folk always being closest to her heart.
Rose loves to bring people together in song, and leads a number of office choirs in London. She’s a vocal coach and conductor for the Kent Youth Choirs, Musical Director of Note-orious, (an East Dulwich community choir) and has recently led a community singing project for Shakespeare’s Globe. As a performer, Rose has sung with some of the finest choirs around, and continues to sing in many genres, the common thread being singing with others! She is a member of the vocal group Shards, and has sung on many albums and film soundtracks with the London Contemporary Orchestra and London Voices. Growing up with an Irish heritage, Rose has always been fascinated by traditional music and has developed a wide knowledge and love for folk music from around the British Isles and the world. Her enthusiasm for folk music has also involved working with the Trad Academy, and with a collective of folky friends regularly playing and calling ceilidhs.

Promoted by EFDSS.