East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra workshop day
Submitted by Jo Poole
East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra held its first workshop day in Beccles on Saturday 22nd February. It was attended by 26 folk musicians from across Suffolk and Norfolk, and skilfully led by Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, a highly regarded professional folk musician described in The Living Tradition as ‘captivating, bold and striking’. Cohen is at the forefront of his generation of English folk musicians and a masterful player of the Anglo concertina and melodeon. 
The morning focussed on shaping and leading ensemble playing. It was for those folk orchestra members who currently co-lead the folk orchestra who would like to learn how to. Cohen encouraged everyone to listen carefully to each other and to identify individual phrases, rhythmic patterns and dynamics that could enhance the collective sound. It was a “really enjoyable and productive workshop that helped us think about different ways of leading” said Karen (fiddle). Val (melodeon), said “Cohen skilfully provided an experiential learning journey to lead the orchestra to move beyond ‘just reading an orchestral score’”.
After lunch the number of participants swelled from twelve to twenty six. Cohen taught a simple tune by ear and then explored with us how he constructs folk tune arrangements, offering chord theory and suggestions for adding ornamentation. His leadership style was accessible, engaging and thoughtful, and encouraged participants to confidently share their reflective ideas. The highlight was learning, analysing and playing Cohen’s four part arrangement of ”Forth to the Battle”. It sounded fantastic and was an inspirational end to a creative and thought-provoking day.
The East Suffolk Community Folk Orchestra began life in January 2024 and now rehearses in Bungay Community Centre twice a month on Saturday morning. It is a member of ‘Making Music’. As it’s founder, I’m keen to see the community folk orchestra spread its wings across East Suffolk, hence why the workshop day took place in Beccles.
We currently have a few places for instruments that play chords, rhythm or bass lines.
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This workshop was the result of a second collaboration between Mardles.org and ‘Vintage Squeeze’, a group of musicians based in Norwich. The theme of the day was playing together as an orchestra of folk musicians. The workshop was led by Jo Freya - a top-ranking multi-instrumentalist and experienced tutor. For many years Jo has been a member of The Old Swan Band and Blowzabella. She is now also a member of Narthen and Moirai. Find out more about Jo 
