“Beautifully atmospheric … wonderfully authentic” – Rosamund Woodroffe, Bright Young Folk
“A very strong, highly individual ensemble” – Nicholas Boyd-Vaughan, St Martin in the Fields
Emily Andrews (flutes) and David Massey (guitars) have reached down into their tangled musical roots and used their intuitive musicianship to create their own unique arrangements of folk songs from all over the British Isles.
They let the music grow and evolve naturally, using improvisation and memory rather than written music, to respond to the aural tradition of folk music, while using the instrumental technique and beautiful sound from their classical training at the Royal Academy of Music.
With flute and guitar, the words of the songs are lost, but they retain the songs’ meanings in the textures and atmospheres of the music, conjuring up the spirit of the words, like the ghost of Molly Malone still selling her cockles and mussels on the streets of Dublin…
Like the best folk music, their playing brings together the old and the new: while some song arrangements are very simple with a single flute and guitar, for some songs they use a live loop pedal to record a base version, and then free themselves up to overdub improvised harmony parts and solos on different instruments, creating the widest range of colours to reflect the breadth of feeling, the light and shade, present in all folk music of the British Isles.
About the artists
Emily and David met in 2009 at the Royal Academy of Music while playing in the orchestra for a musical. They have played together ever since, alongside their solo careers. Not ones to be pigeon-holed, their live performances range from classical recitals (Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Dvorak, Elgar, Takemitsu etc) to their own arrangements of British folk music.
In addition to their performing as a duo, Emily and David are two-thirds of trio CarmenCo, which has been touring its sell-out show “A Pocket Opera” throughout the UK since 2019 and has bookings well into 2026.
As composers, Emily and David work together to create soundtracks for short films or spoken audio such as podcasts. They use all the instruments available to them (all kinds of flute and whistle, voices, violin, piano, guitars acoustic and electric, banjo and more…), as well as electronics where appropriate, to create soundscapes which fit the words or action.
And as arrangers, David arranges almost all of the duo’s classical repertoire, taking music from orchestral and opera worlds as well as arranging many piano parts. His published arrangements are performed by duos all over the world.
The duo are grateful to Culture West for part-funding this concert.
Licensed bar. Doors open 5:30pm. Concert starts at 6pm
Please note that tickets bought on the door on the night will be £18