Cecil Sharp project wows Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn
Eight leading folk stars thrilled a near-capacity audience at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn when they descended on Shropshire to pay tribute to one of the genre's most famous players.
Cecil Sharp Project
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
words and pictures by Andy Richardson
Eight leading folk stars thrilled a near-capacity audience at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn when they descended on Shropshire to pay tribute to one of the genre's most famous players.
The Cecil Sharp Project comprised a residential songwriting retreat in south Shropshire, followed by a concert in Shrewsbury.
Project co-ordinator Neil Pearson said it followed a similar residential progra-mme to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, in 2009.
Cecil Sharp was England's most prolific folk music and dance collector. He amassed a total of 4,977 tunes in England and North America, at the start of the 20th century.
His mission to revive the music placed him at the forefront of a movement which has attracted a great deal of attention in recent times.
The project featured Steve Knightley, Jackie Oates, Andy Cutting, Caroline Herring, Jim Moray, Patsy Reid, Leonard Podolak and Kathryn Roberts.
Their concert at Theatre Severn was warmly received and they will return to Shropshire for a performance on August Bank Holiday Monday at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
