On
Saturday May 17th, thirteen young musicians
between the ages of 10 and 16 joined Roger, Gareth Kiddier
and Paul Midgley at 11.00am to create a band that would do
its first gig at 4.30 that afternoon.
5
fiddles, melodeon, flute, 3 percussionists, 2 guitars and a
bass, together with the melodeon, percussion and piano of
the workshop leaders completed, in 4 hours of intensive
playing, a repertoire of 8 tunes, complete with harmonic
riffs and percussion beats, to keep dancers happy, audience
amazed and caller, Dave Hunt, busy for 90 minutes.
It was
the third year of this project and some of the participants
were on their second or third time. Each year the repertoire
has grown in size, and challenged the players with new
tunes. Each year there have been those among youngsters,
parents and dancers who have said: ‘Do we really have to
wait until next year to do it again?’
Well,
this time, the answer is: no. Plans are under way to get
some more gigs for WYCO (Winchester Youth Ceilidh Orchestra)
around Christmas time 2008. There will be a couple of
sessions of preparation in the late autumn, and any players
from 2006 and 2007 are welcome to come and join in. We hope
to do at least 2 ceilidhs in Hampshire in December … we
don’t know exactly where, yet, but we’re working on it! And
then, maybe Winchester MayFest will not be our only Festival
next year …
Credit is
due to Richard Brecknock and MayFest for having faith in
this project and getting it to the stage where we can really
see a future for it. Let’s hope we can fly their flag lots
of times in the future!
