If you closed your eyes, felt the soft ground beneath your feet, the sounds of the trees, the wind, and the eerily charming music, it was easy to imagine yourself in early 20th Century Transylvania – and what else could you want out of your first night wandering in the woods at Latitude?
"Townsend is a wild man in the fiddle. His updated arrangements of traditional tunes expand the envelope while never exceeding the limits of good taste. Rather, they have an organic quality that makes one wonder why these tunes were never done this way before" Rootsworld
Townsend's music is an authoritative compendium of European folk styles played with thrilling virtuosity. The Guardian
"Look! no dots." Changing the way we think about music training.
Creative improvisation, learning by ear, folk music and Jazz can greatly enhance classical music training. The Creative String Group learns by age-old traditional methods and also from cutting edge techniques, such as the triadic improvisation of George Garzone and Gypsy violinist Iogica Ghemant.
What has a musician got to learn from a Magician? Max Somerset shares some of his secrets with students during CoLab. It's about psychology, performance and craft attained through many long hours of practise.
" He gives new meaning to the term "theme and variations." Each repetition of the tune is a new adventure. Though Townsend is an excellent fiddler, he never gives the impression that he's showing off. Instead, he invites the listener to revel in the music as much as he and his band obviously do. - Peggy Latkovich
A show for children and adults 7+
Joe Townsend - Violin, trumpet violin, Egyptian violin, horse head violin, wooden spoon violin etc...
Nadia Morgan - Everything else
What are violins made of? The plane, the maple, the spruce, the pine, the ebony and the rose? Dragons blood, mastic in tears, amber, your Mum and Dad. A violin has a little piece of wood inside that the French call the soul. It has a neck, a back and a belly too...
A weave of tales and crazy science, some of it true, some completely made up.
The show whisks you on a singing, dancing, tree-acting and watching history of the violin from the stone age to the present day.
Music by Joe Townsend and some songs words Alasdair Middleton.