As an integral part of the 29th Shetland Folk Festival, an exciting and innovative Trans-Nordic educational project was held in Lerwick between 27th April and 2nd May.

Working in partnership with of the Folk Music Association (FMS) in Denmark the Festival brought together five professional tutors and twenty young musicians from Shetland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland for a weeklong exchange of folk music, culture and heritage. Helge Arildsø of FMS and Davie Henderson began planning this project in November 2007, finally securing the funding package in March '09. In many respects, this project builds on the success of the S.H.O.W project, which showcased the talents of students and tutors from Shetland, Highland, Orkney and the Western Isles in May 2007.

Funding for the Nordic Tone project was specifically obtained from the Nordic Culture Fund and the Shetland LEADER programme – without which this ambitious project would not have been possible.

This project enabled the Shetland Folk Festival Society to promote the native and distinctive traditions, folk music and cultural heritage of Shetland to other areas whilst forging links and cooperation with established music institutions throughout the Nordic region - bringing both short and hopefully longer term economic benefits to our islands.

The specific aims of the Nordic Tone project were to

• Develop a joint Nordic music programme and project to involve young folk musicians (between the ages of 16 and 25) and 5 professional tutors – one that focuses on cultural exchange through an innovative way of teaching/learning.
• To enable young people to make the most of their talents, develop their skills as well as to expand their knowledge through both professional tutoring from 5 musical leaders of different nationality and through more informal musical collaboration and exchange between the participants.
• To enable twenty young folk musicians and the 5 tutors to participate in and jointly develop a showcase performance for the biggest stage and concert of the 29th Shetland Folk Festival weekend.

After an intensive week of teaching, learning and arranging in workshops, the project culminated with the 'Nordic Tone' performance – part of the Clickimin Concert on Saturday 2nd May 2009. Such was the success of the project, that other Festivals are now expressing an interest in booking the group as a performance in its own right.

Overseeing the teaching are:

• Kevin Henderson from Shetland
• Henrik Jansberg from Denmark
• Ånon Egeland from Dept of Folk Culture, Telemark University College, Norway
• Jonas Simonson from the World Music Dept, Gothenburg University, Sweden
• Ilona Korhonen from Folk Music Dept, Sibelius Academy, Finland

For further information, please contact:

Davie Henderson
Shetland Folk Festival Society
5 Burns Lane
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0EL

Tel: 01595 694547 (H) / 07766 727190 (M)
email: davie@glimster.wanadoo.co.uk