Folk Traditions, Improvisation and Contemporary Practice
Ensemble Floyds Row's practice combines early music, folk traditions, and contemporary composition in a way that reveals hidden connections across historical periods, geographies, and cultural practices.
This project explores the idea of “interweaving” through a hybrid performance and research presentation by members of Floyds Row. The presentation component will contextualise the performance through short analytical reflections on arrangement processes, instrumentation choices, and collaborative composition. Special attention will be given to how musical ideas are used (and re-used) through renditions of the same tune, as well as re-imagining historical forms through modern improvisation and cross-genre instrumentation.
This project speaks directly to the theme by demonstrating how artistic identities and traditions are not fixed, but continuously evolving through dialogue. By placing early music, folk idioms, and contemporary creativity in conversation, the performance highlights how musicians navigate between scholarship, tradition, and innovation.
Ensemble Floyds Row
Folk collective Floyds Row explores the connections among early, classical, folk, newgrass, and world genres. The ensemble has performed throughout the UK and the US, including at the American Folk Art Museum, Berklee College of Music, Club Passim, Gaithersburg Arts Barn, Rockwood Music Hall, the Winchendon Music Festival, and other venues. The ensemble's new album, The Carlisle Sessions (Big Round Records/PARMA Recordings), was released August 2026.