Wednesday 12th February 2014 7.30pm
Tickets £8 (£7 concessions)
The Whispering Road is a stunning symbiosis of storytelling and music.
The Whispering Road features two entwined Scandinavian stories of hope in the darkness, of two strangers bound by a ring and of the one who could not love. There are, of course, trolls.
The Whispering Road is brought to life with accompaniment of traditional Scandinavian music on the Swedish nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), kohorn (cow horn), acccordion, guitar and three-part close harmony singing. Seriouskitchen drawsn the rich heritage of Scandinavian myths and stories to bring you a show blending Nick Hennessey’s spellbinding storytelling with Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer’s renowned musicianship and their collective wealth of experience of Nordic traditional folk culture.
“Compelling Storytelling“ The Times
“A Master-class in Storytelling and musicianship.”
Suitable for ages 8 and over.
Seriouskitchen are:
Nick Hennessey..
came to storytelling whilst undertaking field research for a PhD in Cultural Geography. At this time he became a professional singer, songwriter and storyteller with a particular interest in the relationship between landscape, communities and stories and the re-invention of tradition. As an artist he has continued to do research and perform internationally. In 2000 he won the World Championship in epic-singing performing the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic in Espoo, near Helsinki. He regularly returns to perform Kalevala in English for Finnish audiences. In 2009 he presented a program on BBC Radio 4 on the relationship between Kalevala and modern Finnish national identity.
In the UK, he was commissioned in 2007 by the Plymouth Theatre Royal to write “The Crossroads” a short play based on the ballad Tam Lin for the celebrated Playhouse Festival. The play has subsequently been performed at Plymouth, York Theatre Royal, and Polka Children’s Theatre in London.
Nick has performed at venues from the South Bank and the Albert Hall to rural village halls, and extensively at folk, storytelling, and literature festivals throughout the UK and internationally (Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Canada and two national tours of Japan). He has produced three solo albums of his music the most recent of which, “A Rare Hunger” released on Harbourtown Records, received critical acclaim with airtime plays on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and numerous stations in the US.
“A fine voice, pure and unforced. His fluid style and engaging presence is a winning combination…a compelling demonstration of storytelling’s many faces.” The Times
Vicki Swan..
is the UK’s leading expert in the Swedish Nyckelharpa and a second generation piper. Vicki studied the double bass at the Royal College of Music has researched into instrumental teaching online and is now bringing the nyckelharpa to a wider audience in the UK with her Nyckelharpa UK project.
Vicki has now returned to her Swedish roots with the addition of the Nyckelharpa and the translating of Swedish ballads. Speaking fluent Swedish and brought up surrounded by Swedish traditions Vicki is perfectly placed to perform and teach Swedish music. In addition to the nyckelharpa Vicki also plays the little known Swedish bagpipes and willow flute. Along side this Swedish Show, Vicki’s latest project is to increase the popularity of the Swedish Nyckelharpa by running a series of workshops with instruments provided in and around the folk festival circuit.
“one wonders if it’s possible to have too much of the traditional Swedish bowed string and keyed fiddle which Vicki Swan has done so much to bring into our consciousness? On this showing, a resounding NO has to be the answer!” Living Tradition
Jonny Dyer..
is a nationally recognised composer of music in the traditional style and competition-winning guitar player; Jonny’s outstanding technical ability, coupled with a wide-ranging musical taste has made him a tireless and forceful musical innovator. Jonny has been singing choral music, soul, jazz and folk for as long as he can remember. ”Jonny was the perfect accompanist, his dancing guitar and mastery on the accordion complementing Vicki’s sheer musicianship.” Llantrisant Folk Club