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From September 6th-8th 2024, Laura-Beth Salter and Ethan Setiawan present a weekend of mandolin workshops in Glasgow, the heart of traditional music in Scotland. Capped at only 40 participants, the Glasgow Mandolin Retreat presents an opportunity to study with renowned mandolinists from around the world in a variety of musical traditions - Scottish trad, bluegrass, jazz, old time, and who knows what else! Special guest Pepita Emmerichs (Oh Pep! and Rain Of Animals) will join Laura-Beth and Ethan, to teach a masterclass.
The weekend culminates in a concert on 8th September, featuring performances from Laura-Beth Salter & Ali Hutton, Hildaland, and Rain of Animals.
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When?
The retreat will take place from the 6th to the 8th of September 2024.
The proposed schedule will look something like this:
Friday
Evening welcome session
Saturday
10am - 11:15am workshop one
11:45am - 1pm workshop two
1pm - 2:30pm lunch
2:30pm - 3:45pm workshop three
4pm - 6pm dinner
7pm - 10pm session
Sunday
10am - 11:15am workshop one
11:45am - 1pm workshop two
1pm - 2:30pm lunch
2:30pm - 3:45pm workshop three
4pm - 5pm masterclass with Pepi
5pm - 6pm dinner
7:30pm - 10pm concert in the auditorium
Where?
Workshops, sessions and the concert will be held at the National Piping Center in Glasgow.
How much?
The camp costs £150 for the weekend.
Are accommodations/meals provided?
Neither accommodation or meals are provided, but with a very central location in Glasgow at the National Piping Center, there are lots of options for both accommodation and food nearby! (You are very welcome to bring a packed-lunch!)
What levels will be catered for?
Classes will be held in intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced. We’ll work on technique and learn tunes from traditions from around the world, including Scottish trad, bluegrass, jazz and old time. You will have the opportunity to study with both Laura-Beth and Ethan, as well as to take a master-class with Pepita.
Do I need to buy a concert ticket?
Your registration for the weekend includes a concert ticket. Your friends and family are welcome to join us for the concert, but will need to purchase a ticket, available for purchase at the top of the webpage!
What is your Cancellation Policy?
Cancellations made by 8 July will receive a full refund. Cancellations made by 5 August will receive a 50% refund. After 5 August, no refunds will be given, but your fee will be applied to next year's event. Under extenuating circumstances, the above may be waived.
OK, I’m convinced! How do I register?
There are only 40 places, so register early at the link below, we’d love to have you with us!
Laura-Beth
A well kent face on the Glasgow Folk and Roots scene, mandolinist, tutor, singer and composer Laura-Beth is a founding member of award winning folk bands The Shee & Kinnaris Quintet. She was nominated for the MG Alba Composer of the year award in 2013 after the success of her Celtic Connections commission and debut album ‘Breathe.’ She is an active tutor of mandolin and youth projects all over the UK.
Hailing from Lincolnshire, her parents immersed LB in a diverse range of musical influences from an early age. They ran a local session which lead to Laura-Beth’s background in Old-time, Bluegrass and roots music. Feeling a desire to progress further, she moved to Newcastle to study the mandolin and composition on the Folk Music Degree, where she discovered a love for exploring traditional music from all over the world, and met her fellow band members in The Shee.
After university, LB toured extensively as a dep in Frigg and Shooglenifty, and moved to her now home town, Glasgow. Years of sessioning in a musical melting pot, she’s now involved in a range of performance, composition and teaching projects within the Scottish traditional music scene – The Shee , VOX , Jenn & Laura-Beth, Kinnaris Quintet, The Daddy Naggins, & From The Ground.
Ethan
Originally from Goshen, Indiana, Ethan Setiawan tried out numerous instruments before finding his way to the mandolin. Years later, Setiawan has a command of the instrument far beyond his twenty-five years, and has won both the National Mandolin Championship at Winfield, KS and the Rockygrass Mandolin Championship. On his album, “Gambit”, Setiawan takes the calculated musical risks of a seasoned player. He moves aptly between stylistic influences, harkening back to the experimental string band music pioneered in the early 80s while presenting entirely original compositions.
As a teen, Setiawan began driving to Chicago to take lessons with Don Stiernberg, and travelled to California to attend The Mandolin Symposium. After finishing high school, he attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship. “I think I came into Berklee as a very technically oriented musician, but just being exposed to so many different styles and incredible musicians really broadened my musical horizons, and gave me a deeper understanding of artistry and musicality beyond technical proficiency”, he explains.
Since then, his path has wended its way through traditional bluegrass, to Bach partitas, to free jazz. His debut full-length album, “Flux” is made up of original tunes drawing from all these wells. In retrospect, Setiawan can see immense growth in himself since the release of “Flux”. “I can look at most of those tunes and point you back to a Matt Flinner tune or a Bela Fleck tune that I drew inspiration from, but it feels more like a school project to me, something that I set out to do with a specific goal in mind, whereas “Gambit” feels more like my own artistic statement.”
Pepita
We are excited to have special guest tutor Pepita Emmerichs (Pepi) join us for a master class. Since receiving a scholarship to study classical violin at the VCA Secondary School in 2008, Pepi has expanded her influences and passion for contemporary music through studying Jazz, Pop, Bluegrass and Oldtime styles. In the space of only three years studying improvisation at the VCA, Pepi cemented herself in to the Melbourne scene and since graduating with a BMus in Music Performance (Improvisation) established herself as one of Australia’s up and coming contemporary violinists. At the VCA she studied with renowned multi genre violinists Nigel Maclean, Erkki Veltheim and Tamil Rogeon, as well as Christopher Hale (bass) and Eugene Ball (trumpet).
In her first year at the VCA Pepi formed gypsy jazz trio (Pep Talk) with fellow students Lincoln Mackenzie and Stephen Hornby. Oh Pep! was formed at VCASS with classical guitarist, singer and songwriter Olivia Hally and soon morphed in to a folk/pop band that has been gaining a fanbase ever since. Oh Pep! have toured nationally since 2012 and internationally since 2014, recording three EP’s and two album along the way. Their 2016 debut album Stadium Cake was praised as a pop/folk gem by the likes of NPR, KEXP, The New York Times and Paste Magazine and won Best Roots Album at The Age Music Victoria Awards. Oh Pep! have opened for the likes of Billy Bragg, The Mountain Goats, Bernard Fanning, Martha Wainwright and Lake Street Dive and performed at SXSW, The Great Escape, Glastonbury Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Primavera Pro, amongst others.
When not performing with Oh Pep!, Olivia and Pepi also record and perform under their side project Fat Cousin Skinny, exploring old time music. They also play in a pop/punk band called Good Option with acclaimed Melbourne singer- songwriter Angie McMahon.
As a multi-genre violinist/mandolinist Pepi has performed with Deborah Conway, Gerry Hale’s Uncle Bill, The Morrisons, 8 Foot Felix, Jimmy Stewart, Dave Arden Band, Richard Piper and Aine Tyrrell. As a session musician and string arranger Pepi has recorded with Emilee South, Aine Tyrrell, Gallie, Christopher Coleman Collective and Al Parkinson amongst others. Pepi was the recipient of the Invergowrie scholarship for female artists in 2010, a Youth Stars grant in 2013 and also the Ian Alexander scholarship, which in 2012 saw her attending summer fiddle camps in Boston, Ohio and West Virginia and had the opportunity of studying with many contemporary violin icons such as Darol Anger, Alex Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky, Casey Dreissen, Christian Howes and Brittany Haas.
She currently spends her time between Oh Pep! tours in Australia and Scotland, performing primarily on mandolin with her original folk duo Rain Of Animals, country/bluegrass band Good Guy Hank as well as a new stringband ‘Swamp Chicken” playing old time music in Scotland.
Sign up now!
We are so excited about this September's event, we hope you will join us!
Please fill in the form at this link to register.
Questions?
Please email glasgowmandoretreat@gmail.com with any questions, or reach Ethan with this form.
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