The 2nd FluteFling Online Workshops will take place 23-25 April 2021

FluteFling are delighted to announce a workshop weekend with Tom Oakes. As uncertain times continue, make some space and time for you and your music as Scottish Trad Awards nominee Tom guides you through ideas to develop your technique and repertoire on flutes and whistles.

Tickets: Jump to ticket details

Delivered over Zoom from his flat in Leith, the historic maritime hub of Edinburgh, the online workshops will take place over one single weekend with a morning and afternoon part of Saturday and Sunday. In an extra workshop on Sunday, Tom will present a masterclass on making the most of keyed instruments within traditional music.

Practicalities: For all events, Zoom links will be emailed shortly in advance. For workshops, links to recordings and sheet music will be emailed approximately two weeks in advance.

The workshops will be recorded and made available to ticket holders by a private link for a limited period after the event.

About Tom Oakes

Tom Oakes

Tom has previously been a popular tutor, performer and concert organiser for FluteFling. He was due to perform at our April 2020 weekend with Tim Edey before the Covid pandemic forced a cancellation. A nominee for the Scottish Trad Awards, he is well known as a guitar player with Shetland fiddler Ross Couper and with Edinburgh fiddler Kathryn Nicoll. He also performs with OBT and a much anticipated solo flute release is imminent.

Visit Tom’s website for further information on his career and recordings.

Friday evening concert

The weekend begins with a special online concert on Friday. Tom will host an informal evening of top class flute guests performing from their homes in a range of styles. Click on the links to their websites for further sounds and background information.

Aoife Granville from Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland plays traditional Irish music on flutes and whistles and is a performer, educator and researcher who has held lectureships at University College Cork (Music and Folklore) and Newcastle University (International Centre for Music Studies).

Aoife Granville

She lectures in Traditional and Popular Musics, Folklore and Festival and her doctoral thesis focused on the tradition of the Dingle Wren Festival (UCC, 2012). Aoife is regarded as an influential figure in the contemporary Irish fluting tradition and is currently working on a third solo album.

She has just completed an Arts Council-funded research and compositional project on song texts collected in West Kerry during the Schools’ Collection (Irish Folklore Commission) and is currently undertaking research on Women Flute Players in traditional music. A regular contributor to radio and television, Aoife works and publishes in both Irish and English and is the Director of Ionad Cultúrtha Arts Centre in Múscraí.

Philippe Barnes

Philippe Barnes from London, England has recorded and performed in many different settings. He is another multi-instrumentalist, playing classical, contemporary and Irish traditional on Böhm and simple system flutes and whistles.

Author of “Irish Music on the Silver Flute” Philippe graduated in 2008 with an MA in Irish Music from Limerick University. As well as performing pipes/whistles/flute on the hit West End show “Come From Away” Philippe recently played on soundtracks for the feature films “Emma” and “The Imposter”, ITV show “Sanditon” and performed with the London Contemporary Orchestra for the Philip Glass Bowie Symphony’s world premiere and “Prince a symphonic tribute” at the Royal Albert Hall.

He also played Uilleann Pipes & whistles for “The Pirate Queen” UK premiere at the London Coliseum earlier in 2020. He has appeared with celebrities including Shakira, Pixie Lotte, The Proclaimers, Amy Dickson, Bryn Terfel and toured all over the world with The Dave Munnelly Band, Crossharbour, All Jigged Out and new trio The Wilderness Yet.

“I’ve heard nobody else who can make the Boehm flute sound like the true traditional thing, who can mould tone to fit the tune so nicely… the sheer musicality is exceptionally impressive…” Jon Brophy, Irish Music Magazine
“breathtaking” MOJO

Kirsi Ojala

Kirsi Ojala is a Finnish folk musician specializing in various traditional wind instruments. Most often she performs with whistles and recorders but plays also the wooden horn, overtone flutes and mouth harps. You can hear her music on Soundcloud.

Kirsi graduated from Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts, Helsinki.
She is currently active in ensembles Sähköpaimen, Wind on Wind, Tuultenpesä, Eppel&Peppel and FluteMachine. She is also a member of the award-winning Siba Folk Big Band.

Always ready to jump into interesting fusion projects, Kirsi has performed in forests, lakes, museums and private homes, as well as festivals, clubs and concert halls. She has travelled to Russian Karelia to make field recordings and to Vietnam to collaborate with local folk musicians. With the duo FluteMachine she has performed modern classical music and her latest recording project was made with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra. The album “The Birth of the World” will be published in the autumn 2021.

Please note that the concert will not be recorded.

Saturday and Sunday: morning and afternoon workshops

Tom will teach by ear but sheet music will be provided and a recording available in advance. The workshops are suitable for non-beginners who play:

Simple system wooden flutes (keyed and unkeyed, in D)
Boehm system flutes
Whistles in D
Low whistles in D

The workshops will be recorded and made accessible for a fixed period afterwards.

Sunday: afternoon Masterclass workshop

This is a rare opportunity to explore the use of key work on flutes in traditional music. The Masterclass workshop will be of most benefit to those who play a simple system flute with 8 keys or a Böhm system flute.

The Masterclass will be recorded and made accessible for a fixed period afterwards.

Weekend schedule (all times BST)

Note: for those in different timezones or unable to make the scheduled workshop times for any reason, the workshops will be recorded and made available to all ticket holders in a secure archive until May 10 2021. It will give all participants the option of revisiting the teaching and enhancing the learning as often as you like for that period. The videos will be removed from the archive after that date. We believe that this is a secure and practical way for everyone to get the most out of the experience.

Data protection: The privacy of attendees will be respected and the recordings will focus on Tom. A co-host will also be on hand. Please note: Purchasing a ticket provides your consent to participate in these recorded events.

Friday 23 April

20.00-22.00: Tom Oakes and friends live: an evening of online flutes and friends with Tom Oakes, Kristine West, Aoife Granville and Philippe Barnes. NB Begins and ends 30 mins later than originally advertised. Tickets: £15/ £12

Saturday 24 April

10.30-11.45: Main workshop 1 Tickets: £25/ £20 for all 4
13.30-14.45: Main workshop 2

Sunday 25 April

10.30-11.45: Main workshop 3
13.30-14.45: Main workshop 4/ Q&A
15.30-16.45: Masterclass exploring use of keys: Tickets £8

Ticket Purchase:

Tickets are sold through our friends at Brown Paper Tickets. Follow the links below. If a link isn’t yet working, it will do soon, so please check back.