Maisie Cowburn-Bannister 2019
Newcastle University for part-funding of a new instrument, a concertina.
Maisie writes:
I am a final year student studying on Newcastle University’s folk and traditional music BA degree, majoring and minoring in performance. My second study is concertina which I started playing in 2017. I have loved the experience of learning a new instrument and have been humbled by how much further I still have to go. Playing concertina is very close to my heart as the instrument I am currently playing was my great-grandfather Jack’s. It was passed onto his wife Mary, when he died, and then onto my mum when Mary passed with the promise from my mum that it would be played. The instrument sadly sat in an attic for years and wasn’t touched.
I joined the degree and in second year it was given to me. I have come so far with the instrument and am very proud of my progress but my teacher, Alistair Anderson, has suggested I purchase something of a little higher quality. Though my great-grandfather’s concertina is a good instrument, it is a tutor model and very worn as it was made in the 1950s.
I would love the opportunity of using the BJF award to put towards a concertina. I would love to incorporate it into my concertina recital this May, my singing recital next year and my minor compositions also. Since I began playing, concertina has become such an integral part of my music making and I would be so grateful for the chance to take my music making to the next level.
