Folk group Windbourne lead workshop and concert in Derbyshire Dales town

Wirksworth Town Hall will welcome the group on Sunday, January 22, for a workshop from 10am to 4pm which costs £15, followed by a concert at 7.30pm when tickets are £10.

Windbourne shifts effortlessly between drastically different styles of music, drawing their audience along on a journey that spans continents and centuries, Renowned for their innovative arrangements of old songs, Windbourne’s harmonies are bold and anything but predictable. The singers educate as they entertain, sharing stories about their songs and explaining the context and characteristics of the styles in which they sing.

Audiences and critics lavish praise upon the singers not only for their technical mastery, but for the passion, engagement, and connection with each other and the audience that imbues each performance with a rare power. BBC Traveling Folk describes Windborne as “subverting expectations and redefining the genre [of vocal music] ... just absolutely phenomenal!” Mark Radcliffe, of BBC Folk Show fame, said: "Windborne draws a huge audience with great acapella singing...witty and telling!"

Windbourne are adherents to folk music’s longtime alliance with social activism, labour and civil rights, and other movements that champion the oppressed, the poor, and the disenfranchised.

The group is committed to bringing vocal traditions to a younger audience and over the past year has found viral success on TikTok for such unlikely genres as Corsican polyphony or early 20th century labour anthems.