Galician Session Oxford July 2019

Two years since this session’s founding genius, Mano Panforreteiro, moved away from Oxford, but some of us are still here! Some others have also moved, so if any musicians out there would like to join, there is space for you!

 

So, anyhow, here goes:

This month the Galician session will happen a week before the last Wednesday of the month, specifically:

Wednesday 24.7.2019, 20:30 – 23:00.

We are now back at the newly refurbished

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

We’re normally in the downstairs bar, which now looks like this:

 

This month, in the twenty-fourth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (including the very Galician cunchas, i.e. scallop shells) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00pm curfew for musical activities, so the session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

Other events coming up:

Friday 19.7. 20:30h till late: After the success of the Midsummer Mazurka on the corner of Broad Street / Catte Street, there will be some more dancing in the streets this coming Friday.  Codename: July Jig. But if anybody wants to dance a Muiñeira or three, I am sure that can be arranged!

Saturday 27.7. 13:30h Romaria do dia da patria – a major festivity for the Galician national day  (25.7.) happening in Hyde Park, London,  The Statue of Achilles, London, W1J 7NT, organised by REGA UK

2.-11.8. Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Bretagne) – featured country this time is Galicia!