Folk ensemble ‘The invites’, A Roots in Tune programme and fund raiser
Wouter Vandenabeele was invited to Ireland in April 2024 and ran the first ever ‘Roots in Tune’ Invites workshop. It was such a success that he will be returning in April 2025 for another workshop.
Wouter is a Belgian violinist and composer from Ghent. He is invited by Els Lemahieu, a Belgian musician who has been living in Ireland since 2015. Wouter is known in Belgium and abroad for his wonderful artistic work and projects such as, Hyraeth, Fiddlers on the move and the folk/worldmusic bands such as ‘Olla Vogala’, ‘Ambrozijn’ and 'Tamala'. He is experienced at leading and composing for large folk and world music ensembles and participated as an artistic mentor on several Ethno projects around the world. He is a well-loved violin and folk ensemble teacher at De Centrale, a world music school in Ghent, and is a master at working with all levels of musicians and backgrounds (both autodidacts as classically trained). Wouter’s first steps into the world of Folk and traditional music was through his love for Irish music, over the past decade he discovered and mastered many other music styles from around the world.
The ensemble workshop with Wouter will take place in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, Ireland from April 14th till April 19th 2025. Approximately 20 musicians from Belgium and Ireland are invited to join and form the Ensemble during the project. Irish guest tutors such as Brid Harper will teach some Irish tunes to add to the repertoire and will join the ensemble. At the end of the project the ensemble will show their work to an audience during their performance.